Bill Carruthers

William H. Carruthers (September 27, 1930 – March 2, 2003) was an American television executive who gained his first fame as the director of The Soupy Sales Show at Detroit television station WXYZ-TV. He also directed the Ernie Kovacs-helmed game show, Take a Good Look, for ABC from 1959 to 1961.

Not to be confused with Bill Carrothers.
Bill Carruthers
Born
William H. Carruthers

(1930-09-27)September 27, 1930
Detroit, Michigan, United States
DiedMarch 2, 2003(2003-03-02) (aged 72)
Burbank, California, United States
OccupationTelevision executive, television director, television producer

Carruthers was born in Detroit, Michigan. He served in the Air Force for four years, and after serving, he took up a job at Detroit ABC O & O (Owned and Operated) WXYZ-TV. One day, he showed up to the station to work when he was told at the last minute, the regular director was unable to direct The Soupy Sales Show, he stepped in to direct the show. He was named the permanent director, and moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1959 upon the show becoming nationally distributed.[1]

He went on to be the director on The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game before starting his own production company in 1968. His company, The William Carruthers Company, produced the ABC country music series The Johnny Cash Show in 1969 with his partner Joel Stein for Screen Gems. He also produced and directed game shows including Give-n-Take, The Neighbors, Second Chance (all with Warner Bros. Television), Lee Trevino's Golf for Swingers (with advertising agency McCann Erickson) and the 1975 version of You Don't Say! (with Ralph Andrews Productions and Warner Bros. Television), before hitting it big with the CBS game show, Press Your Luck (which was a retooling of the earlier Second Chance), which ran from 1983–86. He was the voice for the multiple Whammy animations on the show.[2]

As a television consultant, Carruthers guided the Nixon, Ford,[3][4] Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations on effective use of the media.[5][6][7]

In the 1990s, he produced specials for The Family Channel, called Marry Me, as well as a short-lived game show for ESPN, Designated Hitter.[8]

He suffered a stroke on set in 1996. This led to his retirement, which eventually led to his death from heart failure in 2003.[9] Two weeks after his death, Game Show Network aired a documentary called Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal about a contestant on the Carruthers co-created Press Your Luck named Michael Larson. The documentary detailed how Larson created a method that allowed him to win a record-breaking sum of over $100,000 on the game show. Carruthers was interviewed for the program, which marked his last appearance before his death. The original airing of the documentary was dedicated in his memory. Today, the rights to the Press Your Luck format are owned by the British multi-national media company Fremantle.

References
  1. "Bill Carruthers". Variety. March 7, 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2018. In true Cinderella fashion, he showed up to work one day on the local “Soupy Sales Show” and after being told at the last minute the director was unable to do the program, volunteered to fill in — and became the show’s new director. He moved his family to Hollywood in 1959 when the show went national. A year later, he began working with other skeins including “The Steve Allen Show” and “The Ernie Kovaks Show.”
  2. Pirnia, Garon (September 26, 2016). "11 Whammy-Free Facts About Press Your Luck". Mental Floss. Retrieved February 17, 2018. I [Savage Steve Holland] was asked by the producer Bill Carruthers to invent a bad creature that stole people’s money,” Holland told Collider. “I drew something on a napkin and the producer said, ‘That’s it!’ He [Bill Carruthers] did the voice, not me. I animated that little fella on the most primitive computer animation system on Earth. It was steam-powered. But I love my terribly animated Whammies!
  3. Lelyveld, Joseph (1976-09-20). "Aides Narrow Risk in Debate". The New York Times. p. 1 Col. 2. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-19. On the Ford side, there is considerable respect for Mr. Carter and his abilities as a television performer. “He's an incredible opponent,” said Bill Carruthers, a Los Angeles television producer who advised former President Nixon in all his television appearances and recently was recalled to the White House to perform the same function for Mr. Ford.
  4. "The Rachel Maddow Show, Transcript 9/27/2016". MSNBC. Retrieved 2020-11-19. REPORTER: The thin man with the blue jacket and searching eyes is Bill Carruthers, Mr. Ford's cosmetic advance man. He's searching for risks, anything among the lights, the cameras, the podiums, the equipment, the atmosphere that might distract Mr. Ford. He's at Ford's podium now rehearsing the sound system.; BILL CARRUTHERS: Quiet, please.
  5. "Ford Gets Television Aide". The New York Times. UPI. 1976-07-30. p. 7 Col. 4. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-19. [Carruthers] is expected to be on the staff of David Gergen, the new director of White House communications, with whom he worked on President Richard Nixon's campaign in 1972.
  6. "Bill Carruthers, 72; Directed 'Soupy Sales Show,' 'Dating Game'". Los Angeles Times. 2003-03-13. Retrieved 2020-11-19.
  7. Carruthers, Bill; Duval, Mike; Smith, Dorrance (18 October 1976). "1976 Presidential Debates, "Input - Bill Carruthers" of the Michael Raoul-Duval Papers" (PDF). The White House. p. 1 (Sheet 10). Retrieved 19 November 2020 – via Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. cc: Dick Cheney, Dave Gergen
  8. "Short Takes". Variety. July 16, 1993. Retrieved February 17, 2018. ESPN has ordered a sports trivia gameshow pilot, “Designated Hitter,” from the William Carruthers Co. and Kitchen Table Prods. Curt Chaplin will host.
  9. "Bill Carruthers". Variety. March 7, 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2018. TV director-producer Bill Carruthers, who began his career in the 1950s as helmer of the pie-throwing “Soupy Sales” show, died March 2 in L.A. of heart failure, after being sidelined by a stroke six years before. He was 72.
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