25 Facts About Peter Tomarken

Peter David Tomarken was an American television personality primarily known as the host of the game show Press Your Luck.

Peter Tomarken's family was Jewish, members of Temple B'nai Israel.

Peter Tomarken graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1960 and from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in English.

Peter Tomarken worked on the magazines Women's Wear Daily and Business Week in New York City during the late 1960s before moving back to California to work at various advertising agencies.

Peter Tomarken made an appearance as a reporter in the 1978 film Heaven Can Wait, as well as the character Roe in "The Secret Empire" portion of the short lived NBC series Cliffhangers.

Peter Tomarken later started his own advertising firm, which put him behind and in front of the camera for many commercials in the late 1970s.

Peter Tomarken co-anchored a newsmagazine show on Playboy TV called Playboy on the Scene.

Peter Tomarken hosted for three seasons on CBS until its cancellation in 1986.

Peter Tomarken co-produced and co-wrote the 1984 NBC special Those Wonderful TV Game Shows.

Peter Tomarken then hosted the pilot for Wordplay in October 1986 with announcer Rod Roddy, but Tom Kennedy hosted and Charlie O'Donnell announced the series.

Peter Tomarken's next project was a pilot for a game-show adaptation of the board game Monopoly, which was produced by Merv Griffin and intended to air daily in syndication.

Peter Tomarken balked at the use of a little person to portray "Rich Uncle Pennybags", making it impossible to sell.

The project was reworked into a summer replacement weekly series for ABC in 1990; Peter Tomarken was replaced by Mike Reilly, a contestant on the pilot, and "Rich Uncle Pennybags" was removed.

Peter Tomarken hosted several other unsold pilots, including TKO for Mark Goodson, Two Heads Are Better Than One and Live Wire for Press Your Luck producer Bill Carruthers, Winds of Fortune, and Show Me the World before the game show market stalled in the early 1990s.

Peter Tomarken then turned to working behind the scenes as a producer and writer.

Peter Tomarken joined the staff of ABC's America's Funniest People as a segment producer for one season in 1991.

Peter Tomarken wrote and produced episodes for Real Stories of the Highway Patrol.

Peter Tomarken returned to the game-show arena in 1994 when he was hired by the fledgling GSN during its conception and early years in the mid-to-late 1990s, and served as host for their evening interactive telephone games, Prime Games, which featured Decades and Race for the Numbers.

In 2000, Peter Tomarken took his final hosting position on the Fox Family Channel game show Paranoia.

Peter Tomarken appeared on several infomercials and acted in small roles, including on the TV show Ally McBeal, during that time.

Peter Tomarken semi-retired from television to work as a real estate agent.

In 2003, Peter Tomarken returned to GSN to participate in a documentary based on Michael Larson's run on Press Your Luck in 1984.

Peter Tomarken narrated the program, titled Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal, and gave his own take on the event.

The aircraft lost power shortly after takeoff and Peter Tomarken attempted to turn back to the airport before crashing into the bay.

The charity and the Peter Tomarken children have since established a "Peter Tomarken Heroes" fund in memory of the couple.