Colin Lionel Emm
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Richard Dawson, born Colin Lionel Emm in Gosport, England in 1932, played Corporal Peter Newkirk on Hogan’s Heroes from 1965 to 1971 and hosted Family Feud for ten years, originating the phrase Survey says. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1978.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Richard Dawson — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Richard Dawson by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Richard Dawson — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
At 14, Richard Dawson—then Colin Lionel Emm—ran away from home and joined the Merchant Navy. He served three years, boxing for money and lying about his age to avoid older sailors. Born on November 20, 1932 in Gosport, Hampshire, to Arthur Emm, an American-born furniture mover, and Josephine Lindsay Emm, a British housewife, he started performing stand-up comedy in London clubs after his discharge in 1950.
Richard Dawson started acting in the late 1950s, changing his name from Colin Emm. He moved to Beverly Hills in 1964 and soon landed the role of Corporal Peter Newkirk on CBS’s Hogan’s Heroes in 1965, staying with the show until it ended in 1971. After Hogan’s Heroes, he became a panelist on Match Game in 1973, where his quick answers made him popular. In 1976, he began hosting Family Feud, a show he hosted for nine straight years. His habit of kissing female contestants earned him the nickname The Kissing Bandit and made the show feel friendly. In 1987, he co-starred as the boastful game show host Damon Killian in the science fiction film The Running Man opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. He returned to host Family Feud again in 1994, and in 2000 he narrated TV’s Funniest Game Show Moments on Fox. He won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1978.
Richard Dawson married British actress Diana Dors on April 12, 1959 in New York. The couple had two sons: Mark born 1960 and Gary born 1962. They separated in 1964 and divorced in 1967. Even after the divorce, Dawson sent Dors flowers every birthday and defended her publicly. In 1981, Gretchen Johnson appeared on Family Feud with her family; Dawson met her then. They had a daughter, Shannon, in 1990 and married in 1991, living in Beverly Hills. Dawson became a U.S. citizen in 1984 and lived in the same house from 1964 until his death.
Richard Dawson remains closely tied to Family Feud, where he created the phrase Survey says, later used by every host. His warm, funny style turned the show into a cultural touchstone. On Hogan’s Heroes, he played Corporal Peter Newkirk. GSN ranked him #5 on its Top 10 Game Show Hosts of All Time, and Life ranked him #14 on its 15 Best Game Show Hosts list. After his death in 2012, his kissing tradition and catchphrase live on. He was interred at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Richard Dawson — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Richard Dawson — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Be Nice to Each Other. You Can Make a Whole Day a Different Day for Everybody.
I’m a Hustler. I’m a Smartass, but I Love People.
It’s Important to Me That on ‘Family Feud’ I Could Kiss All the People. It Sounds Crazy but When I First Came Here Petula Clark Was on a Show with Nat King Cole and He Kissed Her on the Cheek and Eighty-one Stations in the South Canceled Him. I Kissed Black Women Daily and Nightly on ‘Family Feud’ and the World Didn’t Come to an End, Did It?
There Were People I Know That Got Upset That I Kissed People; I Kissed Them for Luck and Love, That’s All. That’s What My Mother Did to Me. There Were People Upset That I Would Embrace or Hug Someone of Another Color.
I Should Be Beaten. I Said Right There, It’s Time to Retire. If I’m Missing Clues Like Adolph Hitler, I’m All Washed Up.
The Thing That I Loved About ‘Feud,’ We Froze a Moment in Time for These Families That Had Never Occurred Before. That’s Magic.
Little-known facts about Richard Dawson — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
On the final week of Family Feud, his friend Alex Trebek appeared on the show.
He became a US citizen in 1984 and proudly displayed his passport and photo to America during a Family Feud episode intro.
Early in Family Feud, he mentioned in an interview that he enjoyed wearing and collecting T-shirts. Families on the show began giving him a shirt early in the game, and he amassed one of the world’s largest collections of unique T-shirts.
After his divorce from Diana Dors, he sent flowers to his ex-wife on her birthday every year and defended her.
Before Markie Post became an actress, she worked on Family Feud as a writer.
He won the Password All-Stars Grand Master Championship in 1975 against Betty White, Bill Bixby, and Hal Linden, donating his winnings to a children’s charity.
