Jim Lange, Host Of 'The Dating Game,' Dies At 81

Jim Lange, host of The Dating Game, died on Tuesday, Feb. 25 of a heart attack at the age of 81. Lange’s wife, Nancy Fleming, confirmed the news, adding that he died in his California home.

Lange hosted The Dating Game for 20 years, from the show’s inception in 1965 to 1985. After his successful run on The Dating Game, Lange moved on to host Hollywood Connection and The Newlywed Game, among other television contests. During his years at The Dating Game, Lange crossed paths with many celebrity contestants, including Michael Jackson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, something he said was one of the highlights of his television career.

“The best memories [from The Dating Game] are working with the wonderful people who were on the show. Over the years we had, I guess, almost every celebrity who was single, from Michael Jackson to Burt Reynolds to Tom Selleck. They all came through the show, even Groucho Marx. So I got to meet all those people – I think that was a great thrill, and also the fact that I got to see nine beautiful women every day,” Lange said in a 1992 interview.

But Lange was not completely enchanted by the Hollywood lifestyle. His true passion was for music and he also worked as a disc jockey in L.A. before abandoning Hollywood in 1990 and moving to the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, a former Miss America winner.

In San Francisco, Lange began hosting his own afternoon radio program. He was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2006.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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