Monty Hall (born Monte Halparin; August 25, 1921 – September 30, 2017) was a Canadian radio and television show host who moved to the United States in 1955 to pursue a career in broadcasting. After working as a radio newsreader and sportscaster, Hall returned to television in the U.S., this time in game shows. Starting in 1963, he was best known as the game show host and producer of Let's Make a Deal. He had a conundrum with game theory and psychology aspects named after him: the Monty Hall problem. Behind the scenes, Hall also carried on an active life of philanthropy.
Early life
Hall was born as Monte Halparin in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on August 25, 1921, to Orthodox Jewish parents Maurice Harvey Halparin, who owned a slaughterhouse, and Rose (née Rusen). He was raised in Winnipeg's north end, where he attended Lord Selkirk School (Elmwood, Winnipeg), and, later St. John's High School. Hall graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba, where he majored in chemistry and zoology. He was sponsored through university by Max Freed, a local businessman who was a customer of his father. Originally though, Hall had hoped to go to medical school but was not admitted due to secret quotas restricting the number of Jewish students admitted.
Career
Hall's first radio job was working for CKRC radio in Winnipeg while still a student. He briefly worked for the Canadian Wheat Board after graduating before deciding to pursue a full-time career in broadcasting. He moved to Toronto in 1946 and found a job with radio station CHUM, where management shortened his name to Hall and misspelled his first name as "Monty" on billboards, giving him the stage name "Monty Hall". For the next decade he hosted and produced a number of programs for radio stations in Toronto, as well as Who Am I? on CFRB, which was distributed nationally in Canada through private syndication until 1959. He also had several short-lived programmes on CBC Television after it was launched in 1952, but when they were cancelled and another program he had conceived was taken away from him, Hall decided he had no future in Canadian television.
Hall moved to New York City in 1955, attempting to break into American broadcasting, but commuted to Toronto several times a month to record episode blocks of Who Am I? In New York, Hall hosted game shows such as Bingo at Home on WABD-TV and guest-hosted more established game shows such as Strike It Rich on CBS and Twenty-One on NBC.
On September 15, 1956, Hall began a seven-month stint hosting the Saturday-afternoon series Cowboy Theater, broadcast nationally on the NBC network. Hall's segments were performed live from NBC's New York studio, and the films were Columbia Pictures' 1935-42 westerns starring Charles Starrett.
Hall later hosted the children's program Fun in the Morning for WNEW (Ch. 5) in the early 1960s. From 1956 to 1960, along with NBC Radio newsman Morgan Beatty, Hall co-hosted the Saturday night segment of the NBC Radio Network weekend program Monitor from 8 p.m. until midnight (EST). At least two recordings of Hall on Monitor are known to exist.
Hall was a radio analyst for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League during the 1959–1960 season.
He succeeded Jack Narz as host of a game show called Video Village, which ran from 1960 to 1962 on CBS. From 1961 to 1962, Hall hosted its spinoff, Video Village Junior, which featured children. After moving to Southern California, Hall became the host of the game show Let's Make a Deal, which he developed and produced with partner Stefan Hatos. Let's Make a Deal aired on NBC daytime from December 30, 1963, to December 27, 1968, and on ABC daytime from December 30, 1968, until July 9, 1976, along with two prime time runs. It aired in syndication from 1971 to 1977, from 1980 to 1981, from 1984 to 1986, and again on NBC briefly from 1990 to 1991, with Hall replacing Bob Hilton, who had been dismissed. He was producer or executive producer of the show through most of its runs. During the show's initial run, Hall appeared alongside model Carol Merrill and announcer Jay Stewart.
In 1969, he guest-starred on season 4, episode 5, of That Girl, playing Dr. Pellman, a dentist.