Tom Kennedy

Tom Kennedy, born James Edward Narz on February 26, 1927, in Louisville, Kentucky, was an American performer and television host who worked across Broadway, radio, and game show television throughout a career spanning several decades. He died on October 7, 2020, at his home in Oxnard, California, at the age of 93.

Narz adopted the professional name Tom Kennedy to avoid confusion with his older brother, Jack Narz (1922–2008), also a television host. As their nephew David explained, the two brothers were concerned about the perceived conflict of having two announcers with the same last name working in competing capacities. Following a lunch meeting with his agent, James Narz emerged from the encounter as Tom Kennedy. The brothers were later jointly honored in July 2005 as co-recipients of the Game Show Congress's Bill Cullen Award for Lifetime Achievement; Cullen was a brother-in-law of both men.

Kennedy attended the University of Missouri and the University of Kentucky. While studying in Columbia, Missouri, he worked at radio station KFRU, and during his time in Lexington, Kentucky, he was employed at WKLX. After relocating to Los Angeles, he spent five years at KPOL and held a part-time position at KGIL. Early in his career he also performed TV commercial spots for Regal Beer on Ozark Jubilee, an ABC series that ran from 1955 to 1960, appearing in those spots under his birth name, Jim Narz.

His Broadway career brought him to the stage in 1951, when he appeared in Jotham Valley. On television, Kennedy built his reputation primarily through game show hosting. His longest-running and most prominent series was You Don't Say!, which aired on NBC from 1963 to 1969 and returned on ABC in 1975. He also hosted Split Second from 1972 to 1975, Name That Tune from 1974 to 1981, and Password Plus from 1980 to 1982, taking over the latter following the illness and subsequent death of its original host, Allen Ludden.

Kennedy's additional hosting credits included The Big Game in 1958, Dr. I.Q. from 1958 to 1959, It's Your Bet from 1971 to 1972, Break the Bank in 1976, 50 Grand Slam in 1976, To Say the Least from 1977 to 1978, Whew! from 1979 to 1980, Body Language from 1984 to 1986, a syndicated nighttime edition of The Price Is Right from 1985 to 1986, and Wordplay from 1986 to 1987. In the early 1970s he briefly hosted a talk program called The Real Tom Kennedy Show, and he appeared as a guest panelist on To Tell the Truth, Hollywood Squares, and Liar's Club, among other programs. As an actor, he made guest appearances on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Cannon, That Girl, and Hardcastle and McCormick. In 2003 he returned to Hollywood Squares during its Game Show Week Part 2 broadcast.

Kennedy retired in 1989 after several game show pilots produced through his production company did not sell.