Wink Martindale Explains How He Got His Name
No, he didn't make up the moniker when he entered show business!
— -- Wink Martindale may be the most famous game show host of all time.
He thinks his notable name has something to do with it, though he credits somebody else for coming up with the moniker.
"When I was a kid in Jackson, Tennessee, one of my playmates, Jimmy McCord, couldn't say 'Winston,' which is my given name, and he had a speech impediment and it came out sounding like 'Winky,'" Martindale told ABC News. "So Winston turned into Winky, and then I got into the business and Wink [it was]! It served me well and I just kept Wink all these years."
Martindale, 80, who has partnered with Charmin, has hosted a number of game shows, from "Tic Tac Dough" to "Trivial Pursuit" over the course of his decades-long career. However, when asked if there are shows that he wishes he'd been a part of, he laughed and asked, "You got a half hour?"
"I love 'The Match Game,' which was Gene Rayburn, because it had double entendres and real suggestive stuff, which I think the audience loves," he said. "I think the best game that was ever created was probably 'Jeopardy' because of its simplistic way of playing."
Still friendly with fellow game show hosts Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek, Martindale is showing no signs of slowing down. He credits his wife of 39 years, Sandy, for helping to keep him looking and feeling young.
"I don't over-drink. I drink a little wine, that's it. I don't smoke. And we take vitamins," he noted. "But I've always attributed it to her!"
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