Kennett’s career in golf spanned more than five decades, earning him a place among the most revered figures in the Southern California golf community.

His journey began at Santa Anita Golf Course as a caddie, where his early passion for the sport flourished. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and winning the 1950 Southern California Intercollegiate Championship while at USC, he turned professional in 1953.

Kennett made a lasting impact on the Southern California PGA, both as a skilled competitor and a devoted mentor. He served as head professional at San Gabriel Country Club, Los Verdes Golf Club, and Lakewood Country Club, helping shape generations of golfers.

The starting point for Kennett’s contributions to junior golf was when he met fellow Southern California Professional Golfers’ Association Hall of Famer Paul Runyan, who invited him to team up and offer kids free golf lessons.

A love for inspiring the youth was born, and from it came one of Kennett’s lasting contributions to the sport.

In 1955, he founded the Len Kennett Junior Golf Championship, a free annual event that became a cherished tradition for young players across the region. Through his reach in the tournament, he became a well-respected mentor and teacher of the game in the area.

“He was a world-class golf professional,” longtime friend Jorge Badel said in an email. “He was laser-focused on improving your life through the game, be it free lessons for juniors, fitting you for golf equipment, golf tournaments for all, kids, women, seniors, professionals, or novices. He didn’t characterize or judge; you mattered, period.”

He’s a member of the SCPGA Hall of Fame and Long Beach Golf Hall of Fame as well.

His impact was further felt through his company, “People to People”—a U.S. government-sanctioned program promoting goodwill through golf. Kennett and his wife, Marie, hosted and led golf trips around the planet, with the goal of connecting people through the sport. They traveled to over 40 different countries.

“For those of us who were fortunate to work for him, Len gathered us under his umbrella, he pushed us, nurtured us, trained us, loved us, shaped us, humbled us, promoted us, and pushed us some more,” Badel said. “He helped us understand our potential, how to go beyond what we thought possible, and how to think about always raising the bar.”

McMahon, 56, died peacefully this week after a battle with cancer, Kelly McMahon said in a statement provided to The Associated Press by his Beverly Hills, California-based publicist.

“Julian loved life,” the statement said. “He loved his family. He loved his friends He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible.”

McMahon played Dr. Doom in the films “Fantastic Four” in 2005 and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” which came out two years later.

Along with “Charmed,” “Nip/Tuck,” and “Profiler,” he also had roles in the TV shows “Home and Away,” “FBI: Most Wanted” and “Another World,” according to IMDB.

Actress Alyssa Milano, who appeared with McMahon on “Charmed,” mourned his death on social media, saying “Julian was more than my TV husband.”

“Julian McMahon was magic,” Milano said. “That smile. That laugh. That talent. That presence. He walked into a room and lit it up — not just with charisma, but with kindness. With mischief. With soulful understanding.”

Robinson died Monday in his sleep at his ranch near Sedona, Arizona, according to actor MJ Allen. He was 86.

“He had been in heart failure for some time, and (that) is his official cause of death,” Allen said in a Facebook post Monday. Allen co-starred with Robinson in the 2022 independent film, “Just for a Week.”

With a career spanning more than 100 film and television credits, Robinson became a familiar face to soap opera audiences over decades.

Robinson launched his acting career in the 1960s with guest roles on numerous television shows, including “Sea Hunt,” “Death Valley Days,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “Gunsmoke” and “The Fugitive.”

In 1967, he landed his first regular series role as Sgt. Alexander “Sandy” Komansky during seasons 2 and 3 of the ABC military drama “12 O’Clock High.”

He went on to appear in a string of guest roles on shows such as “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Medical Center” and “Barnaby Jones.”

Robinson joined ABC’s “General Hospital” in 1978 as Dr. Rick Webber. His character became part of a dramatic love quadrangle involving his wife Dr. Lesley Webber, Dr. Monica Quartermaine and Monica’s husband Alan Quartermaine.

During his time on “General Hospital,” Robinson appeared in a series of commercials for Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup, delivering the now-iconic line: “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.” The phrase quickly entered pop culture lore and became a frequent punchline on late-night talk shows.

