Mark Mark Goodson American television producer Date of Birth: 14.01.1915 Country: USA

1. Biography of Mark Goodson
2. Early Career and Radio Shows
3. Partnership with Bill Todman and Television Success
4. Other Projects and Legacy

Biography of Mark Goodson

Mark Goodson, an American television producer, was born on January 14, 1915, in Sacramento, California. His parents, Abraham Ellis and Fannie Goodson, immigrated from Russia in the early 1990s. As a child, Mark was involved in amateur theater and his family later moved to Hayward, California. His brother, Marvin, became a lawyer.

Early Career and Radio Shows

Initially, Goodson had plans to become a lawyer and attended the University of California, Berkeley. He graduated in 1937 with a degree in economics and began his career as a DJ on the KJBS radio station in San Francisco. In 1939, he transitioned to the now-defunct KFRC station where he produced and hosted the radio quiz show "Pop the Question." Contestants would answer questions by throwing darts at colorful balloons.

Partnership with Bill Todman and Television Success

In 1941, Goodson married Bluma Neveleff and relocated to New York City. There, he partnered with Bill Todman and their first radio show, "Winner Take All," aired on CBS in 1946. Todman passed away in 1979.

Goodson had two children, Jill and Jonathan, from his first marriage, and a daughter, Marjorie, with Virginia McDavid, his second wife. In the early 1970s, he married Suzanne Waddell. Goodson and Todman became renowned producers of some of the most enduring game shows in U.S. television history, including "Beat the Clock," "Family Feud," "Match Game," "The Price Is Right," "To Tell the Truth," and "Card Sharks."

Other Projects and Legacy

Although Goodson and Todman had immense success with game shows, their ventures into other formats, such as the anthology dramas "The Web" and "The Richard Boone Show," were not as successful. Their sitcom "One Happy Family" also failed to gain popularity.

Goodson and Todman were involved in the creation of three western series: "Jefferson Drum" (1958–1959), "The Rebel" (1959–1961), and "Branded" with Chuck Connors.

After Todman's death, Goodson bought out his share of the company and in 1982, it became known as "Mark Goodson Productions." Many of their game shows became internationally known under different names, such as "Family Feud" being called "Family Fortunes" in the UK and "Card Sharks" known as "Play Your Cards Right." In Germany, "Match Game" was titled "Schnick Schnack."

Mark Goodson passed away from pancreatic cancer on December 18, 1992, in New York City. He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California. The rights to his show collection were sold to All American Television (AATV) by his family to settle their debts. AATV eventually sold the rights to Pearson Television in 1998, which was later acquired by RTL Group's subsidiary, FremantleMedia. FremantleMedia currently owns the rights to the game show collection created by Todman and Goodson.

Mark's son, Jonathan, continued to work on developing new game show concepts. He joined his father's production company in 1973 as a lawyer but later became involved in production, including the original version of "Card Sharks." Jonathan eventually left the company to establish his own, "Jonathan Goodson Productions," which produced state lottery game shows and original game shows.