Chuck Woolery Biography

Charles Herbert Woolery was born in Ashland, Kentucky, US on March 16, 1941. He completed his high school graduation and then went on to serve the United States Navy for two years.

He worked with Wasserstrom Wine & Import Company in Columbus, Ohio as a wine consultant in 1963. He also worked as a sales representative for Pillsbury Company for some time.

Chuck Woolery became a member of the folk song trio called The Bordermen and sang and played the double bass with them in the early 1960s. In 1967, he formed the American psychedelic pop group called The Avant-Garde with Elkin "Bubba" Fowler. The duo released three singles on Columbia Records during 1967-68, namely Yellow Beads, Naturally Stoned and Fly with Me! Although Naturally Stoned climbed at #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in mid-1968, the group disbanded following release of Fly with Me! and did not release any full album. While trying to make his mark in the music industry, Woolery supplemented his income working as a truck driver.

He later endeavoured as a solo artist and spawned five records with Columbia. He signed with RCA label after 1970 and came up with the single Forgive My Heart. His next single with the label titled Love Me, Love Me, released in 1971, hardly made any impact following which he turned his focus into acting.

Chuck Woolery starred as Mr. Dingle in the American half-hour children's television show titled New Zoo Revue that ran in first-run syndication from January 24, 1972 to 1977. In 1973, he played Mr. Thompson in the segment Love and the Cozy Comrades from the ABC aired anthology comedy television series Love, American Style. The following year he appeared as Pilot Rogers in the short film Sonic Boom as also made his first game show appearance featuring with his then-wife Jo Ann Pflug in an episode of Tattletales.

The brief summer revival version of the American radio and television music program Your Hit Parade that was brought back by CBS in 1974 and 1975 featured Chuck Woolery. He starred alongside Stephen Boyd, Cheryl Ladd and Rosey Grier in the 1975 American film The Treasure of Jamaica Reef (also known as Evil in the Deep). Moving on, he appeared in TV movie A Guide for the Married Woman (1978); in TV series $weepstake$ (1979), Romance Theatre (1982), 227 (1989), and Scrubs (2004); and in the films Six Pack (1982) and Cold Feet (1989).

While appearing in several television and film projects, Chuck Woolery resumed his singing career in the late 1970s and became a country music artist on Warner Bros. Records and later Epic Records. Two songs of Woolery namely Painted Lady released in 1977 through Warner Bros. Records and The Greatest Love Affair released in 1980 through Epic Records charted on Hot Country Songs. He also co-wrote the song The Joys of Being a Woman with Dan Hoffman that formed part of the 1971 album of Tammy Wynette titled We Sure Can Love Each Other and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Country Singles chart.

In the mean time, Merv Griffin, who saw Woolery sing on The Tonight Show, created the American television game show Wheel of Fortune and suggested Woolery to host it. The network version of the show that premiered on January 6, 1975, was originally hosted by Woolery and Susan Stafford. Woolery departed from the show in 1981 following a salary dispute with its producers and was replaced by Pat Sajak. He later mentioned in a 2007 interview that as the show was drawing a 44 share during that time, he asked for a raise from $65,000 per annum to about $500,000 per annum because other hosts were also earning that much. He was offered $400,000 per annum by Griffin and the additional $100,000 by NBC; however when Griffin threatened to shift the show to CBS, NBC withdrew the offer. Contract of Woolery was not renewed and he appeared on the show for the last time on December 25, 1981.

Woolery then went on to make a niche as a host with different television game shows like Love Connection (1983–1994), Scrabble (1984–1990, 1993), The Big Spin (1985), The Dating Game (1997–1999), TV Land Ultimate Fan Search (1999–2000), Greed (1999–2000), Lingo (2002–2007) and Think Like a Cat (2008); and talk shows including Home & Family (1996–1998, co-host with Cristina Ferrare) and his own short-lived show The Chuck Woolery Show (1991).

Chuck Woolery also starred in the short-lived American reality television show called Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned that centred on him and his family, particularly his personal life and his work as host of Lingo. The show aired for six episodes on Game Show Network between June 15 and July 27 in 2003.

He hosted the staged production show The Price Is Right Live! at Harrah's Entertainment casinos, and featured in $250,000 Game Show Spectacular, a live stage show, at the Westgate Las Vegas till April 2008.

He hosts Save Us, Chuck Woolery, a nationally syndicated radio commentary show, since 2012. The show developed from a series of humorous political YouTube videos of Woolery that led him to emerge as a YouTube sensation. In 2014 Woolery started a long-format podcast, Blunt Force Truth that he co-hosts with Mark Young.

Woolery actively supports the Republican Party, and donates predominantly for Republican and conservative causes. He backs Conservatism in the United States and has spoken in favour of the subject.

He made several tweets in May 2017 including the one where he mentioned that Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin were both Jewish following which he was accused of anti-Semitism.

He tweeted conspiracy theories on July 12, 2020, saying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Democratic Party, medical practitioners and the media, were lying about the COVID-19 pandemic. His claims were retweeted by the then US President Donald Trump. The next day however Woolery tweeted that the "COVID-19 pandemic is real" and mentioned that his son had tested positive for the virus. Twitter account of Woolery was made private for some time.

Chuck Woolery was married to Margaret Hayes from 1961 to 1971. Their two children include Katherine and Chad among whom Chad died in a motorcycle accident in January 1986.

He married American film and television actress Jo Ann Pflug at the Knowles Memorial Chapel at Rollins College in Orlando, Florida, on December 21, 1972. Together they have a daughter called Melissa. Woolery’s second marriage also culminated into divorce in 1980.

His third marriage with Teri Nelson, adopted daughter of American actor, director, and producer David Nelson, lasted from March 16, 1985 to June 11, 2004. Woolery have two sons through Teri namely Michael and Sean. Meanwhile, Woolery had to undergo a quadruple-bypass heart surgery in Los Angeles on September 23, 1996.

On July 17, 2006, Woolery married Kim Barnes. He is a Christian and volunteers in ministry.