He originated the phrase Survey says for Family Feud; every subsequent host used it.
He was offered the lead role of Captain Robert Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes but declined because his voice did not sound American enough, and later accepted the role of Corporal Peter Newkirk.
He suffered a stroke in 2008 and recovered.
He met his second wife Gretchen Johnson when she was a contestant on Family Feud in 1981.
He lived in the same house for 48 years, from 1964 to 2012.
He gave a farewell speech on the final episode of the original Family Feud.
When he replaced Ray Combs as host of Family Feud in 1994, he promised his daughter he would stop kissing female contestants.
After his death on June 2, 2012, Robert Clary was the only surviving original cast member of Hogan’s Heroes until he died in 2022.
When Family Feud was revived in 1988, producer Mark Goodson would not allow Dawson to come back due to conflicts, so Ray Combs was hired. After Goodson’s death in 1992, his son Jonathan hired Dawson in 1994 to boost ratings.
He left Match Game in 1978 to focus on hosting Family Feud, partly because the addition of the Star Wheel eliminated his spotlight of being frequently chosen by contestants.
He changed his name from Colin Emm to Richard Dawson to pursue an acting career.
He hosted Family Feud for a total of ten years: nine consecutive years from 1976 to 1985 and one season in 1994.
Richard Dawson died on June 2, 2012 at 79; Ray Combs, who hosted the revised Family Feud, committed suicide on that same day 16 years earlier.
His son Gary’s godfather is Steve Allen.
His father, Arthur Emm, born in America, was a furniture mover; his mother, Josephine Lindsay Emm, born in England, was a housewife.
When he began hosting Family Feud, it was initially a short-lived afternoon program. Six months later, ABC moved it to morning, where it succeeded and ran for eight more seasons.
In 1950, after his Navy discharge, he started performing stand-up comedy.
After Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In ended, producer Mark Goodson signed him as a regular panelist on Match Game.
He picked up the nickname The Kissing Bandit during the initial run of Family Feud because he kissed every attractive female contestant.
When he moved to Beverly Hills, he worked at a nightclub, met Carl Reiner, and guest-starred on The Dick Van Dyke Show as Dick Dawson.
He revealed on Family Feud that he ran away from home at 14 to join the merchant marine, serving on the ship Atlantis.
When the third incarnation of Family Feud debuted in 1999, he declined an invitation from Louie Anderson to give his blessing.
He joined the Merchant Navy at 14 and stayed for 3 years.
The public remembers him most for his role as Corporal Peter Newkirk on Hogan’s Heroes and as host of Family Feud.
The Star Wheel was invented on Match Game to replace the Head-To-Head Match after too many winning contestants chose him, eliminating his spotlight and leading to his departure.
He turned down the role of host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
He was considered to replace Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, but Carson decided to stay until 1992.
Except for the first episode of his return on Family Feud in 1994, he did not kiss female contestants due to a promise to his daughter.
Long before Kathy Najimy became an actress, she was one of his winning contestants on Family Feud.
Growing up, he wanted to work at a dockyard in Portsmouth, England.
He met Gene Rayburn on The Steve Allen Show, and 14 years later reunited with him on Match Game.
He was not the first choice to host the original Family Feud because Geoff Edwards was under contract.
He wanted to become a game show host because he was a popular panelist on game shows.
Before acting, he worked as a waiter.
He was ranked #5 on GSN’s Top 10 Game Show Hosts of All Time.
He was ranked #14 on Life’s 15 Best Game Show Hosts.
At age 31, he moved to Beverly Hills in 1964 to pursue acting and comedy.
He declined to participate in a TV Guide group photo of game show hosts because he felt he deserved his own cover, so they printed the cover without him.
His sons Mark and Gary Dawson, and former daughter-in-law Cathy Hughart Dawson, all worked for Mark Goodson Productions, including Family Feud.
He considered Jack Benny his idol.
One of his first impressions was Sheldon Leonard.
He was interred at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
He was one of the first guests on The Gong Show.
He was a lifelong friend of Della Reese.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Richard Dawson.
Celebrities similar to Richard Dawson — same craft, ranked by reach.
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