Cherubic game-show host Winston “Wink” Martindale, 91, died on April 15. From the 1970s-90s, Martindale hosted such shows as Gambit, Tic-Tac-Dough, High Rollers, and Debt. He started his career on radio, then was given a Memphis kiddie show: “I became sort of the Flash Gordon of Memphis. Every afternoon from 5:30 to 6, my six little Mars guards and I would drink our Bosco and milk and blast off into outer space. It was a great learning experience for me because I learned how to ad lib and do interviews.” He went on to host such game shows as How’s Your Mother-in-Law? (I want to see that one!), What’s This Song?, Can You Top This, Headline Chasers, and other long-forgotten titles. He also acted occasionally, most notably sending himself up in Julie Brown’s hilarious 1991 Madonna take-down, Dare to be Truthful. "I like people, and you get to meet so many different people in the world of game shows," Martindale said. "I only know how to be me and that's it." Martindale’s own gold standard was Bill Cullen: “He, without question, was my hero. He could do it all. He had a sense of humor, and he was a people person.”
