Mike Douglas, a former big band singer, was the host of "The Mike Douglas Show," a popular daytime television talk show that ran for more than two decades.
"The Mike Douglas Show," which was launched as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 and moved to Philadelphia a few years later, ran until 1982.
Viewers tuned in to see celebrity guests — an array that included Bette Davis, Richard Pryor, Muhammad Ali and a 2-year-old Tiger Woods, whose golfing demonstration prompted fellow guest and golfer Bob Hope to quip, "I don't know what kind of drugs they've got this kid on, but I want some."
Although the tenor of the Douglas show was usually light, Douglas also tackled more serious issues with a mix of guests that included Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., George Wallace and the imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
"The Mike Douglas Show" boasted a unique feature: a weeklong celebrity co-host or co-hosts, who included Fred Astaire and Jim Nabors, as well as John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
With its mix of singing, dancing, skits, stunts and cooking segments, "The Mike Douglas Show" was more than just a talk show.
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