Robinson also had roles on “The Bold and the Beautiful” as Jack Hamilton, and “Another World” as Jason Frame. His final acting credit came in 2022 with “Just for a Week.”

Born on Nov. 5, 1938, in West Palm Beach, Florida, Robinson developed an early interest in acting. As a teenager, he landed roles in low-budget films, playing a juvenile delinquent in “The Diary of a High School Bride” and, perhaps more memorably, a spider monster in “Beast From Haunted Cave,” for which he designed the creature costume himself.

Other big screen credits included “The Young Savages” and “Birdman of Alcatraz,” both starring Burt Lancaster.

Robinson is survived by his wife of 14 years, Jacquie; sons Shane, Coby, Christian, Taylor, Christopher Robinson, Christopher Lance and Robb Walker; and five grandchildren.

Renée Victor, who voiced the no-nonsense, sandal-throwing Abuelita in Disney’s animated hit “Coco” and played the wisecracking Lupita on Showtime’s “Weeds,” has died. She was 86.

Victor’s death was confirmed on Monday by a representative, Julie Smith, who said the actor had lymphoma for several years. She died Friday at her home in Sherman Oaks, Smith said, with family by her side.

A post on the Instagram feed of Pixar, which produced “Coco,” said: “We are heartbroken to hear of the passing of Renée Victor, the voice (of) Abuelita in ‘Coco’ and an incredible part of the Pixar family. We will always remember you.”

Victor appeared in 22 episodes of “Weeds” as sassy housekeeper Lupita between 2005 and 2012, among many other TV credits including “ER,” “Matlock” and “The Addams Family.” But she was perhaps best known for what she called the chancla-throwing grandmother in “Coco,” the 2017 family-friendly movie that explored death through the journey of a young Mexican boy to the land of the dead.

“I play the part of ‘Abuelita,’ the chancla throwing grandma that preaches ‘No Music!’” she wrote on Instagram, looking back several years ago. “Enjoy ‘Coco’ with your family this Dia de los Muertos and forever more!”

She also looked back at “The Apostle,” the 1997 movie that Robert Duvall wrote, directed and starred in. “He took a chance on me with this film,” Victor wrote on Instagram. “This is where I got my nickname ‘one take Renée,’” she said, adding laughter emojis. “I had a small role but what a great one! Can somebody give me an amen?!”

Born in San Antonio, Texas, on July 25, 1938, Victor began her performing career as a singer and dancer. She moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s, according to biography material provided by her representatives, where she launched her career singing with prominent big band leaders Xavier Cugat and Pérez Prado. She also taught Latin dancing, including the salsa and tango.

She met her future husband, Ray, during that period, and from 1963 to 1973, they performed together as “Ray & Renée,” a variety show took them around the world — including Australia, where “they enjoyed particular fame,” the materials said.

In the 1970s, Victor hosted the “Pacesetters” public affairs show on KTLA, her representatives said, and by the ’80s had moved into TV and film work.

Her film credits, other than “The Apostle,” included the 2014 horror film “Paranormal Activity 5: The Marked Ones,” “The Doctor” with William Hurt (1991), and “A Night in Old Mexico” (2013), also with Duvall. In 2004, she had a recurring role as Florina Lopez on TV’s “ER,” and the following year was cast in “Weeds.” Other series credits included “Snowpiercer” (2020-2021), “Mayans M.C.” (2022), “Dead to Me” (2020-2022), and Amazon’s “With Love” (2021-2023).

Victor is survived by her daughters, Raquel and Margo Victor, Smith said.

They were honoring the man who put those instruments in their hands.

John Briscoe, a longtime Ocean View Unified School District trustee and beloved local Boy Scout leader who mentored generations of kids in Orange County, died on May 16 from complications following open heart surgery. He was 72.

The ceremony, held May 19, was led by 15-year-old Eagle Scout Wyatt Johnson and his friend, both of whom Briscoe had mentored through their local troop. Briscoe had encouraged them to learn the bugle and even gifted each of them their own instrument, engraved with their names, said David Johnson, Wyatt’s father.

