Canadian-American television host of Let’s Make a Deal, a top U.S. game show that premiered in 1963 and ran for 22 years. A well-known philanthropist who received more than 500 awards for his humanitarian work, Hall made prodigious fund-raising efforts. With more than 100 appearances every year in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom to raise money–$700 million, he claimed in 1996 – he aided causes ranging from the Variety Clubs International to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. In 1973, he published an autobiography, Emcee: Monty Hall.
The son of a butcher, Hall worked at a series of menial jobs until a local businessman loaned him the money that allowed him to earn a degree from the University of Manitoba in 1945. He served in the Canadian Army during World War II and emceed a series of Army shows as part of his military duties. After immigrating to the United States in 1955, Hall worked on NBC radio and NBC television as an anchor and monitor from 1955 to 1960 and as the host and narrator of NBC’s Cowboy Theater from 1956 to 1957. He also emceed the CBS programs Keep Talking and Video Village in 1958 and 1960.
Known to the American public as “America’s top trader, TV’s big dealer,” Hall inadvertently changed the format of Let’s Make a Deal forever when he chose a contestant wearing a funny hat. From then on, the audience members began to arrive dressed in outlandish homemade costumes, and the wackiness that resulted propelled the show into a TV legend. The popularity of the show has endured, primarily due to a phenomenon known as the “Monty Hall Paradox.” The name for this probability problem was chosen to honor Hall, and there are hundreds of web sites devoted to simulations of the famous “curtains” from the show.
The personable host worked as an emcee on other game shows, Split Second (1986) and It’s Anybody’s Guess (1977), and on 8 December 1999, he guest-starred as himself in “Monty Hall: Let’s Make a Deal” on an episode of Biography.
Hall lived in Beverly Hills with his wife Marilyn Plottel, whom he married in 1947. They had three children: Tony Award-winning actress Joanna Gleason; Sharon Hall Kessler, president of Endemol Shine Studios; and Richard Hall, an Emmy Award-winning television producer.
The success of Let’s Make a Deal transformed the poor Canadian butcher’s son into a famous, wealthy television performer and producer. Hall continued to make various appearances as an emcee until 1991, when he retired from his hosting duties; since then, he appeared in various commercials and on the sitcom The Nanny. He devoted much of his time to fundraising, collecting more than $800 million in 40 years. Hall had children’s wings named after him on four major hospitals.
Hall died from heart failure on 30 September 2017 at his home in Beverly Hills at the age of 96.
Link to Wikipedia biography