Allen Ludden

 

Television Personality. He is remembered as the emcee and host of the CBS television game show "Password" that aired daily from October 1961 to September 1967 and later on ABC from April 1971 until June 1975. Born Allen Packard Ellsworth, his father was an ice dealer who died soon afterwards in the 1918 Influenza Epidemic. At age five, his mother remarried the town physician and he adopted his surname Ludden. He then moved to Texas with his family where he attended the University of Texas at Austin, Texas, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1940 and a Master of Arts Degree in 1941. Following the US entry into World War II in December 1941, he joined the US Army and received a Bronze Star during his overseas service. Following his discharge in 1946 at the rank of captain, he began working as a youth advisor in teen magazines and on the radio, and hosted the teen radio show "Mind Your Manners" that received a Peabody Award in 1950. In 1959 he became the host of the CBS television student quiz show "General Electric College Bowl" until 1962 and in October 1961 he began his run as the host of "Password." He hosted other television game shows, including "Win With the Stars" (1968 to 1969), the short-lived "Stumpers!" (October to December 1976), "Liar's Club" (1977 to 1979), and "Password Plus" (1979 to 1980). Additionally, he penned four books of "Plain Talk" advice, along with a novel for young readers, "Roger Thomas, Actor" (1959), and was the recipient of the 1961 Horatio Alger Award. He died from stomach cancer in Los Angeles, California at the age of 63. At the time of his death, he was married to actress and popular television personality Betty White. findagrave