“My son was coming out of sixth grade, about to go into middle school. And John shows up to a troop meeting in full uniform, and he pulls out this bugle from a really nice velvet case,” David Johnson said. “He says, ‘You know, bugler is a position in scouts. Would any of you like to learn to play the bugle?’”

Before the ceremony, the two boys practiced together behind the church and then stepped forward to play the symbolic bugle call — their first time playing together — as a tribute to their mentor.

“They brought out the bugles that he gave them … and they harmonized it so well,” said Johnson, a Westminster School District trustee and longtime scouting peer. “They always played separately. This was the first time they played together. It was just really fitting. That’s the way John would want it.”

Briscoe served on the Ocean View board for 16 years, first elected in 2006. Loved ones and friends said Briscoe will be remembered for his tenacity, his deep belief in public education and his unwavering commitment to students’ well-being.

Johnson said he first met Briscoe about eight years ago while waiting in line for food at a local scouting event. It didn’t take long, he said, to see that Briscoe was deeply committed to “doing the right thing for students,” whether through his role on the school board or in his work with the Boy Scouts.

“He would lead five-mile hiking trips, and that really helped the younger boys get physically fit and ready to go on the big overnight backpacking (events),” Johnson said. “That’s just the way he was. He was always super generous.”

That same commitment to students also stood out to those who worked directly with Briscoe.

Gina Clayton-Tarvin, a trustee on the Ocean View board, said she served alongside Briscoe for a decade. Despite their political differences — she a Democrat and he a Republican — she said the two formed a lasting bond.

“It was funny, because he would always say, ‘It’s the Gina and John show, or the John and Gina show,’” she said. “It was never about what my party said, or what his party said. It was about doing what’s best for kids in the nonpartisan seat that we sat in.”

That’s what Johnson said he liked about Briscoe.

“His political ideology and mine didn’t always line up, but we always put that aside, because I knew he was always doing the right thing for students, whether through the school or through Boy Scouts,” Johnson said.

That shared mission brought Briscoe and Clayton-Tarvin together in several efforts, she said, including a years-long campaign that resulted in a $22 million settlement with operators of a waste-transfer station near Oak View Elementary and new safety measures, including fully enclosing the trash facility and building the school a new gymnasium.

“If it wasn’t for him and the work that he did, I don’t think I could have done it alone,” Clayton-Tarvin said. “He was a driving force behind the entire operation.”

Clayton-Tarvin said Briscoe never let his political affiliation stop him from championing policies that sometimes ran counter to his party’s usual positions.

In 2019, while serving as board president, Briscoe introduced a resolution requiring schools to notify parents that all children have the right to attend public school regardless of their immigration status, and to notify them of their rights if immigration enforcement takes place. The resolution, now board policy, also calls for teachers and school staff to be trained on how to respond to immigration enforcement actions.

“He just really wanted to do right by society and community,” Clayton-Tarvin said. “He was a person that had forward vision.”

Briscoe was a familiar face in Huntington Beach civic life. He ran for Congress several times, often touting his deep roots in the community. He most recently ran for the vacant California 36th Senate District seat in February.

“Running for anything above the school board was just kind of in his DNA, because that’s the way he knew he can help people,” his wife Debbie Briscoe said.

Debbie Briscoe said she was “proud of him for being able to jump up and try again.”

“One of the Eagle Scouts came by yesterday with his mom, and he said, ‘You know one thing I learned from Mr. Briscoe? Never give up,’” she said.

At home, Briscoe was a lifelong learner who held two master’s degrees and had just completed his doctorate in education shortly before he died, his wife said.

She laughed as she recalled that the best grades she ever earned were during the time she dated him at Cal State Long Beach, where they met through her sorority sister.

“After school every day, John went to the library. And he said, ‘Well, if you want to hang out with me, it’s going to be at the library.’ And so the best grades I got in my entire college life, was during the semester that I spent with John in the library,” she said.

Later in life he could still often be found with a book in his hand.

“Once I caught a foul ball in Angel Stadium, and he didn’t even know it. And every time my son was in a football game, I had to say, ‘John, put your book down. Tyler’s in. Put your book down,’” Debbie Briscoe said.

For those who worked with him, the consistency of his character stood out.

