Monty Hall

Monty Hall, the original host and co-creator of “Let's Make a Deal,” the long-running game show that debuted in 1963, making kooky audience costumes and carnival-style bartering an institution on daytime television, has died, according to Associated Press. He was 96.

Hall, who was also a dedicated philanthropist, died of heart failure Saturday morning at his home in Los Angeles, according to his daughter Sharon Hall.

One of the most popular TV game shows of the 1960s and early 1970s, “Let's Make a Deal” featured Hall as a fast-talking auctioneer-trader who randomly pulled people from the audience to trade for prizes that could be valuable – or relatively worthless “zonks,” gag gifts such as a barnyard animal or a giant jar of peanut butter.

“People had gotten excited on game shows before, but never to the extent that they did on ‘Deal,’ ” according to the 2006 book “Rules of the Game,” which featured Hall on the cover.

“Let's Make a Deal” originally aired for 13 years, first on NBC and then ABC, and it has been revived in various daytime and prime-time incarnations since.

Over more than two decades, Hall hosted about 4,500 episodes and became wealthy co-producing it. When CBS revived the show in 2009, actor-comedian Wayne Brady stepped in as master of ceremonies. Hall served as a consultant and made the rare guest appearance.