The host of Match Game, one of the top TV game shows of the 1960s and 70s, Rayburn was nominated for five daytime Emmy awards, and was recently awarded a lifetime achievement Emmy. He started out as an opera singer, but ended up a disk jockey in New York City.
Before a long career in game shows, including Tattletales, Play Your Hunch and Tic Tac Dough, he was Steve Allen’s sidekick on the original Tonight show. He died November 29 of congestive heart failure in Massachusetts. He was 81.