Legendary game show host Chuck Woolery, a proud conservative in liberal Hollywood, dead at 83

Chuck Woolery, the legendary and affable game show host who launched the Wheel of Fortune franchise and made romance connections on the Love Connection long before dating apps, has died at the age of 83.

His death was confirmed in an email to The Associated Press by his fellow podcast host Mark Young, who said Woolery passed at his home in Texas with his wife Kristen by his side.

“Chuck was a dear friend and brother and a tremendous man of faith, life will not be the same without him,” Young wrote.

Blessed with a smooth voice, witty humor and signature smile, Woolery was a fixture on television during the golden era of game shows. He hosted Love Connnection for an 11-year run and famously threw to the commercial breaks with the phrase, “We’ll be back in two minutes and two seconds.”

Other credits included Scrabble and a short run reality series about his life as a game show host.

Woolery also was an unabashed conservative in a mostly liberal Hollywood, unbowed to skewer liberals in a social media post or podcast episode.

He was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a daytime Emmy nomination in 1978, according to AP.