Wheel of Fortune

In 1998, America's most popular television game show, Wheel of Fortune, celebrated its fifteenth year in syndication by broadcasting for the 3000th time. In the ubiquitous game created by executive producer Merv Griffin, popular co-hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White have awarded contestants over $98 million in cash and prizes for guessing the blank letters of mystery phrases, with the winning amounts determined by spins of a giant wheel. While the wheel spins, it is traditional for contestants to scream "Big money!" and join Vanna in clapping hands. In fact, Miss White is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as television's most frequent hand-clapper, averaging 720 claps per show and 28,000 per season.

The original Wheel of Fortune aired on NBC as a daytime game show on January 6, 1975, with hosts Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford. Pat Sajak made his debut on the show in December 1981, with Stafford continuing as co-host. Vanna replaced Stafford in December 1982, and the show moved from the network to syndication in 1983, placing it in prime-time slots and greatly increasing the audience.

Pat Sajak likes to say, "I must have been born with broadcasting genes." He remembers sneaking out of bed at age eleven to watch Jack Paar host The Tonight Show. Even then he aspired to host his own television show some day. Sajak attended Columbia College in his native Chicago, majoring in broadcasting, before landing his first professional job as a newscaster on radio station WDDC in his hometown. The Vietnam War interrupted his career in 1968, and the 21-year-old Sajak was assigned as morning disc jockey with Armed Forces Radio in Saigon. During his eighteen months in that post, Sajak opened his show as Robin Williams did in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam, with the words, "Gooood morrrning, Vietnaaam!"

After his army discharge in 1972, Sajak worked briefly as a radio disc jockey in Kentucky and Washington, D.C., before landing his first television job as local weatherman on WSM-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. His relaxed style and sharp wit brought him additional assignments as host of a public affairs program as well as a talk show. In 1977 he was brought to Los Angeles to host KNBC's weekend public affairs program and to serve as their local weatherman. Four years later he was selected by Merv Griffin to host Wheel of Fortune, a match made in television heaven. He went on to star in many network and syndicated specials, briefly hosted a late night talk show in 1989, and appeared as a guest star on dozens of comedy, drama, and talk shows. He has won two Emmy Awards, a People's Choice Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Lesly, and their two children.

Vanna White, born in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 1957, attended the Atlanta School of Fashion design and became a top model in that area before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. In 1982, she auditioned for the job as Sajak's co-host on America's favorite game show and was selected from a field of more than 400 letter-turning hopefuls. Although she has been called the Wheel's "silent star," her weekly fan mail numbers in the thousands, and she is a frequent guest on talk shows. Her autobiography, Vanna Speaks, was a national bestseller. Her fans enjoy her habit of making a different fashion statement for every show and, at last count in 1998, she had worn 5,750 outfits in her career. Vanna is also seen in commercials, a nutritional video, and as the star of an NBC made for television movie, Goddess of Love, as well as cameos in various Hollywood movies. She lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, George, and two children, Nicholas and Giovanna.

One of the secrets of the ongoing success of Wheel of Fortune has been adding new features to the show's familiar format. High technology has been employed to update Vanna's puzzle board. Instead of turning letters, she activates the touch-sensitive membrane switches on a bank of 52 high-resolution Sony monitors. Interest in the show is heightened by special weeks in which the contestants are soap opera stars, best friends, celebrities and their moms, college students, and professional football players. The show has been renewed with a long-term contract through 2002.

—Benjamin Griffith

Further Reading:

Inman, David. The TV Encyclopedia. New York, Perigee Books, 1991.

White, Vanna. Vanna Speaks. New York, Warner, 1989.