Art Fleming | |
|---|---|
 Fleming in August 1970 | |
| Born | Arthur Fleming Fazzin (1924-05-01)May 1, 1924 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | April 25, 1995(1995-04-25) (aged 70) Crystal River, Florida, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1949–1992 |
| Known for | Original host ofJeopardy! |
| Spouses | |
Arthur Fleming Fazzin (May 1, 1924 – April 25, 1995) was an American actor and television host. He hosted the first version of the televisiongame showJeopardy!, which aired onNBC from 1964 until 1975 and again from 1978 to 1979.
Fleming was born inNew York City.[1] His parents, William and Marie Fazzin, had immigrated to theUnited States fromAustria. They were a popular dance team inEurope and brought their show to America. Their son Art was a varsity letterman football player atJames Monroe High School inNew York City,[2] standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m), weighing 220 pounds (100 kg). He later attendedColgate andCornell Universities,[2] starring on thefootball team, as well as thewater polo teams at both colleges. Fleming was aWorld War II veteran who served in theU.S. Navy for three and a half years as thepilot of apatrol bomber in theAtlantic.[2]
After leaving the navy, Fleming became anannouncer at aradio station inRocky Mount,North Carolina. Here, he changed his name to "Art Fleming". His radio career later took him toAkron, Ohio, and back home to New York. He was the first announcer to deliver theslogan "Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should" forWinstoncigarettes.[3]
Fleming's acting career began at age four, when he appeared in aBroadway musical.[4] His firsttelevision role was as astunt double forRalph Bellamy in the detective seriesMan Against Crime. In 1959 he starred as detective Ken Franklin in theABC TV seriesInternational Detective, credited as Arthur Fleming. He also playedattorney Jeremy Pitt inThe Californians, anNBCWestern set inSan Francisco during the gold rush of the 1850s.
Fleming also appeared in manytelevision commercials, in addition to anchoring the eleven o’clock news onWNBC.[5] He was first spotted byMerv Griffin on a commercial forTrans World Airlines. Griffin thought Fleming was "authoritative, yet warm and interesting", and Fleming was invited to audition to be the host of Griffin's new game showJeopardy!. Fleming won the job, and hosted the show during its original run of March 30, 1964, to January 3, 1975,[6] and again from October 2, 1978, to March 2, 1979. Rather than describe him as the "host" of the program, announcerDon Pardo introduced him by saying, "and here's the star of Jeopardy!, Art Fleming". Fleming would immediately return the favor and thank Pardo during his introduction. As "the world's greatest quiz show's" first host, Fleming earned twoEmmy Award nominations. While he was host ofJeopardy!, Fleming never missed a taping.
Because he hosted a quiz show, and in part because he was an avid reader with multiple college degrees, Fleming earned a reputation as being a storehouse of trivia. While appearing as a guest star onHollywood Squares (another NBC game show in the 1960s and 1970s), Fleming was once selected as the "secret square". His question was, "In 1938, who won the Wimbledon women's tennis championship?" Fleming pickedHelen Wills Moody, one of the three choices read to him. The female contestant (who had selected Fleming) turned toHollywood Squares MCPeter Marshall, saying, "Art Fleming would never lie! I agree!" He was right, and the contestant won $11,000. Fleming later said he did not know a thing about tennis and had guessed the answer. He hoped the contestant would disagree, thinking he was wrong.
Throughout his career, Fleming starred in about 5,000 episodes of television programs and 48 motion pictures. AfterJeopardy!'s first cancellation in 1975, Fleming returned to acting. In 1977 he played the role ofW. Averell Harriman in the movieMacArthur starringGregory Peck, and appeared in the comedy filmAmerican Raspberry, and also appeared in episodes ofStarsky and Hutch,Kingston: Confidential, and the 1976 TVminiseriesThe Moneychangers.
Fleming also hosted a radio version ofCollege Bowl forCBS Radio from 1979 to 1982. He hosted the NBC radio weekend magazineMonitor during 1972. Fleming reprised his role as host ofJeopardy! in the 1982 movieAirplane II: The Sequel and in"Weird Al" Yankovic's music video "I Lost on Jeopardy". Fleming was also often called upon to host mock versions ofJeopardy! attrade shows and conventions.
Fleming declined an offer to reprise his role asJeopardy! host when Merv Griffin began developing a revival of the show in 1983.[7] As a result,Alex Trebek (a personal friend of Fleming's)[8] took the position instead and continued to host the program until his death in 2020.[9] In interviews conducted in the early years of the Trebek version, he stated that he disliked the show's new direction and the various changes that the revival's producers had made. He disapproved of moving production from his native New York to Los Angeles, suggesting to aSports Illustrated journalist in 1989 that filming in California made the show feel superficial and anti-intellectual:
[Fleming] hates the glitz, the polish. "It's not part of the real world." he says, "it's part of Hollywood."In his day, the show was filmed in Manhattan. "People are more intelligent in New York," says Fleming, a native of the Bronx. "New Yorkers are alive, with-it. They know what's going on in the world. In California there's no mental stimulation. A typical conversation consists of 'I've got a new diet. How's your tennis game? Are those clothes from Gucci?' And then you look at each other."
— Franz Lidz, "What is Jeopardy!",Sports Illustrated (May 1, 1989)
He also claimed that the new show was too easy and he feuded publicly with the staff of the modernJeopardy! over the nature of the clues, as he believed that the writers were inserting hints into the clues to make the correct response seem obvious and easy to guess.[7]
From 1979 to until his retirement in 1992, Fleming hosted a dailyradio talk show onKMOX inSt. Louis.[2][8] On Sunday evenings, he occasionally co-hostedTrivia Spectacular with David Strauss, a St. Louis schoolteacher.[8] He also hosted the syndicated radio programWhen Radio Was, as well as two installments of the PBS science programNOVA as part of the National Science Test, where a studio audience tested their knowledge of science against a celebrity panel.[11]
Fleming married Mildred Goodrich in 1946 in North Carolina.[12] They had a daughter Jan.[13] In 1954 he married actress Peggy Ann Ellis, who worked onThe Merv Griffin Show. Fleming denied having any children in a 1974 interview, conducted after his divorce from Ellis.[14] Despite insisting he would never marry again after his divorce from Ellis,[14] Fleming married Becky Lynn in a private ceremony at Norman Vincent Peale's home. He soon adopted Becky's two children from a prior marriage. Together they had five grandchildren. In 1992, Fleming retired and the family moved toCrystal River, Florida. He remained active incharity work: he hostedfundraising videos for theCitrus CountyUnited Way and became involved with the Citrus County Abuse Shelter Association, Inc. (where Becky served as director). He also hosted a syndicated television program, calledSenior America, which showcased seniors and senior activities.
Fleming died ofpancreatic cancer on April 25, 1995, at age 70, at his home in Florida.[15] According to his obituary in theLos Angeles Times, he had been diagnosed with cancer two weeks before his death.[15] He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.[16]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | A Hatful of Rain | Jack - Mounted Cop | |
| 1959 | Career | Mounted Policeman | Uncredited |
| 1977 | American Raspberry | Colonel Grant | |
| 1977 | MacArthur | W. Averell Harriman | |
| 1982 | Airplane II: The Sequel | Himself |
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| Preceded by Position created | Host ofJeopardy! 1964–1975, 1978–1979 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | College Bowl host 1978–1979 (Televised Semifinals and Finals) | Succeeded by Pat Sajak 1984 Televised Semifinals and Finals |
