Saint Peter Bangs the Gong
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:39 am
Chuck Barris, of ‘Gong Show,’ Dies at 87
{More at Variety}The Daily Beast wrote:Chuck Barris, the multi-talented impresario and creator of The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game, died Tuesday in Palisades, New York, at the age of 87. Barris died of natural causes, according to his publicist. He was a show creator and songwriter, and he wrote hits like “Palisades Park,” which made it to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Barris’s autobiography, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, also became a film, which starred Sam Rockwell as Barris and was directed by George Clooney. His book was criticized for some inaccuracies, including a claim that he worked for the CIA. “He also fabricated his life because it might have been the best way of getting at the truth,” said Joel Stein in Time magazine. “The truth was that back when he was the Jerry Springer of his day, he couldn’t stomach being attacked for doing something he considered harmless.”
In 1976, he became the host of TV’s The Gong Show, a famously out-there talent show that was so popular it inspired a feature film.