This tv show was actually two programs in one. First, Groucho Marx would "interview" two contestants by asking them questions about their lives. Groucho was truly a master at finding a joke somewhere in just about every answer they gave. After the "joking around" portion of the program, the quiz show would begin. The contestants could win money by correctly an- swering trivia questions. This process would continue with more pairs of contestants and the pair that won the most money would get a bonus round.
You Bet Your Life Cast:
Groucho Marx ........ Host
George Fenneman ..... Announcer
Marilyn Burtis ...... Secret Word Girl
You Bet Your Life Trivia:
Author William Peter Blatty won $10,000 on the show and said he would use the money to take time off of work to write a novel. The novel he wrote turned out to be "The Exorcist".
You Bet Your Life ran from October of 1950 to September of 1961.
After his death, Groucho's children found a letter where he (jokingly) stated that he wanted to be buried on top of Marilyn Monroe! His death got very little attention because he died only three days after the death of Elvis Presley.
In the final season, the series' title was changed from "You Bet Your Life" to "The Groucho Show". The only other change was that the Duck was not always used to bring down the secret word. It might be a pretty girl and one time it was even Groucho's brother Harpo.
There were two rather unsuccessful attempts to revive the show. Buddy Hackett hosted a syndicated version in 1980 and Bill Cosby tried in in the early 1990s.
During the summer months, reruns of You Bet Your Life were shown and they were called "The Best of Groucho".
Some well-known contestants on the tv show included: Ray Bradbury, Phyllis Diller, Liberace, Edith Head, William Peter Blatty, Dimitri Tiomkin, Francis X. Bushman, Harry Ruby, Fay Spain and Daws Butler.
You Bet Your Life was nominated for 5 Emmys but didn't win any.
While the tv show was a continuation of the radio program, the original idea came from some appearances Groucho Marx made on the radio with Bob Hope.
Groucho started his career in vaudeville with his brothers Gummo, Zeppo, Chico and Harpo Marx. Gummo left the act before the remaining Marx brothers went on to making movies and is seldom mentioned.
The musical conductor for the program (Jerry Fielding) was called before the infamous "House Committee on Unamerican Activities" and refused to testify. The DeSoto-Plymouth Dealers of America (You Bet Your Life's sponsor) demanded that he be immediately fired! Fielding later stated that the committee wanted him to name Groucho Marx as a communist! Groucho said that giving in to the sponsor's demand to fire Fielding was one of the greatest regrets of his life!
You Bet Your Life Dvds Are Available At Amazon.com!
Choose From These You Bet Your Life Dvds:
The Best Episodes - 18 episodes plus extras including tons of outtakes and bloopers. Also, three Groucho series' pilots including "What Do You Want", "Tell It To Groucho", ... Read More
The Lost Episodes - Unseen since their original run in the early 50's! Plus a "making of" featurette and a 20 page booklet! ... Read More
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