William Rafferty (June 17, 1944 – August 11, 2012) was an American

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience dir ...

and impressionist who hosted the

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

s '' Every Second Counts'' (1984–1985, syndicated), ''

Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson- Bill Todman Productions. The game features two contestants who attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a r ...

'' (1986–87, syndication), and '' Blockbusters'' (1987, NBC).

Early life

Rafferty was born in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Is ...

. He was the fourth and youngest child of Henry Rafferty, Sr., and Martha (Degnan) Rafferty.

Career

Before his career in television, Rafferty was a military policeman in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He was also a butcher in Bolinas, California. His first national TV exposure was as a co-host on the NBC reality series '' Real People'', which ran from 1979–1984. Originally, he was one of the five in-studio co-hosts before becoming a field correspondent ("roving reporter"), though he still made occasional studio appearances. Rafferty also made guest appearances on episodes of '' Laugh-In'' in the late 1970s version of the show. Rafferty was the host of a television show on Retirement Living TV, called ''Retired and Wired'', which debuted in October 2007.

Personal life

Rafferty married Regina Miletic on May 25, 1968, in Queens, New York. Rafferty died from congestive heart failure on the morning of August 11, 2012.Buzzerblog on Twitter.
Accessed 11 August 2012.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1944 births 2012 deaths American male comedians American game show hosts People from Queens, New York People from San Rafael, California Comedians from California Comedians from New York (state) {{US-tv-bio-stub