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Hal March

Hal March (born Harold Mendelson;[1] April 22, 1920 – January 19, 1970) was an American comedian and actor.

Early career[edit]

In 1944, March first came to note as part of a comedy team with Bob Sweeney. The duo had their own radio show for a time and performed, in the early 1950s, as "Sweeney & March." He also partnered with actor/comic Tom D'Andrea in the early years of television in a series entitled The Soldiers.[2][3]
March and Mary Jane Croft co-starred in Too Many Cooks, a summer replacement program on CBS radio in 1950. The comedy centered on Douglas and Carrie Cook and their 10 children.[4]

The $64,000 Question[edit]

Earlier in his television career, he appeared on such shows as The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Imogene Coca Showand I Love Lucy. In the summer of 1955, he joined John Dehner and Tom D'Andrea in the 11-episode NBC summer series, The Soldiers, a military comedy produced and directed by Bud Yorkin. D'Andrea temporarily left the William Bendix sitcom, The Life of Riley, for his chance at his own series.[5]
However, March was best known as the host of The $64,000 Question, which he helmed from 1955 to 1958. In addition to his hosting duties, March also sang a version of the show's theme music in 1956, entitled "Love Is the Sixty-Four Thousand Dollar Question."[6]
As a result of the quiz show scandals, the show was canceled and, with the exception of a few film roles such as Hear Me Good and Send Me No Flowers, March was out of work for nearly a decade.
To keep busy, he appeared on several sitcoms in 1966 that are still widely rerun today. He played the father of Gidget's boyfriend Jeff in the Gidget episode "In and Out with the In-Laws" and the head of corrupt dance studio Renaldo's Dance Au Go Go in The Monkees episode "Dance Monkee, Dance". He also made appearances on the sitcoms Hey, Landlord and The Lucy Show and in the movie A Guide for the Married Man.[7]
March also starred in a 1961 unsold television pilot for a comedy called I Married a Dog, in which his life was constantly upset by his wife's pooch.[7] He was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for his radio work at 1560 Vine Street and another for his work in television at 6536 Hollywood Boulevard.

Death[edit]

March's career took a turn for the better in July 1969 when he began hosting the game show It's Your Bet. After completing approximately 13 weeks of taping, however, March complained that he was exhausted. Tests revealed that he had lung cancer, the result of years of chain smoking.[7]
March died in January 1970 in Los Angeles at age 49. He is buried in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.

Personal life[edit]

March was married in 1956 to Candy Toxton. Toxton had two children, Steve March-Tormé and Melissa Tormé, from her previous marriage to Mel Tormé. Although he did not legally adopt them, March was stepfather to Steve and Melissa and went on to have three more children with Candy—Peter, Jeffrey and Victoria.
His grandson, Hunter March, hosts the 2017 GSN game show, Emogenius.[8]

References[edit]

  1. Jump up^ David Baber. Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars. McFarland. ISBN 9781476604800. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  2. Jump up^ "Tom D'Andrea (1909–1998)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  3. Jump up^ "Hal March (1920–1970)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  4. Jump up^ Crosby, John (August 14, 1950). "Radio in Review". The Evening Review. p. 10. Retrieved March 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. open access publication – free to read
  5. Jump up^ "The Soldiers". Classic Television Archives. 1955. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  6. Jump up^ "Sixty-four dollar question". Everything2.com. 2004-05-10. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b c Hal March on IMDb
  8. Jump up^ "Hunter March to Host GSN's New Emoji-Solving Game Show EMOGENIUS, 6/7". BWW. May 4, 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.

External links[edit]

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