“Every vote that was taken on our board of trustees, John was always there for me,” Clayton-Tarvin said. “He always voted for what’s best for children, period. End of story. He was a hero. He is a hero.”

A celebration of life is scheduled for 11 a.m. on July 15 at Old World in Huntington Beach, Debbie Briscoe said — just three days after what would have marked their 50th wedding anniversary.

Thirty-five years ago, Rosen founded Working Wardrobes, a nonprofit dedicated to giving people affected by domestic violence, homelessness, drug abuse, incarceration and many other barriers the clothing and tools to find employment and regain stability in their lives. She spent more than 30 years as the organization’s CEO.

In 1990, Rosen and a group of five friends hosted a Day of Self-Esteem to help domestic violence victims. “Little did we know that the emotions generated from this one-time event would evolve into 35 years,” said Joann Hilton, there for that initial event. “Her vibrant personality and leadership made everyone want to be on her team. She was magical.”

Out of that effort grew an ongoing operation that, as of this year, will have helped 135,000 women and men secure jobs. With a budget of $8 million, the organization now has 2,000 volunteers and a staff of 40.

“Jerri was a force of nature in a very small package,” said Bonni Pomush, who took over the CEO role from Rosen in 2021. “She wasn’t afraid to attempt to change the world for the better, and she absolutely succeeded.”

What drove Rosen, said Pomush, was “the power of one person to be able to make a difference.

“She saw that in herself, but she more so saw that in her fellow humans, and she knew deeply that if you were able to offer a hand up to empower a person, that the world would be their oyster.”

Working Wardrobes offers professional attire — some 500,000 clothing pieces are donated each year — and workshops and other career services. It has a donation center in Irvine, a career center in Santa Ana and three thrift shops — the Hanger Outlets in Costa Mesa and Garden Grove, and the Hanger Boutiques in Laguna Niguel. The group also works with military service members transitioning into civilian life and helps their spouses who are preparing for new careers.

The nonprofit now serves clients in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, partnering with dozens of social service agencies, shelters and other organizations.

It was a year after she retired that Rosen was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Pomush said.

“She fought it bravely, courageously and determinately for over two years,” Pomush said. “In December, the cancer had been at bay, but it came raging back and she decided not to continue treatment.”

Even after her retirement and throughout her treatment, Rosen, who is and was synonymous with Working Wardrobes, stayed in touch and was aware of the organization’s continued work to enrich people’s lives.

“It was the peak of her life’s work to create this organization and invite the power of every person to contribute to this mission,” Pomush said.

“In the fabric of Orange County, there is a common thread that often comes back to Working Wardrobes,” she added. “The power of one person making a difference is catalyzed here every day. Jerri was very aware of what she started and how the ripple effect is infinite.”

Previously retired from the hospitality industry, about six years ago, Phyllis Mitchell, of Rancho Mission Viejo, realized that financially, she needed to continue working. She got involved in a Working Wardrobes program that helps seniors and ended up landing a job on the nonprofit’s staff.

“It really changed my life and helped me learn new skills,” she said. “It helped me improve myself.”

She also interacted with Rosen, whom she described as supportive and a mentor.

“She made me feel comfortable,” Mitchell said. “She made me feel like I was in the right spot.”

After her retirement, Rosen threw herself into working on her book: “Pants and Skirts on Fire: The Story of Working  Wardrobes.”

” I talk a lot about the heroes who helped me do so much over the years. And there are some lessons people can learn,” Rosen said in a 2021 interview. “I’m not suggesting people start a nonprofit organization; there are way too many of those in our world today. It’s really about getting involved in something that moves your heart.”

Sam Dawson has been working on the final edit for Rosen’s book, which she said is “entirely Jerri’s voice.” The two met 25 years ago.

Rosen was so charming it was difficult to say no to her about anything, Dawson said, including helping produce a show about Working Wardrobes after Rosen got a call from a Garden Grove community television channel. The show ran for nine years.

“You don’t think people watch that kind of TV, but wherever we would go, people would point to Jerri and say, ‘You’re the lady on TV,’” Dawson, a Laguna Beach resident, said. “It was very helpful in getting donations both for clothing and financial, which she needed.”

