Game show host Tom Kennedy – best remembered for Name That Tune and Split Second – dies aged 93
- Tom Kennedy, veteran game show host, died on Wednesday aged 93
- Kennedy hosted Name That Tune from 1974 to 81 and multiple other game shows
- Kentucky born, he died in California: the cause of death was not given
- His brother Jack Narz, who died in 2008, was also a game show host
Game show host Tom Kennedy died on Wednesday at the age of 93, it was announced Sunday.
Kennedy is best known for hosting Name That Tune, from 1974-81.
He also hosted Split Second, The Price is Right, Whew!, Wordplay, and Password Plus.
Born James Narz in Kentucky, he studied at the University of Kentucky and the University of Missouri.
He then followed in the footsteps of his brother, Jack Narz, and headed to Hollywood in 1947 to purse a career in broadcasting.
Tom Kennedy, pictured in 1974 hosting Name That Tune, died on Wednesday, aged 93
Kennedy, pictured in 1974 hosting Split Second, was a gameshow host until 1989
Kennedy swapped Kentucky for Hollywood and hosted a series of game shows from 1958-1989
Kennedy is pictured with a contestant on Split Second in 1974
Narz, who died in 2008, was also a game show host, best known for shows including Now You See It, Concentration, and Beat The Clock.
Tom Kennedy, born in Kentucky, died in California on Wednesday
Kennedy, on arriving in Hollywood, was told to change his name so as not to be confused with his brother.
He quickly landed a series of different sitcom and announcer roles.
Earlier in his career he was the announcer on Betty White comedy Date with the Angels, a role he took from 1957 to 1958.
As an occasional actor, Kennedy made guest appearances on sitcoms That Girl and The Ghost and Mrs Muir, and dramas such as Hardcastle and McCormick, and Cannon.
It is as a game show host, however, that he is best remembered.
Kennedy retired in 1989, and died in Oxnard, California.
Kennedy’s wife of 59 years died in 2011.
Together they had four children - three daughters, Linda Ann Narz, Courtney Ellen Narz, Julia Kathleen Narz, who died in 2015, and a son James Narz Jr.
Kennedy hosted Name That Tune from 1974 to 81
Kennedy is photographed at home in 1974 in a promo shot for Walt Disney Television
Kennedy is pictured in 1974 with a contestant during a bonus round of Split Second
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