Army and was sent to Vietnam, serving as a disc jockey on Armed Forces Radio. Sajak applied for the job and was hired to work from midnight to 6:00 a.m. While at Columbia College Chicago, his broadcasting instructor Al Parker told him that a local radio station ( WEDC) was looking for a newsman. Sajak won a contest on WLS radio's Dick Biondi Show to be a guest teen deejay. Main articles: Wheel of Fortune (American game show) and The Pat Sajak Show Sajak in an ad for WSM, for whom he was an afternoon host, c. He hosted the same Dawn Buster radio show that Adrian Cronauer had, and for 14 months, followed Cronauer's tradition of signing on with 'Good Morning Vietnam!' Career Army as a disc jockey during the Vietnam War for American Forces Vietnam Network. His Polish-origin surname was originally spelled Sajdak, but he later changed it to Sajak to better reflect its Americanized pronunciation. As of 2021, Sajak has also been credited as a Consulting Producer of Wheel of Fortune and hosts Prime Time Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on ABC alongside Vanna White.īorn in Chicago on October 26, 1946, Sajak graduated from Farragut High School in 1964, then went to Columbia College Chicago while working as a desk clerk at The Palmer House Hilton hotel. Sajak has been married twice, currently to Lesly Brown Sajak since 1989, with whom he has two children. He is also the author of several puzzle games, including 'Lucky Letters', developed in collaboration with puzzle developer David L. Sajak has been involved in a variety of other endeavors, including as an external director of conservative publishing house Eagle Publishing and writing for the National Review Online and. He also hosted a late-night talk show on CBS from 1989 to 1990 and became a frequent guest host for CNN's Larry King Live and the syndicated Live with Regis and Kelly. In 2019, he was recognized by the Guinness World Records for having the longest career as a game show host for the same show, surpassing previous record holder Bob Barker.īeyond his game show career, Sajak has made various appearances in films, television series, and game shows, such as Airplane II: The Sequel, Days of Our Lives, and Rugrats. For his work on Wheel, Sajak has received 19 nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host, winning three times. Sajak is best known as the host of the American television game show Wheel of Fortune, a position he has held since 1981. Born and raised in Chicago, Sajak began his career in broadcasting at a local radio station, later serving as a disc jockey during the Vietnam War for the American Forces Vietnam Network. Pat Sajak ( / ˈ s eɪ dʒ æ k/ SAY-jak born Patrick Leonard Sajdak, October 26, 1946) is an American television personality and game show host.

Vanna white hosted wheel fortune