Including after a fire destroyed Working Wardrobes’ headquarters in 2020.

“The Orange County community rallied around Jerri so fast,” Dawson said. “Nicole Suydam, CEO of Goodwill, called Jerri that night and said, ‘We have space for you.’ They were up and running the next day.

“The community around her, everybody loved and adored Jerri,” said Dawson, who counts Rosen as one of her best friends.

“To meet her is to love her,” Dawson said. “She was always a people person, she always had time for you, she just had a glow about her, and you said, ‘I want to be in her presence and help her do what she’s doing.’”

Jana Turner, of Scottsdale, AZ, also said she quickly formed a friendship with Rosen after meeting her many years ago. Rosen had asked Turner to join her board, but Turner said she opted to be friends instead and “advise” from afar.

“We just hit it off and became pretty much best friends,” she said. “It’s interesting for anyone today to have a best friend late in life. She was in her 50s, and I was in my mid-40s. Jerri always made you feel like you were the center of attention and focused on what you had to say. She had such a thoughtful, empathetic message back to you. Her sense of humor was crazy good.”

The two traveled the world, Turner said, adding some of Rosen’s favorite spots included Israel and Egypt.

On their trip to Israel, Turner said Rosen, who was Jewish, was adamant about finding a tallit shawl.

“When she found it, she cried,” Turner said, describing the garment as cream and orange and looking fabulous on her friend.

Rosen was also eager to find a special tea set, which Turner said they finally found in Morocco. “We went to three countries for that tea set.”

“She was always curious and wanted to expand her educational base,” Turner added. “I learned a lot on those trips with her.”

Rosen moved from Irvine to the Reata Glen community in Rancho Mission Viejo in 2022, and there, Turner said, Rosen, who had been married twice, found love again with Harvey Kaufman, who lived in the same community.

Even from him, Turner said, Rosen tried to conceal how extreme her illness was so that the two could enjoy quality time together.

A month ago, when Turner said she recognized that Rosen’s end was near, the two spent four days at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara.

“It was like ‘fake till you make it’ for her,” Turner recalled, adding that though she knew Rosen was in pain, Rosen did her best to hide it because she didn’t want to take anything away from the experience. “She always had an up voice and always just sounded so perfect.”

“I call it a life of love,” said Turner. “She loved life and she loved helping people, she just did.”

A celebration of life is expected to be planned for Rosen in June.

Forbath died at her Costa Mesa home of natural causes, her daughter Mary Cappellini said.

Along with her late husband Frank, Forbath founded Share Our Selves out of a small room at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa. Together they began responding to the needs of the community by providing food, clothes, emergency money and health care. The effort grew to serve more than 20,000 people a year during her time leading the organization.

“Jean was a very compassionate and caring woman,” said Rusty Kennedy, who worked with Forbath through the OC Human Relations Commission. “She was a fierce voice for doing the right thing, and she would not compromise that.”

Forbath was deeply involved in advocating for the poor in Orange County. In a previous video interview, she recalled the organization becoming inundated with people coming to it with needs from basics, such as food and clothing, to health care.

“After a year or two, we were helping about 20,000 people a month,” Forbath said, “which was astounding in Orange County where we’re not supposed to have any poverty.”

Forbath, for her life’s work, received several honors, including the Mayor’s Award in 2017, the OC Human Relations Commission’s Legacy Award and recognition for serving on the CalOptima board. She advocated for providing health care and dental care to all, and having affordable and fair housing in the community.

Kennedy, the former executive director of the OC Human Relations Commission, said Forbath was a volunteer who put her “time, money and energy on the line in defense of social justice issues for the poor.” Kennedy said she was never paid for her time as executive director and CEO of SOS.

Mary Hornbuckle, a former Costa Mesa councilmember, said Forbath never held back in her activism and always “looked out for the underdog and for those less fortunate.”

“She never hesitated to speak for what she knew was right,” Hornbuckle said. “And for that, she was widely admired. She was a role model for me and for so many others.”

Jean Marie Swain was born in St. Albans, New York, a neighborhood of Queens, in 1930 and was the youngest of four children in an Irish Catholic family. The family moved to Hollywood in 1933 where her father worked as a cameraman at RKO Pictures and later in the film lab.

