Fred Van Deventer

Mutual Broadcasting System radio newsman and columnist who originated the game "Twenty Questions" for radio and, later, television. Based on the "Animal, Vegetable or Mineral" parlor game, it was one of the first shows to transcend radio into the new medium of television, and was extremely popular. He was a "printer's devil" for his high school newspaper, then moved on to several other mainstream newspaper and wire-service jobs. He joined WOR in New York as a newscaster in 1944. When "Twenty Questions" began airing, Fred, his wife Florence Rinard and son Robert were among the panelists. It began on Mutual on February 2, 1946 and later came to the DuMont Television Network, finally ending when DuMont itself was fading, in May, 1955. After it ended, he turned to writing, lecturing and authoring several books; but he returned to newscasting over Mutual in the early 1960s, finally retiring to Greenville SC and his longtime dream of living in the South. He worked for the Greenville News, and then moved to Petersburg, Virginia where he wrote for the Progress-Index. Fred never liked using his full name on the air, as he felt it was too long.