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Pat Sajak
<html> <head> <title>Pat Sajak</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css"> <!-- .fotmbar { color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: none} .fotmbar:hover { color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: underline} .newslink { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .newslink:hover { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .proflink { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .proflink:hover { color: blue; text-decoration: underline} .b1f, .b2f, .b3f, .b4f {font-size:1px; overflow:hidden; display:block;} .b1f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 5px;} .b2f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 3px;} .b3f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 2px;} .b4f {height:2px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 1px;} .contentf {background: #e6e6e6; padding: 2px; } .contentf div {margin-left: 5px;} --> </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is a beta version of NNDB</font></b></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> <nobr>Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </font></b></nobr></form></td> </tr> </table> <!-- COPYRIGHT (C) 2008 SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS --> <!-- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED --> <!-- NO PART OF THIS WEBSITE MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION --> <!-- OF SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS (ON THE WEB, IN PRINT, OR OTHERWISE) --> <!-- --> <!-- SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS --> <!-- PO BOX 4436, MOUNTAIN VIEW CA 94040 USA --> </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/377/000022311/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool><br clear="all"><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0><font size=+3 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Pat Sajak</b></font><p><img src="pat-sajak.jpg" height=331 width=241 align=right hspace=10 vspace=10 alt="Pat Sajak"><b>AKA</b> Patrick Leonard Sajdak<p><b>Born:</b> <a href="/lists/817/000106499/" class=proflink>26-Oct</a>-<a href="/lists/945/000105630/" class=proflink>1946</a><br><b>Birthplace:</b> <a href="/geo/457/000069250/" class=proflink>Chicago, IL</a><br><p><b>Gender:</b> Male<br><b>Religion:</b> <a href="/lists/758/000094476/" class=proflink>Roman Catholic</a><br><b>Race or Ethnicity:</b> White<br><b>Sexual orientation:</b> Straight<br><b>Occupation:</b> <a href="/lists/186/000068979/" class=proflink>Game Show Host</a><br><b>Party Affiliation:</b> Republican<p><b>Nationality:</b> United States<br><b>Executive summary:</b> <i>Wheel of Fortune</i><p><b>Military service:</b> US Army (1968-70)<p>In high school, Pat Sajak's name was drawn at random in a radio station's contest, making him "guest disk jockey" for a night. He liked it, and took broadcasting-related courses at Columbia College in Chicago, where he landed a job reading news off the wire on a local radio station. In the Army, he was sent to Vietnam, where his served as a morning disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio. When Sajak left the Army, he worked as disc jockey when he could, and as a hotel desk clerk when he couldn't. He jumped from radio to TV with the NBC affiliate in Nashville, where he did station breaks, commercials, and was promoted to weatherman. Sajak looked good on camera and pronounced words like "cumulus" properly, and soon he was the weatherman at KNBC, the NBC-owned station in Los Angeles.<P> In 1981, <a href="/people/378/000022312/">Chuck Woolery</a>, host of <I>Wheel of Fortune</i>, demanded a bigger raise than <a href="/people/418/000022352/">Merv Griffin</a> was willing to give. Griffin turned on the TV, saw Sajak predicting sunshine and smog, and offered Sajak the show. In 1989, CBS handed Sajak a late-night talk show, hoping to compete with Johnny Carson's <I>Tonight</i>. <I>The Pat Sajak Show</i> lasted a year and a half. It's most memorable moment came toward the end, when Sajak wasn't there: <a href="/people/428/000022362/">Rush Limbaugh</a> guest-hosted and infuriated the studio audience so much that the auditorium was empty before Limbaugh could finish the show. In 2003, <I>Pat Sajak Weekend</i> began on Fox News, with Sajak interviewing celebrities. It was axed after one season. He's also talked baseball on the weekly internet <I>Pat Sajak Baseball Hour</i>, and his PAT Productions makes kiddie videos like <I>Leo the Late Bloomer</i>. <p><b>Father:</b> Sajdak<br><b>Mother:</b> Joyce Backal<br><b>Father:</b> Walter Backal (stepfather)<br><b>Brother:</b> David Sajdak<br><b>Brother:</b> Bill Backal (half brother)<br><b>Wife:</b> Sherrill (m. 1979, div. 1986)<br><b>Wife:</b> Lesly Brown Sajak (m. 31-Dec-1989)<br><b>Son:</b> Patrick Michael James Sajak (b. 22-Sep-1990)<br><b>Daughter:</b> Maggie Marie (b. 5-Jan-1995)<br><p> High School: Farragut High School, Chicago, IL<br> University: <a href="/edu/753/000173234/">Columbia College Chicago</a><br> Administrator: <a href="/edu/591/000079354/">Trustee, Hillsdale College</a><br><p> Member of the Board of <a href="/company/569/000127188/">Eagle Publishing</a> <br> <a href="/org/210/000213568/">Campaign America Inc.</a> <br> <a href="/org/398/000058224/">Claremont Institute</a> Board of Advisors<br> <a href="/org/422/000216771/">Dole-Kemp '96</a> <br> <a href="/org/162/000176631/">Fred Thompson PAC</a> <br> <a href="/org/796/000169289/">Friends of George Allen</a> <br> <a href="/org/752/000169245/">Friends of Giuliani Exploratory Committee</a> <br> <a href="/org/308/000213666/">Steele for Maryland</a> <br> <a href="/honors/883/000161400/">Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame</a> 2003<br> <a href="/honors/804/000065609/">Daytime Emmy</a> 1993 for <i>Wheel of Fortune</i><br> <a href="/honors/804/000065609/">Daytime Emmy</a> 1997 for <i>Wheel of Fortune</i><br> <a href="/honors/312/000044180/">Hollywood Walk of Fame</a> 6200 Hollywood Blvd.<br> <a href="/lists/937/000043808/">Polish Ancestry</a> <br> <a href="/group/952/000116604/">Parodied As A Muppet</a> Pat Playjacks<br> <a href="/lists/724/000206106/">Global Warming Skeptics</a> <br><p> <font size=-2 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">TELEVISION</font><br> <a href="/tv/739/000044607/">Wheel of Fortune</a> Host (1981-)<br> <a href="/tv/750/000049603/">Days of Our Lives</a> Kevin Hathaway (1983)<br><p> <font size=-2 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR</font><br> <a href="/films/151/000033052/">Airplane II: The Sequel (10-Dec-1982)</a> · Buffalo Anchorman<br><p> <b>Official Website:</b><br><a href="http://www.patsajak.com/" target=_blank>http://www.patsajak.com/</a><p> <br> <p> <table> <tr> <td align=right valign=middle style="padding-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: italic; color: #ff3333;">New!</span><br> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/" class="fotmlink" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #dd0000;">NNDB MAPPER</a></td> <td valign=middle align=right style="border-left: 1px solid #bbb; padding-left: 5px;">Create a map starting with</td> <td valign=middle align=right><a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=22311"><img src="/man.gif" border=0 style="padding: 2px;"></a></td> <td align=left valign=middle> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=22311">Pat Sajak</a></td> </tr> </table> <font face="Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.</font> <br><br><p> <font size=-1>Do you know something we don't?</font><br> <font size=-1><a href="http://commentary.nndb.com/submit/feedback/?id=22311" rel="nofollow">Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile</a></font><br> <p> <br><br><p><font size=-1>Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications</font><p> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 0px 8px 25px;"></td></tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>