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Telescope: Monty Hall

Broadcast Date: Oct. 17, 1970

It's a far cry from delivering meat on a bicycle in the 40 below weather of a Winnipeg winter. Monty Hall may have started life as a butcher's son, but today he's basking in the warm rays of Hollywood success. It took him years to convince anyone that an emcee working knee-deep in the audience would work, but his top-rated daytime game show Let's Make a Deal proved him right. This Telescope profile meets the modest man behind the flamboyant show in just a few of his many guises.

Telescope: Monty Hall

• Born Maurice Halperin in Winnipeg in 1921, Monty Hall graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1945. Eager for a career as an actor or sports broadcaster, Hall moved to Toronto where he worked on several CBC productions, including hosting television variety shows Matinee Party and The Floor Show. In 1947, he married a young CBC actress named Marilyn Plottel.

• In 1955, Hall moved to New York City, where he worked in both radio and television. He anchored Monitor, a newsmagazine on NBC Radio, and game shows Strike it Rich and Keep Talking on CBS Television. In 1960, he began hosting another game show, Video Village, which took him to Hollywood. There, in 1963, he and Stefan Hatos pitched Let's Make a Deal to NBC Television. The show was an immediate hit and ran on and off until 1986.

• A prodigious philanthropist, Hall holds three honorary doctorates and numerous awards for his efforts raising money for children's charities in particular. In 1988, he was invested with the Order of Canada, and in 2002 he was inducted into the Order of Manitoba. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. Hall lives with his wife Marilyn in Beverly Hills, California.

Telescope: Monty Hall

Medium: Television

Program: Telescope

Broadcast Date: Oct. 17, 1970

Guest(s): Monty Hall, Marilyn Hall

Host: Ken Cavanaugh

Duration: 22:02

Last updated:
April 4, 2008