Dan Enright
Dan Enright (
August 30,
1917 -
May 22,
1992) was one of the most successful game show producers in television. Enright worked with
Jack Barry from the 1940s to Barry's death in 1984, and they were partners creating programs for radio and television.
Enright (original surname Ehrenreich), who grew up in Israel and in New York, met up with Barry as the latter was working in stand-up comedy. After a stint at
WOR radio, the two developed several early-TV shows, including the seminal "interactive" show
Winky Dink and You ,
Juvenile Jury and
Life Begins at 80.
The duo hit the jackpot as the producers of the network game shows
Tic Tac Dough and
Twenty One in the 1950's. The latter show, originally unrigged, started off as a failure (with contestants repeatedly missing questions) and an executive of sponsor Geritol told Enright he did not want to see a repeat of what happened.
After the first episode, Enright rigged the show to make contestants appear to have a great deal of knowledge and to hopefully attract viewers...though even with rigging, the initial ratings were not overly impressive.
Enright and Barry believed that they needed to find contestants that the audience would root for, a sentiment which itself is not only not illegal but has been a province of the game-show contestant coordinator for decades. But Enright went beyond finding appealing players, or even manipulating them (as was allegedly the case with
The $64,000 Question and
The $64,000 Challenge) -- actually scripting the players' outcomes and mannerisms in the booth. It was a process the company repeated for
Tic Tac Dough.
Enright's most famous contestant protege in this was
Twenty-One's
Charles Van Doren, who went on to win for 14 weeks and became a cover subject for
Time Magazine, thus making the show's popularity soar. Van Doren replaced
Herb Stempel, who himself had been given questions over his extended run on the show but was forced to take a dive.
Stempel was bitter about the loss and went to Enright demanding money or else he would expose the show's rigging. Enright said he would help, but put Stempel off. Stempel finally went public with the story, though Enright denied all charges and the show went on for some time.
The truth eventually came out, and Enright admitted to rigging the show and giving contestants the questions and answers in advance. While co-producer Barry did not directly rig the show himself (and even quiz-show-scandal investigator Joseph Stone questions his involvement), he admitted in 1970s and 80s interviews his role in covering up the fixing for Enright once he found out.
Barry and Enright's careers went into eclipse, though Barry did get some hosting and acting gigs and owned a radio station. Slowly, partner Enright managed to work his way back into television. He was a producer of the early-70s syndicated game show
All About Faces with Richard Hayes, produced in Canada. Barry & Enright also collaborated on other small Canadian produced quiz shows including "Photo Finish" shot in Montreal and "It's a Match" taped in Toronto. It was on these shows that a number of young American and Canadian producers and directors got their start, including
Sidney M. Cohen and Jay Wolpert.
Then in the 1974-75 season, Barry, who had enjoyed a career revival as host and producer of
The Joker's Wild, brought Enright back as the show's executive producer near the end of its run on CBS. They resumed their partnership full-time in 1976 with
Break the Bank, and later found their longest-lasting success with syndicated versions of
Joker and
Tic Tac Dough.
Following Jack Barry's sudden death in 1984, Enright continued to run Barry & Enright Productions completely, but retaining the B&E name as opposed to renaming the company Dan Enright Productions. Barry's death resulted in the departure of key Barry & Enright figures, including producers
Ron Greenberg and
Gary Cox and director
Richard S. Kline, all three of whom were not fans of Enright taking over the company. Kline went on to form his own production company, Greenberg returned to producing his own programs, and Cox joined
Reg Grundy Productions in 1985.
Enright went on to produce a few other game shows over the years on his own, as well as a few projects with former
Wheel of Fortune co-hostess
Susan Stafford.
Dan Enright died of cancer on May 22nd, 1992 at the age of 74, over eight years after the death of Jack Barry.
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PBS Biography of Dan Enright
