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Jim Lange, Host Of ‘The Dating Game,’ Dies At 81
Jim Lange, the popular host of the long-running game show The Dating Game, died after suffering a heart attack on Feb. 25. He was 81-years-old.
Lange is best known for hosting the show from 1965-1980, and welcomed many celebrity guests to the set including Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Steve Martin and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The format of the show was centered around a young man or woman who would ask three members of the opposite sex questions to determine which would make the best date.
The three potential suitors were hidden from view, so the guy or girl would pick based on their answers rather than their looks.
When Michael Jackson appeared on the program in 1972, he asked one girl, "I've never been out on a date before. What do two kids like us do on a date?"
The girl's answer: "Well, we'd have fun. We'd go out to dinner, and then I'd go over to your house."
Though he hosted other game shows such as Hollywood Connection, $100,000 Name That Tune and The New Newlywed Game, Lange had a passion for radio and worked as a disc jockey for decades in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The Minnesota native once said he preferred the medium because "you don't have to wear makeup and you don't have to shave."
He is survived by his wife Nancy, five children, two stepchildren and four grandchildren.
See the host (and Michael Jackson!) in action below:
