On this day in 1981, Chuck Woolery made his final appearance as host of The Wheel of Fortune.

Woolery, Wheel of Fortune's original host, was hand-picked by creator Merv Griffin to host the game show, which debuted Jan. 6, 1975. Wheel was a hit with viewers, and, in 1981, Woolery demanded a substancial salary increase. Griffin ultimately made the decision to fire Woolery. He was replaced by the show's current host, Pat Sajak.

While the quality of the video below is far from great quality, the audio portion clearly captures Wollery's final words to Wheel watchers:

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5 Comments

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Feb 20, 2023 | Reply

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Roby Myers

Chuck Woolery and Jim Perry were two of the best game shows on NBC!!

Jul 8, 2021 | Reply

Jade

Merv Griffin was known to be a temperamental cheapskate. Firing Chuck Woolery from Wheel of Fortune was one of the stupidest mistakes he had done. Woolery made Wheel of Fortune the success it was. I don't think any other host would've fit the role better than Chuck. Chuck's co-host on the show, Susan Stafford, was really upset hearing of him being fired, so much so she quit Wheel of Fortune one year after Pat Sajak came on board as host. Apparently Susan Stafford found Pat Sajak to be distant and rather cold compared to Chuck Woolery's cheerful, warm outgoing personality.

Jul 16, 2019 | Reply

David M. Hugaert

I thought Merv Griffin handled the situation with Chuck Woolery quite poorly. Legend has it that Chuck Woolery, who had reportedly earned $65,000 per season as of 1981, asked Merv Griffin for a raise in salary. Woolery's contemporaries, Bob Barker & Richard Dawson, were reportedly earning $500,000 per year @ Goodson-Todman. So, Griffin agreed to up Woolery's salary to $400,000 per season. NBC execs heard this, & agreed to pick up the remaining $100,000 in salary. This rubbed Merv Griffin the wrong way, so he threatened to move "Wheel..." to CBS. NBC withdrew its offer, then Griffin fired Chuck Woolery. Bad decision on Merv's part. As a result of the above incident, both Woolery & Griffin never spoke to each other again for the rest of Merv Griffin's life. Chuck did not "decide to leave "Wheel...". Utter bullshit!!! I hope Merv Griffin enjoys his poverty in his next life.

Chuck Woolery = Best "Wheel of Fortune" host ever!!!

Apr 2, 2015 | Reply

Richard

Merv the old jealous Queen!

Jun 2, 2017

David M. Hugaert

Chuck Woolery mentioning Merv Griffin even after having been fired by his ex-boss shows class & grace on the part of Mr. Woolery. Chuck's firing wasn't his own fault, for pete's sake, as he DESERVED that raise he didn't get!!!

Shame on you, Merv Griffin!!!

Apr 2, 2015

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