Game show host Chuck Woolery of ‘Wheel of Fortune’, ‘Love Connection’ dies at 83

Chuck Woolery, former host of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection” and “Scrabble,” has died at age 83.

Woolery died at his Texas home in the presence of his wife, Kristen, his friend and podcast co-host Mark Young told Associated Press. Along with his wife, Woolery is survived by his sons Michael and Sean and his daughter Melissa.

“Chuck Woolery was, without a doubt, The Real Deal. Our 7 years as the original host and hostess of Wheel of Fortune were like magic,” Susan Stafford, who was Chuck Woolery’s “Wheel of Fortune” co-host, said in a statement to Fox News .

“Our deep friendship continued after our time on the show,” the statement continued. “He was an original. There was no one like Chuck. He had so much energy and was the same warm and caring genuine person off stage as he was on. He was very spiritual and we shared a genuine love for God, which made it all the more worthwhile. . So grateful to know I will see him again.”

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Game host Chuck Woolery attends the premiere of Meow Mix Think Like a Cat Game Show on November 12, 2008 in Hollywood, California. (Getty Images)

Woolery was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1978.

In 1983, Woolery began an 11-year stint as host of “Love Connection,” during which time he coined the phrase, “We’ll be back in two minutes and two seconds.” In 1984, he began hosting “Scrabble”, simultaneously hosting both game shows until 1990.

Other shows he hosted include “Lingo,” “Greed” and “The Chuck Woolery Show,” as well as the short-lived syndicated revival of “The Dating Game” from 1998 to 2000. In 1992, he played himself in two episodes of “Melrose Place.”

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Chuck Woolery at the “Game Show Network’s 2003 Winter TCA Tour” at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, January 8, 2003. (Getty Images)

Woolery was the subject of Game Show Network’s first attempt at a reality show, “Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned,” which premiered in 2003 and ran for six episodes.

Woolery began her television career on “Wheel of Fortune,” which debuted Jan. 6, 1975, on NBC.

“Wheel of Fortune” started life as “Shopper’s Bazaar.” After Woolery appeared on “The Merv Griffin Show” and sang “Delta Dawn”, Griffin asked that he host the new show with Stafford.

NBC originally passed, but they changed it to “Wheel of Fortune” and was approved. After a few years, Woolery demanded a raise to $500,000 a year, or what host Peter Marshall was making on “Hollywood Squares.” Griffin declined the request and replaced Woolery with Pat Sajak, who, along with Vanna White, is most often associated with the show.

Chuck Woolery performs at the “Game Show Network’s 2003 Winter TCA Tour” at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles, California, Wednesday, January 8, 2003. (Getty Images)

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Born in Ashland, Kentucky, Woolery served in the U.S. Navy before attending college. He played double bass in a folk trio before starting the psychedelic rock duo, The Avant-Garde, in 1967 while working as a truck driver to support himself as a musician.

After his television career, Woolery began podcasting. He told The New York Times that he described himself as a gun rights activist, a conservative-libertarian and constitutionalist, noting that he had not revealed his politics in liberal Hollywood for fear of retaliation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.