Peter Tomarken

Peter David Tomarken (December 7, 1942 – March 13, 2006) was an American television personality primarily known as the host of the game show Press Your Luck.

He made an appearance as a reporter in the 1978 film Heaven Can Wait, as well as the character Roe in "The Secret Empire" portion of the short lived NBC series Cliffhangers.

After a pair of failed pilots for NBC — Rodeo Drive in October 1980 (later picked as a series for Lifetime in 1990, ten years later) and Duel in the Daytime in August 1981, both produced by Jay Wolpert — Tomarken got his first network job of another Wolpert production as the host of Hit Man for NBC; it lasted just 13 weeks, from January 3 to April 1 of 1983.

Tomarken's next project was a pilot for a game-show adaptation of the board game Monopoly, which was produced by Merv Griffin and intended to air daily in syndication.

Tomarken (and stations) balked at the use of a midget (Patty Maloney) to portray "Rich Uncle Pennybags", making it impossible to sell.

[5] The aircraft lost power shortly after takeoff and Tomarken attempted to turn back to the airport before crashing into the bay.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the Tomarkens' chances of survival "would have significantly increased" had the plane been equipped with shoulder harnesses in addition to lap seat belts.

[6] The Tomarkens were volunteers with Angel Flight West, a nonprofit organization that provides free air transportation to needy medical patients.

They were en route to San Diego to pick up a cancer patient who needed transportation to UCLA Medical Center for treatment when their airplane crashed.