MovieChat Forums > Match Game 73 (1973) Discussion > I Wonder if Richard Hit on the Pretty Fe...

I Wonder if Richard Hit on the Pretty Female Contestants

posted 9 years ago by horizonbeach
11 replies | jump to latest

I have noticed that a lot of times when there was a pretty, single female on the show, Richard would not exactly try to hide the fact that he appreciated her looks.

For example, I saw an episode on Buzzr yesterday where there was a flight attendant whose boyfriend was in the audience but was not married. For some reason, from the minute they introduced her, they kept cutting to a close up shot of Richard's face, apparently reacting to her looks or something. I think Gene even made a comment to Richard about her.

It makes me wonder, since Richard was not married himself during this period, if he actually went so far as to hit on the contestants or ask them out. He did end up marrying a contestant from "Family Feud", so it's not like he thought he was above dating a non-famous person or anything.

Interesting....

[–] wordsatplaytoday 9 years ago

Watch the movie "Auto Focus." An actor plays Dawson when he was on Hogan's Heros and he does seem to be a player.
Since the movie is just "based on" stuff, it could still be true about Dawson. That he was a swinger.

I do wonder if any of the stars and contestants, and not just Richard, ever did hook up.
Like did Kirstie Alley ever get onto a casting couch with any of them?

Damn, I'm good.

[–] kapnkirk 9 years ago

Do you think CNR hooked up with some of the contestants? I think he did.

No! That's not true at all, Elvis takes 50% of everything I earn!

Col. Tom Parker

[–] horizonbeach 9 years ago

Any kind of hook up was possible, especially during the free lovin', pre-AIDs '70s, but it also seemed that most of the contestants were pretty traditional "married with two kids" types who probably didn't mess around. I could be wrong, though, because money and fame have been pretty persuasive aphrodesiacs since the beginning of time.

I always got the impression, though, that the celebrities and the contestants didn't do much backstage fraternizing, or at least the celebrities always acted like they were seeing the contestants for the first time when they were introduced on the show. However, I don't doubt that if there was a particularly attractive, single contestant, things could have been "arranged", sort of how famous singers have been known to "arrange" a meeting with a particularly attractive person from the audience after the show. It was Hollywood, after all.

[–] wordsatplaytoday 9 years ago

On a show the other day a black female contestant did not hide her feelings for Nipsy Russel.
So it goes the other way to.
I dunno if they met later but I think I saw a wedding ring on Nips hand.

And Gene was married but sometimes he comes across as a creep. Especially when he gets all excited about kissing the new female panel member.
Gene was weird.

Damn, I'm good.

[–] wordsatplaytoday 9 years ago

Do you think CNR hooked up with some of the contestants? I think he did.

They would only be male ones since CNR was gay.
And even then I doubt it since he was in the closet and probably had a partner.
And if he didn't have a partner, then he would probably be very selective who he was with so that his hook up wouldn't blab about it or try to blackmail him.

Damn, I'm good.

[–] horizonbeach 9 years ago

And if he didn't have a partner, then he would probably be very selective who he was with so that his hook up wouldn't blab about it or try to blackmail him.

Agreed, and I think this goes for the others, like Gene Rayburn, too. That kind of scandal would have been very damaging to the show and the celebrity's reputation back in the '70s. I mean, even in the late '80s look what it did to Gary Hart's Presidential aspirations. Completely killed them. Those were different times than today. Today it would be a badge of honor. Heck, maybe Gene would even have a sex tape somewhere...yuck!

[–] wordsatplaytoday 9 years ago

Heck, maybe Gene would even have a sex tape somewhere...yuck!

Hey, I'm about to eat!
Man, talk about an appetite killer.
LOL

Damn, I'm good.

[–] kapnkirk 9 years ago

I'm sure Richard was a big fornicator. Every Englishman I ever met loved to fornicate.

No! That's not true at all, Elvis takes 50% of everything I earn!

Col. Tom Parker

[–] horizonbeach 9 years ago

Richard had a girlfriend while he was on "Match Game". Not that it probably held him back much, but he was involved for a time with a cute, much younger blonde named Jody Donovan.

I only know that because they were on "Tattletales" together around 1976. It was odd, because the couples on TT were always married, except for Glenn Ford who appeared with his fiancee in a few episodes, but when Richard and Jody appeared, they were introduced as "Richard Dawson and his lady, Jody Donovan". His lady? So they weren't even engaged, yet there they were on a show for married celebrity couples. I suppose they just wanted Richard on the show for his star power so they overlooked the premise of the game to get him.

But I think you're both right, my guess is that Richard was a player, simply because he liked pretty women and his fame/money allowed him to be one. His first marriage, to "the British Marilyn Monroe", Diana Dors, was by all accounts, disastrous and he ended up with their two sons after the divorce. It sounds like she was pretty and sexy but not much of a wife or mother.

[–] Greatornot 9 years ago

Richard Dawson hooked up with a lady and married her when she was a contestant on FAMILY FEUD.

[–] kurt-2000 9 years ago

Richard was known for being a playboy. Before he because well known from Hogan's Heros he was married to a British bombshell actress who was gorgeous. They got divorced, but his taste for beautiful women continued throughout his career. I think he just wanted to hook up with as many gorgeous women as he could get away with. Typical entertainment industry temptation. Bob Crane was the same, but he had a full blown sex addiction.