Mike Douglas Biography

Fast Facts

• The Mike Douglas Show was the first syndicated television show to win an Emmy Award
• Recorded with Kay Kyser during the 1940s and appeared on "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge․"
• Started out as a singer on a cruise ship in the Great Lakes when he was a teenager
• Quote: "(On the secret to his success as a talk show host): "I'm a square․""
• Best known as a big band singer and host of "The Mike Douglas Show․"
• Published his memoir, "I'll Be Right Back: Memories of TV's Greatest Talk Show" in 1999
• Hosted a wide variety of guests on "The Mike Douglas Show," including John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, Bill Cosby, Malcolm X, Richard Pryor, Truman Capote, Richard Nixon, Bobby Seale, and Barbra Streisand
• Was working as a singer in a piano bar when the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company offered him his own talk show in 1961