Anson R. "Randy" Merriman

Inducted 2003

When Anson R. “Randy” Merriman left military school to join the circus, he began a long career in entertainment that led to local and national success in radio and television.

After a stint as circus ringmaster, he became a star on the Twin Cities vaudeville stage before joining KSTP Minneapolis/Saint Paul as host of “Tavern Trouper,” a radio show in which soldiers in the South Pacific could talk to relatives in Minnesota. Soon he was headed for the Pacific himself, working with Bob Hope as a USO entertainer during World War II. He returned to KSTP after the war and co-hosted the pioneer quiz show “Fun For Your Money” with Jimmy Valentine on KSTP TV. In 1951 he ushered in the network TV quiz show era, starring on “The Big Payoff” with former Miss America Bess Myerson, televised nationally on NBC and later CBS. He returned to Minnesota in 1958 and joined WCCO Minneapolis/Saint Paul, hosting radio and television shows including “Honest to Goodness” with Dick Chapman and “Fan in the Stands” before Minnesota Twins baseball games. Always an entertainer, he was active in the Zuhrah Shrine Merrymakers and performed magic shows for children in his retirement years.

On October 27, 2005, Randy Merriman died at his home in Florida at the age of 93.