Jack Barry was born March 20, 1918 in Lindenhurst, New York, the son of Cecelia took over and Kline and Friends was formed by Richard Kline.
At the time of his sudden death in the spring of 1984, he was planning to retire from The Jokers Wild, and wanted Jim Peck (who occasionally served as the shows substitute host) as his successor. His plan was to announce his retirement at the start of the 1984-1985 season, at which point he would have given the hosting duties to Peck. However, after he died, his business partner Dan Enright hired Bill Cullen instead.
Suffered a fatal heart attack while jogging in Central Park in May 1984.
Introduced most of his later game shows as "a most cordial welcome to...".
He was the son of Cecelia (Hepner) and Max Barasch. His father was an Austrian Jewish immigrant. His mother was born in Pennsylvania, to Russian Jewish parents.