She graduated from Conaty Girls High in Los Angeles where she was student body president and later earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English literature from Immaculate Heart College.

She brought awareness to the desolate living conditions farmworkers in the county endured, which became one early focus for SOS. Through the Orange County Interfaith Committee to Aid Farmworkers, Forbath focused her attention on raising awareness for farmworkers’ living conditions at a dozen migrant labor camps throughout the county that became scrutinized in the early 1970s in an Orange County Grand Jury investigation.

“I think people want to help,” Cappellini said. “They just need to know that there is a need. I think that’s what my mom did a beautiful job of, letting people know of the need in her area.”

She was heavily involved with the United Farm Workers, Cappellini said, handing out leaflets to people to boycott grapes and lettuce outside of grocery stores. During Cesar Chavez’s 1,000-mile march from the Mexican border to Sacramento in 1975, Forbath let Chavez and about 40 farmworkers sleep at the family’s Costa Mesa home for a night.

After leading SOS for more than two decades, Forbath retired and a few years later founded the nonprofit Save Our Youth.

Joe Erickson, one of the early supporters and board members of the Save Our Youth nonprofit, which provides after-school programs, guidance counseling and scholarships for the Newport-Mesa area, said Forbath filled a need in the area to uplift young people to reach new opportunities.

“She put her whole heart into it,” Erickson said. “She’s the mother of seven kids and, in a lot of ways, she was a mother to a lot of these people at Save Our Youth as well.”

The organization has given out $4.5 million in scholarships for the area’s youth over the years. Early on, it was funded by an anonymous donor who put great trust in Forbath, Cappellini said.

Forbath was a devout Catholic whose faith pushed her to start SOS to take on the call to help your neighbors, Cappellini said. She died on Easter Sunday, an hour after Pope Francis did, Cappellini said.

“We watched Easter Mass together with all the family around and her Irish Catholic faith with the social justice teaching was just a huge part of her life and all of our teaching,” Cappellini said. “For us, the pope amplified all the things that she’s always stood for. She was called by her church to do something.”

Forbath’s funeral will be held at 1 p.m. on May 9 at Saints Simon and Jude Catholic Church in Huntington Beach. The family suggests those wishing to make donations in her honor consider the “Jean Forbath Scholarship” at SOY or the emergency services fund at Share Our Selves.

Forbath is survived by her children, Steve (and Betsy) Forbath, Kathy (and Bahram) Esfahani, Mary (and Cesar) Cappellini, Susie Forbath, Patty (and Steve) Uchytil and Brian (and Georgina) Forbath, and 15 grandchildren. Her fifth child, Joe Forbath, died in 2021.

“There’s a big difference between charity and justice, and what we would like to fight for is justice,” Forbath once said in a video interview for the OC Human Relations Legacy Awards. “Unfortunately, charity is needed.”

Wink Martindale, the genial host of such hit game shows as “Gambit” and “Tic-Tac-Dough” who also did one of the first recorded television interviews with a young Elvis Presley, has died. He was 91.

Martindale died Tuesday at Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage, according to his publicist Brian Mayes. Martindale had been battling lymphoma for a year.

“He was doing pretty well up until a couple weeks ago,” Mayes said by phone from Nashville.

“Gambit” debuted on the same day in September 1972 as “The Price is Right” with Bob Barker and “The Joker’s Wild” with Jack Barry.

“From the day it hit the air, ‘Gambit’ spelled winner, and it taught me a basic tenant of any truly successful game show: KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid,” Martindale wrote in his 2000 memoir “Winking at Life.” “Like playing Old Maids as a kid, everybody knows how to play 21, i.e. blackjack.”

“Gambit” had been beating its competition on NBC and ABC for over two years. But a new show debuted in 1975 on NBC called “Wheel of Fortune.” By December 1976, “Gambit” was off the air and “Wheel of Fortune” became an institution that is still going strong today.

Martindale bounced back in 1978 with “Tic-Tac-Dough,” the classic X’s and O’s game on CBS that ran until 1985.

