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Lloyd Thaxton

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Lloyd Thaxton
Lloyd Thaxton 1968.JPG
Thaxton as host of the game show Funny You Should Ask!! in 1968.
BornMay 31, 1927
Memphis, Tennessee
DiedOctober 5, 2008(2008-10-05) (aged 81)
Studio City, Los Angeles, California
Occupations
  • Writer
  • director
  • producer
  • television host

Lloyd Eugene Thaxton[1] (May 31, 1927 – October 5, 2008) was an American writer, television producer, director, and television host widely known for his syndicated pop music television program of the 1960s, The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which began as a local Los Angeles program on KCOP in September 1961. On his musical shows, he was known for cutting out the mouths on artists' sleeve covers, and miming to the lyrics through the cut–out hole.[2]

Life and career

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The son of George Thaxton, a newspaperman, and Gladys,[1] Lloyd Thaxton was born in Memphis, Tennessee.[3] He grew up in Toledo, Ohio. On graduating from high school, Thaxton enlisted in the Navy, "barely hours" before he would have been drafted.[4][5] His face appeared at the top of the newly launched Tiger Beat magazine (then known as "Lloyd Thaxton's Tiger Beat"), for which he did a column.[6] According to IMDB, Thaxton was a co-founder of Tiger Beat.[7]

Thaxton is best remembered for "The Lloyd Thaxton Show", which originated as "Lloyd Thaxton’s Record Shop" (later "Thaxton’s Hop") in 1959,[8] and aired five days a week from 1964 to 1968.[9] His show was recalled in the lyrics of The Go-Go's song "Beatnik Beach," which appeared on the 1982 album Vacation: "We'll lipsync a go-go / Like on the Lloyd Thaxton Show, yeah ..."[10] He later hosted the game shows "Everybody’s Talking" and "Funny You Should Ask".[9]

In 2003, he wrote with John Alston "Stuff Happens! (And Then You Fix It)".[9] Thaxton married Jacqueline Matthews in 1953, had one daughter with her, and also raised two children from Matthews' previous marriage. They divorced in 1967, and Thaxton moved to Los Angeles.[1] A year later, he married his second wife, Barbara.[5] Lloyd died at his home in Studio City, Los Angeles on October 5, 2008.[1] He died five months after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma.[11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Thaxton, Lloyd, 1927-2008 | Archival and Manuscript Collections". findingaids.library.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  2. ^ "The Story of TV's Lloyd Thaxton—In His Own Words". Beat. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  3. ^ "RIP Lloyd Thaxton". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
  4. ^ Lloyd Thaxton blog
  5. ^ a b McLellan, Dennis (2008-10-08). "Zany host of popular television dance show". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  6. ^ "RIP Lloyd Thaxton". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2009-12-17.
  7. ^ IMDB bio
  8. ^ "Lloyd Thaxton: Local Personality". www.metnews.com. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  9. ^ a b c Burlingame, Jon (2008-10-08). "Producer, host Lloyd Thaxton dies". Variety. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  10. ^ "Beatnik Beach" lyrics, posted on the "Lyrics 007" website
  11. ^ "Producer-Director Lloyd Thaxton Dies". Television Academy. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
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