Creator of the TV format dies at 80

The man who created the Gong Show has died at the age of 80

Australian TV executive Chris Bearde created the format as an NBC show in 1976  to showcase amateur acts in front of a panel of judges – with the threat of suffering the indignity of being ‘gonged off’.

Originally a kids’ TV host in Australia, Bearde moved to Canada in the early 1960s, to write on the comedy series Network, He went on to create the country’s Canada’s first late-night political satire, Nightcap.

A move to Hollywood saw him join the writing teams for the Elvis ’68 Comeback Special and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, among others, and in 1971 he created The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

Other credits include Cos, Bill Cosby’s 1976 variety programme for children, before launching the notoriously raucous Gong Show. 

He died of a heart attack at his home in Westlake Village, California, on Sunday, his son, Tyler told the Hollywood Reporter.

Published: 25 Apr 2017