Original 'Family Feud' Host Richard Dawson Dies At 79

Original Family Feud host, Hogan's Heroes actor, and television personality Richard Dawson, known for coining the phrase, "Survey Says," died on Saturday at the age of 79 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after a battle with esophageal cancer.

"It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my father passed away this evening from complications due to esophageal cancer," Dawson's son, Gary Dawson, posted on his Facebook page. "He was surrounded by his family. He was an amazing talent, a loving husband, a great dad, and a doting grandfather. He will be missed but always remembered."

Dawson was also known for his tendency to kiss the female contestants of Family Feud on the cheek "for luck," as he said, reports CNN. It was important to him "that I could kiss and touch all people. To say kiss, it sounds crazy, but they're all people and that's how I saw them, whether I liked them or not."

For Dawson, Family Feud was more than just a game show. "The thing that I loved about Feud, we froze a moment in time for these families that had never occurred before," Dawson once said of his game-show-host career. "That's magic."

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