Career
He spent his early television career hosting shows in Miami, Florida before moving to New York in the 1960s. After his first national hosting job on the game Make a Face (American Broadcasting Company, 1961–1962), Clayton assumed announcing duties on the long-running National Broadcasting Company game Concentration in 1963, and took over hosting duties on the show in January 1969 as successor from original emcee Hugh Downs. He was suddenly replaced in March 1969 by Editor McMahon, but later returned in September 1969 after viewer outrage and declining audience ratings.
Wayne Howell replaced Clayton in the announcer"s booth.
Clayton remained on the show until its 1973 cancellation. Clayton also had a brief flirtation with the movies when he played the bell captain in Jerry Lewis" 1960 film, The Bellboy, which was shot on location in Miami.
After the cancellation of Concentration, Clayton served as announcer on several shows created by Bob Stewart, including the Pyramid series of games, beginning with Columbia Broadcasting System" The $10,000 Pyramid in 1973. Pyramid began airing the Monday after the final episode of Concentration aired, in the same time slot, though on another network.
Other Stewart shows he did included Blankety Blanks, Shoot for the Stars and Pass the Buck.
Clayton died of cardiac arrest in 1979. Steve O"Brien, a New York disc jockey, took over Pyramid, and he and Alan Kalter announced the show for the remainder of its days in New York, particularly towards the end of its daytime network run on American Broadcasting Company-television as The $20,000 Pyramid in 1980, and finally in first-run syndication as The $50,000 Pyramid until 1981.
