Personal info
Known for
Writer
Gender
Male
Birthday
29 January
Location
New York, United States
Edit pageJay Wolpert
Biography
Jay Sheldon Wolpert (January 29, 1942 – January 3, 2022) was an American television producer and screenwriter.
His first television appearance came as a contestant on the original version of Jeopardy! in 1969. He competed in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions that year and won. Wolpert's upset win was notable for defeating the two highest-winning contestants in regular Jeopardy! play up to that point, Jane Gschwend and Elliot Shteir.
In 1990, Wolpert launched a new series on the Lifetime network based on a pilot he had shot in 1981 with Tomarken as host. On February 5, 1990, Rodeo Drive debuted with comedian Louise DuArt hosting. Rodeo Drive ended its run on August 31 of that year; the show had aired twelve weeks of new episodes before that and had been in reruns until the program was removed from Lifetime's lineup.
In 1996, Wolpert and The Family Channel teamed up for two series. One was Wait 'til You Have Kids with Tom Parks, a series based on The Parent Game with Clark Race. The other was Shopping Spree with Ron Pearson, which ran for nearly two years and was Wolpert's longest-running game show in his company's history.
After Shopping Spree went off the air in August 1998, Wolpert's company stopped producing programming. He was executive producer of the 1998 version of Match Game with Michael Burger.
Wolpert died in Los Angeles from complications of Alzheimer's disease on January 3, 2022, at the age of 79.
