At the time of his sudden death in the spring of 1984, he was planning
to retire from The Joker's Wild, and wanted
Jim Peck (who occasionally
served as the show's substitute host) as his successor. His plan was to
announce his retirement at the start of the 1984-1985 season, at which
point he would have given the hosting duties to Peck. However, after he
died, his business partner
Dan Enright hired
Bill Cullen instead.