Gene Rayburn

Gene Rayburn
Rayburn hosting the Match Game in 1964.
Born	Eugene Jelyevich (1917-12-22)December 22, 1917 Christopher, Illinois, U.S.
Died	November 29, 1999(1999-11-29) (aged 81) Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Cause of death	Congestive heart failure
Occupation	Game show host/Announcer
Years active	1953–1998
Known for	Match Game
Spouse(s)	Helen Rayburn (née Ticknor) (m. 1940; her death 1996)
Children	1
Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Gene Rayburn (December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the popular American television game show Match Game for over two decades.

Born Eugene Jelyevich in Christopher, Illinois, he was the only child of Croatian immigrants. Rayburn's father died when he was an infant and his mother moved to Chicago, where she met Milan Rubessa. After she married Rubessa, Rayburn took the name Eugene Rubessa /ruːˈbeɪʃə/. Rayburn graduated from Lindblom Technical High School and later from Knox College. While a student at Lindblom, he was senior class president and acted in the plays Robert of Sicily, and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.

Rayburn enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and served in World War II. Gene chose the stage name "Rayburn" by randomly sticking his finger in the phone book.

Before appearing in television, Rayburn was a very successful actor and radio performer. He had a popular morning drive time radio show in New York City, first with Jack Lescoulie (Anything Goes) and later with Dee Finch (Rayburn & Finch) on WNEW (now WBBR). Radio history pegs Rayburn's pairings with Lescoulie and Finch as helping to popularize the now-familiar morning drive radio format. When Rayburn left WNEW, Dee Finch continued the format with Gene Klavan.

Rayburn later landed the lead in the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie when Dick Van Dyke left the production to star in his eponymous classic sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show.