Larry Emdur

Larry Emdur
Larry Emdur farewells Perpetual Loyal for the 2014 Sydney Hobart Race
Born	(1964-12-09) 9 December 1964 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Australian television presenter
Employer	Seven Network
Known for	The Morning Show (2007-present) Weekend Sunrise (2010) Celebrity Dog School (2007) Wheel of Fortune (2006) Cash Bonanza (2001) The Price is Right (1993-2012) Good Morning Australia (1980s)
Spouse(s)	Sylvie Emdur
Children	2

Larry Emdur (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian television personality.

Emdur is currently co-host of The Morning Show alongside Kylie Gillies. The duo also hosted the Australian version of Celebrity Splash!. He also formerly hosted the Australian version of popular gameshow The Price Is Right from 1993-1998 and later 2003-2005 on the Nine Network and then again when the show returned to the Seven Network on 7 May 2012. The show was axed later that year.

He is also known to Australian audiences for his hosting duties on several other game shows, including Cash Bonanza (Nine Network), and Wheel of Fortune (Seven Network).

Emdur 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 Network Ten.

Childhood and early career

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 switched to hosting game shows and variety television.

TV career

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 on 23 June 2003 and ran until 24 November 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 also modeled a trip to Australia in one of the two Showcases that are presented on the United States version. Emdur will be one of numerous hosts who have hosted the format to appear as part of the 40th anniversary celebration. Emdur filled in twice for Daryl Somers on the popular family show Hey Hey It's Saturday. After being "rested" by the Nine Network following the cancellation of The Price Is Right, Emdur 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 5:00 pm weekday timeslot, Emdur continued to appear simultaneously on Nine in re-runs of The Price Is Right, until Bert's Family Feud took over the 5:30 pm 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 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 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. 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 6:30 pm Sundays, but moved to 6:30 pm Saturdays). 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. 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 Emdur 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 February 2010, Seven announced that Emdur would co-host Weekend Sunrise on Saturday mornings alongside Samantha Armytage, and he held this position until the end of 2010. Now Andrew O'Keefe presents both Saturday and Sunday. Larry 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. In 2011 Larry wore a snuggy made entirely of shamwow, at the height of "snuggy" and "shamwow" fad.

In September 2013, Emdur produced and hosted a pilot for a late night talk show titled Larry on Late in Sydney, which featured guests Guy Sebastian, Samantha Armytage and Manon Youdale. Seven Network passed on the show after viewing the pilot.

In December 2013 Emdur was a 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.

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.

External links

• Larry Emdur at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by program started	The Morning Show Co-host with Kylie Gillies June 2007 -	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by program started	Weekend Sunrise Saturday co-host with Samantha Armytage 2010	Succeeded by Andrew O'Keefe