Mark Goodson

Goodson's career could have gone in any of a number of directions. He began in 1937 as a disc jockey in San Francisco and moved to New York several years later to work as a freelance radio announcer. Before long he was emceeing a radio game show, "The Jack Dempsy Sports Quiz." Goodson next briefly turned his attention to acting, displaying a flair for Japanese and German dialects on a WWII radio series, "We the People." Then Goodson created his first radio series, the ABC drama "Appointment With Life," based on the files of a marriage counselor. He went on to write and direct installments of "The Kate Smith Variety Hour."The Goodson-Todman dynasty began with the premiere of "Winner Takes All" on CBS radio in 1946. They followed up with the immensely popular "What's My Line," which debuted on CBS-TV on February 1, 1950, and ran for 17 years in primetime before ascending to syndication heaven. Over the long run of the show, various mystery guests including Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Roosevelt, Carl Sandburg, and Barbra Streisand stumped the blindfolded celebrity panel. By 1956, Goodson-Todman was the largest packager of game shows in the US. At least one of their shows has been on the air each week since 1950. Goodman eventually branched out from TV and extended his domain to include publishing. In 1986, he created the Goodson Newspaper Group and consolidated his earlier purchases of various daily and weekly newspapers. The group now boasts eight dailies, six Sunday papers, and 25 paid and free weekly newspapers.