'Card Sharks' Game Show Host Jim Perry Dead At 82

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Complex Original

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Jim Perry, host of NBC game shows Card Sharks and Sale of the Century, has died at the age of 82. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he had been battling cancer for five years and passed away Friday in Oregon.

Perry hosted a number of shows such as CTV’s Headline Hunters from 1972-1983 and Definition, which was the longest-running game show in Canadian television history when it ended in 1989. He began hosting Card Sharks in 1978 and stayed on for six years before adding Sale of the Century to his resume in 1982.

Additional notable projects include a three-year Las Vegas stint with Sid Caesar, emceeing the Miss Canada Pageant from 1967-1990, and serving as announcer on 1969’s That Show, which starred Joan Rivers.

He is survived by June, his wife of 56 years, children Sean and Erin, and three grandchildren. The family has released a statement on his passing:

“Today we lost the greatest father, friend and husband anybody could ever wish for,” it read. “While he provided decades of entertainment to millions of people, his greatest victory was his growth as a human being—rising from a childhood filled with challenges including great poverty to provide an amazing life for his family. The world is a better place for his having been here.”

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