Mr. Byrnes recently died at the age of 86, but in 1974 he hosted a couple of pilots for the embryonic Wheel of Fortune, which live on at YouTube here and here. These pilots have become rather famous in game show circles thanks to Edd's supposed condition while taping them. According to Game Show Pilot Light, he was "crazy drunk" on one of the pilots and "happy drunk" on the other one.
The Pilot Light refers to Edd Byrnes' autobiography for these tidbits, so maybe the stories are true. Or maybe Edd was just inventing fables. His Kookie character on 77 Sunset Strip always enjoyed a breezy attitude toward life, which seems to have reflected Edd Byrnes' real personality.
You can judge from the videos yourself how stewed Mr. Byrnes may have been during the tapings. In any event, Merv Griffin decided on Chuck Woolery for the host gig. And a lot of Wheel history began.
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