Jim Perry

Jim Edward Dooley or Jim Perry (November 9, 1933-November 20, 2015) is an American television host. He is best known as the host of the original format of Card Sharks and the 1980s format of Sale of the Century. In addition to hosting in America, he also hosted game shows in Canada, including Definition & Headline Hunters. Jim is also known as the host of the Miss Canada pageant in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jim is retired from television and lives with his wife, June, splitting their time between Florida and North Carolina. In recent years he authored two self-awareness books, and appeared in a few infomercials (mostly produced by his daughter Erin and fellow game show host Pat Finn). His last television appearance was on CNBC in the late 1990s to discuss one of his books. Jim and June had previously lived in Ashland, Oregon, after leaving Southern California in the 1990s.

When Card Sharks made its return in 1986, Perry was once considered twice for both the network and syndicated runs. Due to $ale being on nighttime and daytime and Definition in Canada, he was unable to return; the roles instead went to Bob Eubanks and Bill Rafferty, on CBS and in Syndication respectively.

In 1994, Perry hosted an unsold pilot for a lottery game show called Cash Tornado and was also announced by fellow Card Sharks vet Gene Wood for Mark Goodson Productions. Taped at CBS Television City's Studio 33 in the same set as The (New) Price is Right, the pilot was not tied to a specific lottery but would feature three different qualifier tickets for any lottery that chose to buy the show. Three players, one representing each game (one of which was Roger Dobkowitz) played a series of games culminating with the game Avalanche, where the winner could win up to $100,000 on top of what they won earlier. The format did not sell, but a sizzle reel was recently discovered and posted by Wink Martindale's YouTube channel as part of his ongoing "Wink's Vault" series.

since 2010, Perry was diagnosed with cancer. On November 20, 2015; less than two weeks after his 82nd birthday, Perry died because of it. Ironically, November 20 is also that same day that current host of that rebooted ABC version of Card Sharks, Joel McHale was born though for him it was 1971. And his former co-host of the 80s version of $ale of the Century, Summer Bartholomew along with the late, former host of the original Family Feud, Richard Dawson were also both born on November 20 in 1951 and 1932 respectively.

The Sesame Street character and resident game show emcee "Guy Smiley" was modeled after Jim Perry though not completely based on him.

Famous Catchphrases
"You took a chance, and it didn't/did not pay off."

"You took a chance, and it paid off."

Goodson-Todman Shows Hosted
Card Sharks (1978-1981)

Cash Tornado (1994 pilot)