After moving to WTJS, he was hired away for double the salary by Jackson's only other station, WDXI.
He worked a total of three radio shows in Jackson before moving to Memphis to take an announcer job with WHBQ — all this before he was 20. Martindale's first break into television was in 1955 at WHBQ-TV as the host of Mars Patrol, a science-fiction themed television program which showcased Flash Gordon films in between interviews with local kiddies.
Hollywood beckoned, and Wink moved to California, where he landed bit parts in a couple of unforgettable movies and got announcing jobs with several Los Angeles radio stations. It looked like he was set to land a plum role as the host of a new TV show patterned after Dance Party, but at the last minute ABC handed American Bandstand to another newcomer named Dick Clark.
In 1959 Wink released a record album titled Deck of Cards. The collection of religious and inspirational songs, went to no. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold over a million copies. It also peaked at no. 5 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1963, the first of four visits to that chart.
Wink at KFWB in Los Angeles on June 2, 1965. [ LISTEN ] The “Principal of the Year” contest is in full swing. (17:19)
At his tenure with WHBQ, Martindale became the host of the TV show Teenage Dance Party, where his friend Elvis Presley made an appearance on June 16, 1956.
TOP 10 LISTENING PARTY
[ LISTEN ]. (36:14)Also in 1959, he became morning man at KHJ in Los Angeles, California, moving a year later to the morning show at KRLA and finally to KFWB in 1962. He also had lengthy stays at KGIL from 1968 to 1971, KKGO/KJQI and Gene Autry's KMPC (now KSPN (AM)) from 1971 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1987, the short-lived "Wink and Bill Show" on KABC during 1989, and KJQI from 1993 to 1994.
In 1967, Martindale acted in a short futuristic documentary film about home life in the year 1999 produced by the Philco-Ford Corporation which predicted, among other things, Internet commerce.
Wink's other television game show credits include Moments to Remember, Instant Recall, Debt, Trivial Pursuit, Tic Tac Dough, The Last Word, High Rollers, Headline Chasers, Can You Top This?, Words and Music, How's Your Mother-in-Law?, Dream Girl of '67, What's This Song?, and Gambit.
WHERE DID WINK WORK? Here is the list: WPLI, WHBQ, KHJ (pre-Drake), KRLA, KFWB, KGIL, KKGO/KJQI, KMPC, KABC and KJQI.
Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Memphis Flyer, Airchexx, A/V Geeks.
