Name Bill Carruthers | Role Television Director | |
Died March 2, 2003, Burbank, California, United States Nominations Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Coverage of Special Events Movies and TV shows Press Your Luck, Whammy! The All‑New P, Second Chance, Frank Sinatra: The Main Similar People Peter Tomarken, Rod Roddy, Savage Steve Holland, Chuck Barris, Charlie O'Donnell | ||
Bill Carruthers Feature Editing entry
Bill Carruthers (September 27, 1930 – March 2, 2003), born in Detroit, Michigan, was a television executive who gained his first fame as the director of The Soupy Sales Show at Detroit television station WXYZ-TV. He also directed the Ernie Kovacs-helmed game show, Take a Good Look, for ABC from 1959 to 1961.
He went on to be the director on The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game before starting his own production company in 1968. His company, The William Carruthers Company, produced the critically acclaimed ABC country music series The Johnny Cash Show in 1969 with his partner Joel Stein for Screen Gems. He also produced and directed game shows including Give-n-Take, The Neighbors, Second Chance (all with Warner Bros. Television), Lee Trevino's Golf for Swingers (with advertising agency McCann Erickson) and the 1975 version of You Don't Say! (with Ralph Andrews Productions and Warner Bros. Television), before hitting it big with the CBS game show, Press Your Luck, which ran from 1983-86. He was the voice for the multiple whammy animations on the show.
In the 1990s, he produced specials for The Family Channel, called Marry Me, as well as a short-lived game show for ESPN, Designated Hitter.
He suffered a stroke in 1996, which eventually led to his death from heart failure in 2003.