Posted on 03/13/2006 3:53:30 PM PST by Borges
A small plane carrying retired game show host PETER TOMARKEN crashed off the coast of Santa Monica, CA, today, "The Insider" has confirmed. Two passengers were killed. Authorities say the six-seater Beechcraft aircraft was bound for San Diego around 9:50 a.m. when the pilot reported engine trouble. County firefighters said the plane went down in the Pacific waters about 200 yards offshore and a man and a woman were taken by boat to the Los Angeles County sheriff's station in nearby Marina del Rey. They were both pronounced dead. "The Insider" has learned that the man was Tomarken, a longtime game-show host best known for the show "Press Your Luck" (1983-1986) and "Whammy! The All New Press Your Luck", who also occasionally appeared on shows such as "Ally McBeal." He was 63. Divers are trying to determine the whereabouts of a third person thought to have been aboard.
ping
How ironic.
Whammy. I guess he pressed his luck.
I'll take Air Disasters for $500, Alex...
Just damn. One of my favorite shows, too. I found a freeware computer version of Press Your Luck a few years ago, and it is lots of fun. (I don't recall where it was)
Thoughts and prayers to the Tomarken family.
Should had been able to land on water without power and swimmed to shore.
Remember the guy who figured out the "random" patterns for Press Your Luck and won a ton of money?
Whenever you step into a plane, You Bet Your Life. He probably knew he was in Jeopardy at some point.
Sorry to hear that. I knew the face and the shows, but I couldn't remember his name.
I really liked that show. Prayers for the families.
The later version really was random, so you couldn't Press Your Luck very far.
....
The pilot was flying to San Diego to pick up a passenger who needed to get to UCLA Medical Center for treatment, Griffith said.
http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California2/CA_Plane_Crash_228599CA.shtml
I wonder if his hair was damaged?
13 posts, and only 1 so far showing any sympathy whatsoever. 12 others with variations of the same lame joke. Shameful.
Recently while perusing http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/ it was nice to see Alex was one of the extremely rare celebs who had donated to the pubs instead of the dims.
Small plane travel is as dangerous as it gets IMO.
I know several folks that killed themselves this way.
The pilot was a volunteer for Angel Flight West, a nonprofit organization that provides free air transportation for needy medical patients
I do, but I don't remember his name. A Google or Yahoo search will probably turn it up. That's how I found it. In fact, I know someone who was once on that show. I don't think she won anything.
Seems like there are only a few old time GS hosts still with us...Bob Barker (The Price is Right), Bob Eubanks (Card Sharks, the Newleywed Game), Richard Dawson (Family Feud), Dick Clark (25K Pyramid), Wink Martindale (Tic Tac Dough), Chuck Woolery (Wheel of Fortune, Love Connection, Lingo), Pat Sajak (Wheel of Fortune), Alex Trebek (High Rollers, Jeopardy) among them.
I can't recall the guys that did Card Sharks and The Dating Game...guess there are more around than I thought.
Some that we've lost (including the announcers): Bert Convy (Super Password, Win, Lose or Draw), Bill Cullen (Password), Gene Rayburn (Match Game), Peter Tomarken (Press Your Luck), Johnny Olsen and Rod Roddy (announcers, The Price is Right and Press Your Luck), Gene Wood (announcer, Family Feud).
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