23 Facts About Geoff Edwards

Geoffrey Bruce Owen Edwards was an American television actor, game show host, and radio personality.

Geoff Edwards began his career while attending Duke University, working for a radio station in Albany, New York.

Geoff Edwards was one of the witnesses interviewed by NBC television correspondent Tom Pettit on the scene.

Geoff Edwards later worked at KFI from 1987 to 1989 but he ultimately resigned, as a protest against fellow KFI personality Tom Leykis, destroying Cat Stevens' records following Stevens' call for a fatwa on Salman Rushdie.

Geoff Edwards guest starred on Police Woman, Diff'rent Strokes, and Small Wonder.

Geoff Edwards said he did not like Barry and he had no intention of continuing with the series if it made it past CBS' initial commitment.

Geoff Edwards was not unemployed long, as Chuck Barris hired him to host The New Treasure Hunt that launched in weekly syndication in fall 1973.

In January 1974, Geoff Edwards returned to daytime with the NBC show Jackpot.

Geoff Edwards hosted his last daytime network show when he substituted for Bill Cullen on two weeks of NBC's Chain Reaction, another Bob Stewart show.

Geoff Edwards briefly tried his hand at producing when he teamed with Mark Maxwell-Smith to form Smith-Geoff Edwards Productions in 1980.

In 1983 Geoff Edwards began hosting Starcade, a new show centered on video games.

Geoff Edwards took over the show from previous host Mark Richards, who hosted from December 1982 until the summer of 1983.

Richards was fired for the reasoning that he did not know much nor was he very enthusiastic about video games; determined not to repeat what his predecessor did, Geoff Edwards studied the video games utilized on the show and the industry in general and consequently became so fascinated with video games that he became an avid player.

Except for a week of substituting for an indisposed Monty Hall on Let's Make a Deal in early 1985 and an unsold Bob Stewart pilot for ABC called $50,000 a Minute, Geoff Edwards remained largely inactive on the national television scene.

In November 1985, Geoff Edwards replaced Chuck Woolery as the host of the California Lottery's weekly game show The Big Spin, which he would host for ten years, mostly from the lottery's Sacramento headquarters.

Geoff Edwards would do this until the series was cancelled in 1991 and would commute between the United States and Canada during this time.

Geoff Edwards was one of four game show hosts to have emceed a game show in the United States and another in Canada concurrently.

However, Geoff Edwards was required to have a Canadian co-host on Chain Reaction, due to the fact that he had no ties to the country, unlike Trebek, Mandel and Perry.

Geoff Edwards's commuting days ended after Chain Reaction left the air in 1991.

In 1985, Geoff Edwards became host of The Big Spin, the game show of the California Lottery, and would remain host of that program until his retirement from television in 1995.

In 1995, Geoff Edwards appeared on Sliders, in the episode "Luck of the Draw".

Geoff Edwards appeared as a guest on GSN Live on May 16,2008.

Geoff Edwards died of complications from pneumonia at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, on March 5,2014, less than a month after his 83rd birthday.