Peter Tomarken was born on
December 7,
1942 in
Olean, New York. His current wife is Kathleen, and he has 3 children with a previous wife; Jason (b. 1969), and twin daughters, Alexis and Candace (b. 1975). He worked as a
watch winder in his hometown before going into showbusiness.
Peter Tomarken is best known for his work on the campy gameshow Press Your Luck (1983 - 1986, syndicated), but his list of shows includes Hit Man (Jan - Apr 1983), and Wipeout (1983 - 1984).
His less-known hosting duties include Decades (1994), and Paranoia (2000), one of the game shows to capitalize on the Who Wants to be a Millionaire craze and the only one to be broadcast live (as was evidenced when he bungled an outro one time, forgetting which network he was on. "Make sure to come back to us, here on Game Show--- er...") (As a note, the show aired on what was then FOX Family.)
Peter got his TV start, as many TV personalities do, in soap operas. He was in 1977's Secrets and in 1979's The Secret Empire. His showbiz career has slowed down in recent years, however, he did host one of the two pilots for the remake of Press Your Luck, called "Whammy! The New Press Your Luck". He is currently working for a real estate business in California.