“Overnight I had gone from the outhouse to the penthouse,” he wrote.

He presided over the 88-game winning streak of Navy Lt. Thom McKee, who earned over $300,000 in cash and prizes that included eight cars, three sailboats and 16 vacation trips. At the time, McKee’s winnings were a record for a game show contestant.

“I love working with contestants, interacting with the audience and to a degree, watching lives change,” Martindale wrote. “Winning a lot of cash can cause that to happen.”

Martindale wrote that producer Dan Enright once told him that in the seven years he hosted “Tic-Tac-Dough” he gave away over $7 million in cash and prizes.

Martindale said his many years as a radio DJ were helpful to him as a game show host because radio calls for constant ad-libs and he learned to handle almost any situation in the spur of the moment. He estimated that he hosted nearly two dozen game shows during his career.

Martindale wrote in his memoir that the question he got asked most often was “Is Wink your real name?” The second was “How did you get into game shows?”

He got his nickname from a childhood friend. Martindale is no relation to University of Michigan defensive coordinator Don Martindale, whose college teammates nicknamed him Wink because of their shared last name.

Born Winston Conrad Martindale on Dec. 4, 1933, in Jackson, Tennessee, he loved radio since childhood and at age 6 would read aloud the contents of advertisements in Life magazine.

He began his career as a disc jockey at age 17 at WPLI in his hometown, earning $25 a week.

After moving to WTJS, he was hired away for double the salary by Jackson’s only other station, WDXI. He next hosted mornings at WHBQ in Memphis while attending Memphis State. He was married and the father of two girls when he graduated in 1957.

Martindale was in the studio, although not working on-air that night, when the first Presley record “That’s All Right” was played on WHBQ on July 8, 1954.

Martindale approached fellow DJ Dewey Phillips, who had given Presley an early break by playing his song, to ask him and Presley to do a joint interview on Martindale’s TV show “Top Ten Dance Party” in 1956. By then, Presley had become a major star and agreed to the appearance.

Martindale and Presley stayed in touch on occasion through the years, and in 1959 he did a trans-Atlantic telephone interview with Presley, who was in the Army in Germany. Martindale’s second wife, Sandy, briefly dated Presley after meeting him on the set of “G.I. Blues” in 1960.

In 1959, Martindale moved to Los Angeles to host a morning show on KHJ. That same year he reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with a cover version of “Deck of Cards,” which sold over 1 million copies. He performed the spoken word wartime story with religious overtones on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

“I could easily have thought, ‘Wow, this is easy! I come out here, go on radio and TV, make a record and everybody wants to buy it!” he wrote. “Even if I entertained such thoughts, they soon dissipated. I learned in due time that what had happened to me was far from the ordinary.”

A year later he moved to the morning show at KRLA and to KFWB in 1962. Among his many other radio gigs were two separate stints at KMPC, owned by actor Gene Autry.

His first network hosting job was on NBC’s “What’s This Song?” where he was credited as Win Martindale from 1964-65.

He later hosted two Chuck Barris-produced shows on ABC: “Dream Girl ’67” and “How’s Your Mother-in-Law?” The latter lasted just 13 weeks before being canceled.

“I’ve jokingly said it came and went so fast, it seemed more like 13 minutes!” Martindale wrote, explaining that it was the worst show of his career.

Martindale later hosted a Las Vegas-based revival of “Gambit” from 1980-81.

He formed his own production company, Wink Martindale Enterprises, to develop and produce his own game shows. His first venture was “Headline Chasers,” a coproduction with Merv Griffin that debuted in 1985 and was canceled after one season. His next show, “Bumper Stumpers,” ran on U.S. and Canadian television from 1987-1990.

He hosted “Debt” from 1996-98 on Lifetime cable and “Instant Recall” on GSN in 2010.

Martindale returned to his radio roots in 2012 as host of the nationally syndicated “The 100 Greatest Christmas Hits of All Time.” In 2021, he hosted syndicated program “The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

In 2017, Martindale appeared in a KFC ad campaign with actor Rob Lowe.

He is survived by Sandy, his second wife of 49 years, and children Lisa, Madelyn ad Laura and numerous grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Wink Jr. Martindale’s children are from his first marriage which ended in divorce in 1972.

Mischer died Friday at his home in Los Angeles, according to multiple media reports.

The Texas native won 15 Emmys during his career, a record 10 Directors Guild of America Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting and the 2012 Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television from the Producers Guild of America.

He recently told Deadline that he was retiring.

“I want you to know that, after more than six decades in television, I will be doing my last show tomorrow on Saturday, April 5 here in Los Angeles. I started at the PBS station in Austin at the University of Texas campus in 1963, and I turned 85 last week. Man it feels like time has just flown by,” he told the publication.

That last show was the 2025 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, sometimes referred to as the “Oscars of Science,” at Barker Hangar Santa Monica.

In addition to multiple Oscars, Emmy and People’s Choice Awards, Mischer produced the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2002 Winter Olympics.

His resume also includes Super Bowl halftime shows by Michael Jackson, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen, the Obama Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial, the Democratic National Convention, “Carnegie Hall: Live at 100,” multiple Kennedy Center Honors and the annual 9/11 memorials at Ground Zero in New York.

One of his career highlights came during 1983’s “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever.” Mischer directed the television special, which was taped in front of a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and is remembered for the moment when Michael Jackson, at the peak of his fame for the record-smashing “Thriller” album, did the moonwalk during a performance of “Billie Jean,” sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Mischer is survived by his wife Suzan, children Heather, Jennifer, Charlie and Lily, and grandchildren Everly and Tallulah, Deadline reported.

No cause of death was available.

Arnold, a resident of Fountain Valley since 1973, was 85.

He died of heart failure according to Dixie Arnold, his wife of 63 years.

Ed Arnold was a sports anchor at KTLA/5 and KABC/7. He also worked as a host of  “Real Orange,” a news features program that focused on Orange County, at KOCE TV.

Arnold had endured many heart ailments over the past 22 years. Dixie Arnold said doctors advised him to have a heart transplant. But he declined.

“We prayed about it,” she said. “And we knew that with all of the doctors’ care that he stayed alive because of them. He lived an extremely long time to have come from that point.

“He had all kinds of things done to his heart. He had a valve replaced. That is the reason why … it just gave out.”

Arnold worked as a sports reporter for Los Angeles and Orange County radio stations before he was hired at KTLA as a sports anchor in the late 1960s. Arnold was hired for the same position at KABC in 1975 and continued there until 1986 when he returned to KTLA where he remained until 1999.

Arnold continued working at various Southern California radio stations, including KMPC/710  during his TV years.

He was very much a straight news broadcaster, sticking with facts and news while never relying on shtick.

Arnold also was an announcer for the “Hour of Power” a nationally-televised Christian show that featured Robert Schuller and was broadcast from the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove (Crystal Cathedral now is Christ Cathedral and belongs to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange).

Dixie Arnold said one of her husband’s favorite endeavors was the Special Olympics. He helped Olympian Rafer Johnson and the Kennedys get the organization started and continued to work with the Special Olympics.

He served in the United States Marine Corps and played on a Marines football team. Santa Ana College coach Homer Beaty spoke at the team’s banquet, and that began a long relationship between Arnold and the community college.

Arnold played on the Santa Ana College 1961 Eastern Conference championship football team. He went on to attend Long Beach State where Arnold earned his degree in speech with an emphasis on TV, radio and film.

He is in the Santa Ana College Athletics Hall of Fame and the Santa Ana College Alumni Hall of Fame. Arnold was the president and chairman of the Santa Ana College Foundation. An SAC fundraising golf tournament is called the Ed Arnold Golf Classic.

Arnold also was inducted into the Vanguard University Hall of Fame for Meritorious Service.

Arnold was the master of ceremonies for many Special Olympics, Boys & Girls Club events and other fundraising banquets and affairs in Orange County and elsewhere.

“He always wanted to be out there and help people, to do for others,” Dixie Arnold said. “Eddy loved people. He wanted to help them and do whatever he could for them.”

Ed Arnold is survived by Dixie, their son Dean and daughter-in-law Rachel and grandchildren Jacob and Luke.