Dating Game Host Jim Lange Dies at 81

Jim Lange, who hosted The Dating Game for more than 10 years beginning in 1965, died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack, The Associated Press reports. He was 81.

Born in St. Paul, Minn., Lange started his career as a radio broadcaster at age 15, when he won an audition to do a weekly sports report for a local station.

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Later, he attended the University of Minnesota and then served in the Marines for three years before moving to San Francisco and breaking into television in 1962, when he joined The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show as a sidekick.

Lange gained national fame after hosting The Dating Game, and went on to host other game shows including Hollywood Connection, Bullseye and $100,000 Name That Tune. His love of radio endured, however, and he also worked as a deejay in California.

He also appeared as himself on TV shows including Moesha, Bewitched and Laverne and Shirley.

Lange is survived by a sister, five children, two stepchildren and four grandchildren, the AP reports.