18 Facts About Allen Ludden

Allen Ludden hosted various incarnations of the game show Password between 1961 and 1980.

When Ludden was about five years old, his mother married Homer J Ludden, an electrical engineer.

Homer J Ludden was the son of Franklin C Ludden, a merchant and then the superintendent of the electric plant in Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

The family lived briefly in the Wisconsin cities of Janesville, Elkhorn, Antigo, and Waupaca before moving to Texas when Ludden was nine years old.

The Ludden family resided in Corpus Christi in 1940, appearing in the City Directory, where Allen is listed as a student, Homer an engineer, and Homer and Leila's son, Franklin C Ludden, a mail clerk.

An English and dramatics major at the University of Texas, Allen Ludden graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1940 and received his Master of Arts in English from the same university in 1941.

Allen Ludden served in the United States Army as officer in charge of entertainment in the Pacific theater, received a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service, and was discharged with the rank of captain in 1946.

In 1948, Allen Ludden became the program director at radio station WCBS in New York City.

Allen Ludden left that position in June 1959 to become program coordinator for all CBS owned-and-operated radio stations.

Allen Ludden's radio show for teenagers, Mind Your Manners, received an honorable mention Peabody Award in 1950.

Allen Ludden hosted many game shows, including the College Bowl, but he was most well known for hosting both the daytime and prime time versions of Password on CBS and ABC between 1961 and 1975.

Allen Ludden began hosting an updated version of the game, Password Plus, on NBC, in 1979, but chemotherapy treatments for stomach cancer forced him off the show in late October 1980.

Allen Ludden released an album called Allen Ludden Sings His Favorite Songs on RCA Records in 1964.

Allen Ludden proposed to Betty White, whom he had met on Password, at least twice before she accepted.

Tom Kennedy assumed duties as host of Password Plus, and although Allen Ludden hoped to return to the show, his cancer grew worse and he never returned.

Allen Ludden died in Los Angeles on June 9,1981, at age 63.

Allen Ludden was buried beside his father in the Ellsworth family plot in Graceland Cemetery in his hometown of Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

The items include letters written or received by Allen Ludden, typed radio scripts, newspaper and magazine clippings by or about Allen Ludden, publicity photographs and personal photographs, and a broken pair of horn-rimmed glasses.