Acting and television show host
As an actor, Woolery appeared with Stephen Boyd, Rosey Grier, and Cheryl Ladd in the mid-1970s film The Treasure of Jamaica Reef.
Woolery performed as Mr. Dingle on the children's television series New Zoo Revue in the early 1970s. During that time, he made his first game show appearance on an episode of Tattletales in 1974, alongside then-wife Jo Ann Pflug. Starting as a singer, Woolery appeared on an episode of Your Hit Parade. On January 6, 1975, he began hosting Wheel of Fortune at the suggestion of creator Merv Griffin, who had seen Woolery sing on The Tonight Show.
Woolery hosted the show for six years. In 1978, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Game or Audience Participation Show. In 1981, he was involved in a salary dispute with the program's producers. He said in a 2007 interview that he demanded a raise from $65,000 a year to about $500,000 a year because the program was drawing a 44 viewership share at the time, and other hosts, such as Richard Dawson and Bob Barker, were making that much.
Griffin offered Woolery $400,000 a year, and NBC offered to pay the additional $100,000, but after Griffin threatened to move the program to CBS, NBC withdrew the offer. Woolery's contract was not renewed. His final episode aired on December 25, 1981. Pat Sajak replaced him.
Woolery hosted Love Connection (1983–1994), The Big Spin (1985), Scrabble (1984–1990, 1993), Home & Family (1996–1998, co-host), The Dating Game (1997–1999), Greed (1999–2000), TV Land Ultimate Fan Search (1999–2000), and Lingo (2002–2007). He was the subject of a short-lived reality television, Chuck Woolery: Naturally Stoned (originally titled Chuck Woolery: Behind the Lingo) in 2003.
In 1991, he hosted his own talk show, The Chuck Woolery Show, which lasted for only a few months. He hosted The Price Is Right Live! at Harrah's Entertainment casinos, and appeared in the live stage show "$250,000 Game Show Spectacular" at the Westgate Las Vegas until April 2008.
On April 21, 2023, it was announced that Woolery would be featured in an upcoming four-episode documentary by ABC News titled The Game Show Show, covering the history of game shows in America over the last eight decades. The four-part documentary premiered on May 10, 2023. Woolery later hosted '80s Quiz Show, a game show based on trends and norms of the 1980s, which streamed on Fox Nation on June 7, 2024.
