Ray Combs
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| Ray Combs | |
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 Ray Combs at Survivor Series 1993 |
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| Born | Raymond Neil Combs, Jr. April 3, 1956 Hamilton, Ohio, United States |
| Died | June 2, 1996 (aged 40) Glendale, California, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Debbie Combs (1977-1996) |
Raymond Neil Combs, Jr. (April 3, 1956 — June 2, 1996) was an American comedian and host of the game show Family Feud on CBS and in syndication from 1988 to 1994.
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[edit] Early life and career
The Hamilton, Ohio-born Combs ascended into the world of comedy after moving to Los Angeles in 1983 and doing audience warmups for sitcoms. Johnny Carson noticed this and invited him to perform on The Tonight Show in 1986; the audience gave him a standing ovation his first time on stage, the first time in the show's history a comedian was given such an honor on his or her first appearance. He was soon given warm-up duties for the audience of the sitcom Amen.
In 1987, he appeared as a celebrity panelist on the John Davidson version of Hollywood Squares, and did a cameo role in the comedy film, Overboard. His appearance on Hollywood Squares was memorable for him leading the audience in singing a terrible rendition of the theme to The Brady Bunch.
Combs was a Latter-day Saint.[1]
[edit] Host of Family Feud
In 1988, game show producers Mark Goodson and Howard Felsher selected Combs to host a new version of Family Feud, which aired concurrently on CBS beginning on July 4, 1988 and in syndication beginning on September 19, 1988. Audiences initially accepted Combs' performance on Family Feud despite the inevitable comparisons to longtime host Richard Dawson. Combs also made a couple of appearances for the World Wrestling Federation, appearing as a guest ring announcer at WrestleMania VIII, where he amused the capacity crowd at Indianapolis' Hoosier Dome by lashing into the team of the Nasty Boys, The Mountie, and Repo Man with various scathing insults before being ultimately chased out of the ring. He later served as a guest commentator alongside Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan at Survivor Series 1993. These two appearances were also met with various WWF celebrity editions of Family Feud.
On June 29, 1992, CBS expanded the daytime show from thirty minutes to one hour. The Bullseye round was added and the show was rechristened as Family Feud Challenge. Two and a half months later on September 14, 1992, Bullseye was added to the syndicated show. This edition remained thirty minutes in length, but was rechristened as The New Family Feud.
[edit] Final year as host
By 1993, however, ratings for the show slipped after the death of creator Mark Goodson. CBS canceled the daytime version on September 10, 1993, although the show had been in reruns since March 29, 1993, and the syndicated version was also in danger of cancellation. Jonathan Goodson, who became chairman of Mark Goodson Productions after his father's death a year earlier, then made the decision to replace Combs with Richard Dawson.
During the taping of his final episode, which aired in first-run syndication on May 27, 1994, instead of mingling with the two competing families at the end of the show, Combs walked off the set. Prior to the conclusion of the show, Combs jokingly noted that his final contestant on the show would be the first to score zero points in Fast Money (and thus far only contestant), and that was "a damn fine way to go out... I thought I was a loser till you walked up here; you made me feel like a man!"[2]
[edit] Later life and decline
Combs was severely injured in a July 1994 car accident which nearly paralyzed him. He went through financial problems after the closing of CaddyCombs, his Cincinnati, Ohio, comedy club, over a dispute with his business partner.
He had also separated from his wife, Debbie, with whom he had six children. Several attempts to make it back into television—most notably as the host of the cable TV game show Family Challenge - all failed. About a week prior to his death from suicide, he appeared on television for the last time live on a Memorial Day edition of The Home and Family Show with Cristina Ferrare and Chuck Woolery on May 27, 1996, where he talked about his experiences while hosting Family Challenge.
[edit] Death
Combs was admitted to the psychiatric ward of Glendale Adventist Medical Center. On June 2, 1996, he used bedsheets to hang himself in a closet.[3]
His family relied upon a $25,000 donation from Johnny Carson to pay for funeral expenses.[4]
Alsace Avenue in Hamilton, Ohio, was renamed "Ray Combs Blvd" in his memory.
Combs is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Hamilton, Ohio.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Ray Combs at the Internet Movie Database
- Biography of Ray Combs
- Find-A-Grave profile for Ray Combs
- Footage of Combs' last fast money game, where he can be seen walking off the set.
| Preceded by Richard Dawson July 12, 1976-September 13, 1985 |
Host of Family Feud July 4, 1988–May 27, 1994 |
Succeeded by Richard Dawson September 12, 1994-September 8, 1995 |
