Wink Martindale, Popular Game Show Host on ‘Tic-Tac-Dough’ and More, Dies at 91

Television|Wink Martindale, Popular and Durable Game Show Host, Dies at 91

Wink Martindale, a radio personality who became a television star as a dapper and affable host of game shows like “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” in the 1970s and ’80s and “Debt” in the ’90s, died on Tuesday in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 91.

Nashville Publicity Group, which represented him, announced his death in a statement.

A veteran of the game show circuit, Mr. Martindale was involved in more than 20 shows, either as a producer or host.

His first game show, in 1964, was “What’s This Song,” in which contestants paired with celebrities to identify tunes for cash prizes. The show was short-lived, as were many others he experimented with.

“Gambit” was based on the card game blackjack, and “Tic-Tac-Dough” combined trivia with the classic puzzle game tic-tac-toe. In “Debt,” the prize was the main focus: Contestants would arrive with bills for credit cards, car payments or student loans, which would be paid off if they answered a series of questions correctly.

As a vocalist, Mr. Martindale recorded about 20 single records and seven albums. His 1959 spoken-voice narrative recording, “Deck of Cards,” sold more than a million copies, earning him a gold record, a designation by the Recording Industry Association of America for records that sold 500,000 copies or more. “Deck of Cards” also brought him an appearance on the Ed Sullivan variety show, where he told the tale of a young American soldier in North Africa who is arrested and charged with playing cards during a church service.

Mr. Martindale received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was one of the first inductees into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007.