Ray Combs

Ray Combs
Born	Raymond Neil Combs, Jr. April 3, 1956(1956-04-03) Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.
Died	June 2, 1996(1996-06-02) (aged 40) Glendale, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide
Occupation	Actor, comedian, game show host
Years active	1983–1996

Raymond Neil "Ray" Combs, Jr. (April 3, 1956 – June 2, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, and host of the game show Family Feud on CBS and in syndication from 1988 to 1994.

Early life and career

Combs was born in Hamilton, Ohio. He graduated from high school in 1974, where he was an actor, senior class president, and Boys State delegate. Combs declined a nomination to the United States Military Academy to serve as a Mormon missionary for two years in Arizona.

Combs began performing comedy at Cincinnati's Red Dog Saloon, where he developed his best-known shtick of audience sing-alongs of sitcom theme songs. In 1979, Combs sent a letter to David Letterman asking for advice; the comedian encouraged him to continue in comedy. In 1982, convinced that he was better than others he saw appear on The Tonight Show, Combs quit his job as an Indianapolis furniture salesman and moved with his family to Los Angeles. He did well in a competition with more than 200 young comedians, and began doing audience warm-ups for sitcoms such as The Golden Girls and Amen. Johnny Carson heard the audience's laughter and then invited Combs to perform on The Tonight Show in October 1986; the audience gave the comedian a standing ovation.

In 1987, he appeared as a celebrity panelist on the John Davidson version of Hollywood Squares, and had a small role in the comedy film Overboard starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. In 1985, he appeared on an episode of The Facts of Life (episode "Doo-Wah") as a background character. Around this time he also had appeared as a guest star on an episode of The Golden Girls.

Host of Family Feud

In 1988, game show producers Mark Goodson and Howard Felsher gave Combs a seven-year contract to host a new version of Family Feud. The program premiered July 4, 1988 on CBS's daytime lineup, and a syndicated version was launched two months later, on September 19. According to Feud announcer Gene Wood, Combs also toured extensively around the United States to promote the show and made guest appearances on Card Sharks and The Price Is Right to discuss the new version of Family Feud.

On June 29, 1992, CBS expanded the daytime show from thirty minutes to one hour. The Bullseye round was added and the show was rechristened as Family Feud Challenge. Two and a half months later, on September 14, the Bullseye round was integrated into the syndicated run. This edition, however, remained thirty minutes in length, but was rechristened as The New Family Feud.

By 1993, however, ratings for the show began to slide. CBS canceled the daytime version on September 10 (although the show had been in reruns since March 29 as many CBS affiliates had dropped the show entirely by that time), and the syndicated version was also in danger of cancellation. Jonathan Goodson, who became chairman of Mark Goodson Productions after the death of his father, Mark Goodson, a year earlier, made the decision to replace Combs with original host Richard Dawson. The taping of his final episode aired in first-run syndication on May 27, 1994. During the "Fast Money" bonus round, the five answers given by the second contestant each netted zero points. Ray joked, "You know, I've done this show for six years and this [is] the first time I had a person that actually got no points and I think it's a damn fine way to go out. Thought I was a loser until you walked up here. You made me look like a man." Then, instead of mingling with the two competing families at the end of the show, Combs walked off the set immediately after his sign-off, got in his car and drove away.

Other appearances

Combs also made an appearance for the World Wrestling Federation as a guest ring announcer at WrestleMania VIII, where he amused the capacity crowd at Indianapolis' Hoosier Dome by lashing into the team of the Nasty Boys, The Mountie, and Repo Man with various scathing insults before being ultimately chased out of the ring. He later served as a guest commentator alongside Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan at Survivor Series 1993.

These two appearances were also met with various WWF/WBF celebrity editions of Family Feud; Heenan and Combs also struck up a friendship, which Heenan recounted in his autobiography, noting that he believed Combs felt demeaned by being a game show host. Combs also portrayed himself in episodes of In Living Color and 227 in Family Feud sketches and made an appearance on the TNN television series The Statler Brothers Show, where he did a stand-up comedy routine.

Career decline and death

In July 1994, Combs injured his spinal disc in a car accident which left him in permanent pain. He also went through financial problems after two of his comedy clubs failed and his home in Hamilton, Ohio, went into foreclosure. In September 1995, Combs and Debbie, his wife of 18 years with whom he had six children, separated. The couple reconciled but later refiled for divorce.

Combs made several attempts to make it back into television, including as the host of the Family Challenge on The Family Channel. Approximately one week prior to his death, Combs appeared on television for the last time, live on a Memorial Day edition of The Home and Family Show with Cristina Ferrare and Chuck Woolery on May 27, 1996, where he talked about his experiences while hosting Family Challenge.

On June 1, 1996, police were called to Combs' home over reports of a disturbance. Combs had reportedly destroyed the inside of his home and had also been banging his head against the walls. Shortly after police arrived, Combs' estranged wife Debbie arrived and informed police that Combs was suicidal and had spent the previous week in the hospital for a suicide attempt. Combs was then admitted to the psychiatric ward of Glendale Adventist Medical Center and placed on a 72-hour mental observation hold. Early the next morning, Combs fashioned a noose from his hospital sheets and hanged himself in a closet. He was 40 years old. Combs's body was flown back to his hometown of Hamilton, Ohio, where he was interred. Alsace Avenue in Hamilton, Ohio, was renamed Ray Combs Avenue in his memory.

External links

• Ray Combs at the Internet Movie Database
• Ray Combs at Find a Grave

Media offices
Preceded by Richard Dawson	Host of Family Feud 1988–1994	Succeeded by Richard Dawson