Joe Farago was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, former stuntman and television personality. In 1985, he replaced

Gene Rayburn Gene Rayburn (born Eugene Peter Jeljenic; December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the American television game show ''Match Game'' for over tw ...

as the host of the game show '' Break the Bank'', having previously appeared as a celebrity guest three times during the show's first two weeks. He hosted more than 160 episodes. Farago has appeared as a spokesman for shows including the "GT Xpress", "Xpress Redi Set Go", and the "GT Xpress 101" countertop grills. He has also advertised the "True Sleeper" foam mattress topper, T-Fal cookware and The Bissell Big Green Clean machine among others. He has hosted 35 infomercials seen in more than 70 countries around the world. He was also the host of the 1990-91 HBO comedy show ''Night Rap'' with guests including Timothy Leary, Ed Koch, G. Gordon Liddy and Mel Brooks. He briefly appeared on ''Seinfeld'' in the episode "The Parking Garage". In 2001, after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, Farago became a firefighter. He was part of a Type II federal incident management team deploying to

Hurricanes Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

and Rita in 2005. He taught

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

/ DHS public information officer and incident command courses to first responders and emergency management personnel across the country. Joe passed away in Florida on March 23, 2025.

Filmography

External links

* American male film actors American game show hosts American male television actors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-tv-bio-stub