Background

Monty was born as Monte Halparin on August 25, 1921, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was the son of Maurice Harvey and Rose (Rusen) Halparin.

Education

Monty 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 in 1945, where he majored in chemistry and zoology.

He received his Doctor Human Sciences (honorary) from Hanneman University in 1988. He also received a Doctor of Philosophy (honorary) from Haifa University in 1989.

Career

Monty immigrated to the United States in 1955.

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".

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. 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).

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.

In 1963 with Stefan Hatos he created Let's Make a Deal. The show ran from 1963 to 1986. Hall emceed and chose the contestants from the studio audience who dressed in costumes to attract attention. Alex McNeil in Total Television stated that Hall “was the perfect host for the show. Monty kept the show moving while he treated the outrageously garbed and occasionally greedy contestants courteously; it is hard to imagine anyone else but Hall working the trading area as skillfully.”

In 1979, Hall hosted the only game show since Video Village which he did not produce, Goodson-Todman's All-New Beat the Clock. Also, in 1979, Hall made an appearance on the game show Password Plus as a game show contestant. He appeared as himself on "The Promise Ring" episode of That '70s Show in 2001. He appeared on GSN Live on March 14, 2008, and hosted a game of Let's Make a Deal for Good Morning America on August 18, 2008, as part of Game Show Reunion week.

Following his exit from the television industry, Hall devoted himself to fundraising for various charities.

Achievements

• Monty Hall was best remembered as the original host of the popular TV gameshow "Let's Make a Deal". From the popularity of "Let's Make a Deal", mathematicians came up with the "Monty Hall Problem" used as a way to illustrate and approach probabilities. Hall would also appear as a guest on such popular TV gameshows as "Hollywood Squares", "Password Plus" and "Tattletales". In addition, he served as host for the Variety Club Telethon for charities.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Emcee Monty Hall 1973

• video

  • Watch TV's Greatest Game Shows

    (Laugh along to an Incredible 90 minute Collection of over...)

Membership

Monty Hall was a member of American Guild of Variety Artists, Actors’ Equity Association, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Screen Actors Guild, Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, Variety Clubs International, Variety Club of Southern California.

Interests

• golf, tennis

Connections

On September 28, 1947, Hall married his distant cousin, Marilyn Doreen Plottel (May 17, 1927 – June 5, 2017); the two had been introduced by a mutual cousin, Norman Shnier, the previous year. They had three children: Tony Award–winning actress Joanna Gleason; Sharon Hall Kessler, president of Endemol Shine Studios; and Richard Hall, an Emmy Award–winning television producer.

Father:

Maurice Harvey Halparin

Mother:

Rose (Rusen) Halparin

Spouse:

Marilyn Doreen Plottel

Daughter:

Joanna Gleason

Son:

Richard David Hall

Daughter:

Sharon Fay Hall

coworker:

Bill Libby

References

• Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television: Vol 4
  1987
• Contemporary Authors, Vol. 184
  2000