Dennis James (August 24, 1917 June 3, 1997), born Demie James Sposa, was an

American television personality, actor, and announcer. Up until 1976 he had

appeared on TV more times and for a longer period than any other television
star. He is credited as the host of television's first network game show, the
DuMont Network's Cash and Carry (1946). James was also the first person to host
a telethon (raising over $700,000,000 for United Cerebral Palsy throughout his
career), the first to appear in a television commercial, first to emcee a variety
show, and first to appear on video tape.[1][2]

Contents

1 Early career and life

2 Game show career
3 Other work
4 Death
5 Family
6 References
7 External links

Early career and life

James was born to Demetrio Ernest Sposa and Teresa Amorosi, both of Italian
descent.[3] Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, James began his career in radio with
WNEW (now WBBR) and moved to television in 1938, working for the soon-to-
become-DuMont Television Network station WABD, which helped to found the
DuMont network in 1946 (WABD is now WNYW.) James became the host of game
shows, such as the ABC version of Chance of a Lifetime (195253), and served as
commentator for DuMont's wrestling and boxing shows, such as Boxing From
Jamaica Arena (194849) and Amateur Boxing Fight Club (194950). He hosted
the DuMont daytime variety show Okay, Mother (194851) with Julia Meade.

James often addressed the TV audience as "Mother", a practice he had begun

when discussing the finer points of wrestling during his sports broadcasts.[4] He
feared the men in the audience would be insulted by the implication that they
didn't already know the rules (even if they didn't), but would accept that James
was merely explaining things for the benefit of women viewers.
Game show career
Dennis James on the syndicated version of The Price Is Right
Known as the "Dean of Game Show Hosts", James started his game show hosting
career with the first network game show, Cash and Carry on the Dumont network
from 1946 to 1947. During the 195354 season, James was the announcer of the
quiz program Judge for Yourself, which aired on NBC, with Fred Allen as the
emcee.[5]

In 1956, he and Bert Parks hosted the ABC musical game show Stop the Music.
[6] In 1956, James emceed High Finance on CBS in which contestants answered
current events questions to build up a jackpot for prizes.

James also appeared with Bill Leyden in the 196264 NBC quiz program Your First
Impression. James's game show hosting duties spanned four decades, as he
presided over shows such as The Name's the Same, Haggis Baggis, People Will
Talk, and PDQ, and the talent shows Chance of a Lifetime and Your All-American
College Show. James was the official commercial presenter of the one-episode
You're in the Picture, and appeared on the subsequent "apology" episode as well.
His last new game show hosting gig was the NBC daytime revival of Name That
Tune (197475).

James was a regular substitute host for Monty Hall on Let's Make a Deal
beginning in January 1972, when he caught the attention of Mark Goodson and
Bill Todman, who was putting together The New Price Is Right for syndication; the
new format would incorporate the original format from 19561965 with elements
from Let's Make a Deal. James and Goodson co-hosted a promotional film, selling
stations on the 1972 revival of the show, which was originally hosted by James's
fellow TV pioneer Bill Cullen. CBS (at the time re-entering the game show market
after four years without any) agreed to pick up a daytime version of the show,
but only if James was axed and Truth or Consequences host Bob Barker was
hired. After some negotiation, Barker took the daytime show, which he hosted
until 2007, while James hosted a weekly version for the syndicated market, the
latter of which aired in the "access period" leading into prime time and was thus
known as The Nighttime Price Is Right. James hosted the weekly show from
197277, and also filled in for Barker during four daytime episodes taped on
December 2, 1974 and aired from December 24 to 27 of that year, becoming the
only substitute host in the CBS version's history. (There have been two cases of
substitutes since 2014, but in each case, they were part of April Fool's Day gags.)
James's departure from the nighttime show in 1977 marked the end of his game
show career.