28 Facts About Bill Cullen

William Lawrence Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades.

Bill Cullen was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the only child of William and Lillian Bill Cullen.

Bill Cullen survived a childhood bout with polio that left him with significant physical limitations for the rest of his life.

Bill Cullen was a pre-med student at the University of Pittsburgh, but had to withdraw because of financial problems.

Bill Cullen's broadcasting career began in 1939 in Pittsburgh at WWSW radio, where he worked as a disc jockey and play-by-play announcer or color commentator for Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Hornets games.

In 1943, Bill Cullen left WWSW for a brief job at rival station KDKA before leaving Pittsburgh a year later to try his luck in New York.

Bill Cullen was a pilot for the United States Army Air Forces in World War II.

Bill Cullen served in the Civil Air Patrol as an instructor and patrol aircraft pilot in his native Pennsylvania during World War II, and was interested in mechanics.

In 1953, Cullen had The Bill Cullen Show, a weekly morning variety program on CBS.

Bill Cullen was a panelist on I've Got a Secret from 1952 to 1967, and To Tell the Truth from 1969 to 1978, where he guest-hosted on occasion.

Bill Cullen was initially in the running to host the 1972 revival of The Price Is Right, but the physical demands of the new format were deemed too strenuous for him.

Occasional references to Bill Cullen have been made by current The Price Is Right host Drew Carey.

Bill Cullen hosted a number of pilots for his close friend, quiz producer Bob Stewart, who created The Price Is Right, Truth, and Password for Goodson-Todman and Pyramid for his own company.

Bill Cullen thus became the only person to host each of these formats on a full- or part-time basis.

Bill Cullen appeared as a panelist on game shows hosted by his favorite understudy, Bob Eubanks, including Trivia Trap, Rhyme and Reason, and All Star Secrets, and he made guest appearances with Eubanks on Family Feud.

In 1982, Bill Cullen made an appearance on The Price Is Right to promote his new game show, Child's Play.

Bill Cullen did color commentary on college football games early in his career, and broadcast track and field on NBC.

Bill Cullen was later nominated for Daytime Emmys for his work on Blockbusters and Hot Potato.

Bill Cullen's first marriage was a brief one while still living in Pittsburgh.

On December 24,1955, Bill Cullen married former dancer and model Ann Roemheld Macomber, born Elise Ann Roemheld, the daughter of composer Heinz Roemheld; this marriage lasted until his death in 1990.

Bill Cullen occasionally worked as a model on Bill's The Price Is Right and made several appearances with him on Tattletales.

Bill Cullen contracted polio in August 1921, when he was 18 months old.

Directors on his game shows took great care to limit the extent that Bill Cullen was shown walking on camera.

Rather than making an elaborate entrance like most game show hosts, Bill Cullen began each show either already seated or hidden on set behind a prop just a few steps from his podium.

Anyway, the show is over, and I start walking toward the podium to say good night to Bill Cullen, to thank him for having me on.

Bill Cullen starts coming toward me cross-stage, and I don't know what he's doing.

Bill Cullen was a midget-car racer, and he was a member of the United States Civil Air Patrol.

Bill Cullen was a heavy smoker, and died of lung cancer in 1990.