Larry Emdur
Larry Emdur (born on December 9, 1964 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian Game Show Host and Local Television Personality.
Growing up near the beach in Bondi, New South Wales, he developed a keen interest in surfing from an early age. He dropped out of school at age 15. Emdur began his career as a copyboy at The Sydney Morning Herald, before moving into television, where at age 17 he became Australia’s youngest national newsreader, presenting the overnight news for Seven Network in Australia. After some time in news and current affairs as a reporter and newsreader, and presenter on Good Morning Australia, Emdur then switched to hosting game shows and variety television.
His long-standing career in TV Game Shows is what Emdur is best known for. He has a long standing relationship with the Australian version of The Price is Right, first hosting the show from 1993 to 1998 (it's cancellation) on the Nine Network. Then hosted a 2nd edition of the program from June 2003 until November 2005 due to declining ratings and high production costs. Emdur has made a guest appearance on the American version of The Price is Right twice: first back in 1995 when he sat in the studio audience and was acknowledged by then-host Bob Barker and then again in 2012 as he took part of the show's 40th Anniversary Celebration. He called down a contestant and served as a guest host for Cliff Hangers, under recommendation of now-current host Drew Carey. Emdur also modeled a trip to Australia in one of the two Showcases that was presented.
After the cancellation of the Aussie version of The Price is Right on the Nine Network, Emdur soon landing another Game Show hosting job on another network. He became the new host of the Australian version of Wheel of Fortune with Laura Csortan as co-host on the Seven Network. Ratings for Wheel dropped drastically as the network was desperate to save the show from cancellation and wanted Emdur as the new host and inked a deal with the Seven Network just mere hours after his deal with the Nine Network expired. Unfortunately, Emdur's hosting style wasn't enough to save Wheel of Fortune as the ratings dropped even further and the show was cancelled in 28 July 2006 after nearly 25 years on the air.
Channel 10's Rove Live then started a campaign to "Save Larry Emdur", although Seven soon put an end to Rove's jokes by issuing a statement that Emdur would be staying with the Seven Network. Emdur has also been a fill-in host for It Takes Two and has filled in for Andrew O'Keefe on Weekend Sunrise and David Koch on Sunrise. Although there was talk of Emdur being in line to host a new game show, Seven's reluctance to risk another game show failure (such as The Master and You May Be Right) has led to Emdur contemplating his career options.
In 2012, another version of The Price is Right, now on the Seven Network, was brought back to life with Emdur once again serving as host but this newly, revamped version (Mainly based on the 2009-15 French version under the name Le Juste Prix [The Right Price]) fails to strike a chord with TV audiences and the show was axed after just one season.
As of today, Larry Emdur currently co-hosts The Morning Show with Kylie Gillies, a top rating morning talk show airing on the Seven Network. The show began in mid-2007. Emdur was invited to participate in the 2009 Sydney to Hobart by finance commentator Anthony Bell. Upon reaching Hobart, Emdur said on The Morning Show that he may never set foot on a boat again. However, in 2010, he signed on to participate in the Sydney to Hobart again. His crew on the yacht 'Investec LOYAL' finished second. On 4 February 2011, Emdur renewed his contract with the Seven Network, reportedly worth in excess of $800,000 a year. This contract stopped him from defecting to the Nine Network to co-host Today. The contract allows him to stay on as co-host of The Morning Show and 'other opportunities'.
In December 2013, Emdur served as crew member aboard racing supermaxi yacht Perpetual Loyal in the 2013 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, with his other celebrity crew members, Karl Stefanovic, Guillaume Brahimi, Tom Slingsby, Phil Waugh and Jude Bolton.
In 2021, the Seven Network announced that Emdur would be the new host of the Australian version of The Chase known as The Chase Australia (Based on the British game show of the same name) replacing the now-disgraced public figure Andrew O'Keefe after his contract was not renewed by the Seven Network at the end of 2020 prior to being charged with assault in January 2021. However, according to reports, he was close to not renewing his contract with the Seven Network at the end of last year and was offered The Chase hosting role in a bid to keep him at the network. The episode with Emdur as host began on 26 July 2021 after the final episode with O'Keefe aired on 20 July 2021.
Personal Life[]
Emdur is married and the father of two sons.