Bill Carruthers

Who was Bill Carruthers?

Bill Carruthers, born in Detroit, Michigan, was a television executive who gained his first fame as the director of The Soupy Sales Show at WXYZ in Detroit Michigan. He also directed the Ernie Kovacs-helmed game show, Take a Good Look, in the early 1960s. He went on to be the director on The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game before starting his own production company in 1968. His company, The William Carruthers Company, produced the critically acclaimed ABC series The Johnny Cash Show in 1969 with his partner Joel Stein. He also produced and directed game shows including Give-n-Take, The Neighbors, Second Chance, Lee Trevino's Golf for Swingers and the 1975 version of You Don't Say!, before hitting it big with the CBS game show, Press Your Luck, which ran from 1983-86. In the 1990s, he produced specials for The Family Channel, called Marry Me, as well as a short-lived game show for ESPN, Designated Hitter. He suffered a stroke in 1996, which eventually led to his death from heart failure in 2003.