Larry Emdur - Biography

Larry Emdur (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian television personality. He is currently co-hosting Saturday's Weekend Sunrise alongside Samantha Armytage.

He is perhaps best known to Australian audiences for his hosting duties on several game shows, including Cash Bonanza (Channel Nine), The Price Is Right (Channel Nine) and Wheel of Fortune (Channel Seven).

Larry hosted Hey Hey it's Saturday twice in 1998, and substituted as host of It Takes Two once in 2006 and again in 2007. He has also hosted Celebrity Dog School on Channel Ten.

Childhood and early career

Emdur is of Turkish decent and was born in Melbourne. Growing up near the beach at Bondi NSW, 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 switched to hosting game shows and variety television.

TV career

The Price Is Right

Emdur is perhaps best known as the host of The Price Is Right on the Nine Network, which he hosted for from 1993 to 1998, before its cancellation. It was then revived in 2003 and ran until October 2005 due to poor ratings and high costs of production.

To commemorate the United States version's 40th season in 2011-12, on a July 2011 trip to the United States, Emdur called down a contestant and served as a guest host for Cliff Hangers, under recommendation of host Drew Carey. Emdur will be one of numerous hosts who have hosted the format to appear as part of the 40th anniversary celebration.

Hey Hey It's Saturday

Emdur filled in twice for Daryl Somers on the popular family show Hey Hey It's Saturday.

Wheel of Fortune

After being "rested" by the Nine Network following the cancellation of The Price Is Right, Larry became host of the Seven Network's Wheel of Fortune. His contract with Seven was signed mere hours after his deal with the Nine Network expired. While in the first few weeks of his run with Seven's Wheel in the weekday timeslot, Larry continued to appear simultaneously on Nine in re-runs of The Price Is Right, until Bert's Family Feud took over the timeslot on Nine in mid-February 2006.

On 19 June 2006 news emerged of Wheel of Fortune's cancellation at the end of the 2006 season. 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 Larry 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 an article with The Border Mail dated 7 October 2006, Emdur stated:

“I have done all the stuff I have really wanted to do and there is nothing jumping out at me in the TV world. I am going to France (to the MIPCOM television festival) to have a look around at the upcoming trends and what’s going on around the rest of the world. I will see how I can contribute to that, whether it be in Australia or not.”

Emdur's latest ambition is to create his own production company.

Celebrity Dog School

Emdur signed up with Network Ten in 2007. He had joined up to host a new show Celebrity Dog School, which began airing in February. In March, the program came close to cancellation, after disappointing first fortnight ratings; however, it was instead moved to a different timeslot (it was originally Sundays, but moved to Saturdays).

The Morning Show

Emdur is currently co-hosting The Morning Show with Kylie Gillies, a top rating morning talk show airing on the Seven Network. The show began in mid-2007.

Larry 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 Larry signed on to participate in the Sydney to Hobart again. His crew on the yacht 'Investec Loyal' finished second.

On 4 February 2011 Larry 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'.

Sunrise & Weekend Sunrise

In February 2010, Seven announced that Emdur would co-host Weekend Sunrise on Saturday mornings alongside Samantha Armytage he held this position until the end of 2010. Now Andrew O'Keefe presents both Saturday and Sunday.

Emdur is also currently a regular fill in co-host for David Koch on Sunrise and Andrew O'Keefe on Weekend Sunrise if they are away on holidays, sick or on assignment.

Larry vs Rove

In June 2006, an on-air "feud" of sorts developed between Emdur and TV talk show host Rove McManus. This started when Rove received an e-mail from a Wheel of Fortune audience member, who informed Rove that he was the butt of many jokes made by Emdur during breaks at Wheel tapings. Emdur has frequently been teased about his height, and in response, would make comments to the studio audience such as:

"Rove McManus picked a fight with me at the Logies. He came up to me, looked me right in the eye, and all the while, he was sitting on Anthony Callea's shoulders."

McManus confronted Emdur about his remarks when he was invited as a guest on Rove Live's "HelpDesk" segment. Emdur admitted to the jibes, but stated it was all in good fun, and offered an apology. McManus then challenged Emdur to a sumo fight backstage, where both men donned sumo suits, competing in what was billed as the "Smackdown Wheel of Destiny". The fight lasted 8 seconds, after Emdur managed to take down McManus to be declared the winner.

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