Susan Stafford (born Susan Gail Carney on October 13, 1945) was the original letter-turner on Wheel of Fortune from its August 28, 1974 pilots through October 22, 1982.
Prior to Wheel, Susan helmed her own nationally-syndicated radio talk show for three years; among those she interviewed were Senator Barry Goldwater. She had ambitions of becoming a female Johnny Carson, possibly even taking over The Tonight Show.[1]
Wheel of Fortune
Stafford became the show's hostess through odd circumstances: when Merv Griffin and his company were planning the 1974 revamp of the failed Shopper's Bazaar format, the puzzle board was to be the complete opposite of its 1973 pull-card system – namely, a fully-automated board with trilons. As this system was not completed in time, Susan was hired to turn the letters. While her contributions to these pilots are mostly unknown, it is known that she confronted Byrnes after the taping due to his being drunk.
Stafford remained when the series debuted on January 6, 1975, developing a rapport with Chuck Woolery that remained for the next seven years; indeed, when Chuck failed to show up at a taping in mid-1980, she called her friends Pat and Shirley Boone during a stopdown to check on him.
Susan was also notable for being the first game show hostess to get her own wardrobe plug (Giorgio), and the first to have a microphone.
Hosting Style
Stafford was far more "physical" in her work than Vanna, gesturing at the board, players, and Used Letter Board; cheering for contestants; and rooting for Chuck to hit top dollar in the Final Spin. She also frequently danced to the puzzle solve and commercial break cues, which were composed by Alan Thicke.
Susan is known to have minutely adjusted trilons and letter slides to line up with the others, placed her hand on the leftmost trilon of the third row in a sort of "patient waiting" pose, turned letters two at a time once a puzzle was solved (on several occasions, the letter slides came partway off the trilons when she turned them), and frequently turned letters and punctuation marks quicker than the "correct letter" bells could sound and the respective lights activated; her practice of "jumping the gun" was a problem on early episodes, as Susan would sometimes end up turning the wrong letter, causing the round to be replaced.
When in Speed-Up mode, Susan would often join in on the hosting; such as waving her finger at the contestants to inform them of letters not in the puzzle, pointing to the contestant in control, walking backwards after turning a couple of letters, doing a turn herself and leaning back after turning a letter, and turning all the letters and bowing to the winner when the puzzle is solved. [2]
Stafford would also drive cars that contestants purchased, even after her accident in 1979 (see below); according to one recollection, there was an episode where she repeatedly hit the car horn while Charlie O'Donnell attempted to read its prize copy.
Susan had an odd habit during at least 1982, and almost certainly earlier, of moving audience members around during commercial breaks. This was mentioned by Pat Sajak at the end of a March 1982 episode.
Absences
Stafford is known to have been absent from Wheel at least twice:
- The first, in September 1977 for at least four weeks, occurred after she fractured several vertebrae while rehearsing for Circus of the Stars.[3] Summer Bartholomew filled in for most of this time, and Arte Johnson did at least one episode (mostly to promote his NBC game Knockout).
- The second was from May 24-June 8, 1979, following a car accident in which Susan dislocated her shoulder. Summer filled in until the 1st, while Cynthia Washington did the week of June 4.[4]
Departure
Stafford became progressively more distracted after Woolery left, believing that there needed to be something more to her life than simply turning letters. She eventually realized that she wanted to pursue charity work and medicine, notifying Merv Griffin Productions of this around September 1982. Her final show on October 22 was notable for its closing segment, where producer Nancy Jones appeared on-camera with a bouquet of flowers and various staff members said goodbye.
Following Susan's departure, several women filled in until Vanna White was chosen as her successor on December 13. Stafford returned to the daytime show from June 16-20, 1986 to fill in for Vanna, who was mourning the death of her then-boyfriend at the time.
After Wheel
Susan not only devoted her life to charity work and medicine, but had a longtime relationship with Dan Enright of Barry-Enright Productions (creators of Tic-Tac-Dough and The Joker's Wild) and was the company's Vice President of Public Relations. In 1991, Barry-Enright Productions was renamed Stafford-Enright Productions; while there is no known record of any projects between then and Enright's death on May 22, 1992, the 1993 PBS documentary The Natural Solutions: Freedom of Choice and the FDA (produced and hosted by Susan) was credited to Stafford-Enright.
In late 2003, Susan served as hostess for the last three shows of Game Show Week Part 2 on Hollywood Squares, replacing Ruta Lee of the 1974-76 High Rollers. In November 2010, she published a book on her Wheel tenure called Stop the Wheel, I Want to Get Off!
References
- ↑ Kentucky New Era, June 3, 1977
- ↑ The Classic Wheel of Fortune Page - The Speed-Up Round
- ↑ Lakeland Ledger, September 26, 1977
- ↑ Youngstown Vindicator, May 22, 1979