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Wink Martindale had all the love and support from his wife, Sandra “Sandy” Martindale (née Ferra), throughout most of his television career. And after decades in showbiz, the late 91-year-old game show host died in April 2025, reportedly after battling lymphoma.. He was surrounded by his family, according to multiple outlets.
Learn about Martindale’s marriage to his wife and his ex-wife in addition to his children below.
Wink Martindale’s Game Shows
Martindale was famous for hosting multiple game shows from the 1970s through the 1990s. He was the face of Gambit from 1972 to 1976, and a second time from 1980 to 1981, Tic-Tac-Dough from 1978 to 1985, High Rollers in 1987 and 1988 and Debt from 1996 to 1998.
After moving on from the game show genre, Martindale published his memoir, Winking at Life, in 2000. In the book, he opened up about his growth as a game show host and television personality.
“I love working with contestants, interacting with the audience and to a degree, watching lives change,” he wrote in one excerpt. “Winning a lot of cash can cause that to happen.”
Since Martindale was also a DJ, a radio personality and a TV producer, he noted in his memoir that he “could easily have thought, ‘Wow, this is easy! I come out here, go on radio and TV, make a record and everybody wants to buy it!”
“Even if I entertained such thoughts, they soon dissipated,” Martindale acknowledged, before adding, “I learned in due time that what had happened to me was far from the ordinary.”
(Photo by Jesse Grant/WireImage)
Who Is Wink Martindale’s Wife?
Martindale was previously married to his first wife, Madelyn Leech, from 1954 to 1972. They shared four children together. Three years after he divorced Leech, Martindale married his second wife, Ferra. They stayed together through the remainder of his life.
Did Wink Martindale Have Kids?
Yes, Martindale is survived by his daughters, Lisa, Madelyn and Laura. He was also a father to a son named Wink Jr., who died before the former Gambit host, per NPR. His children were all from Martindale’s marriage to his first wife, Leech.
How Did Wink Martindale Die?
Initially, no cause of death was given when news broke of Martindale’s death. However, per TMZ, Martindale died after a battle with lymphoma. His rep, Brian Mayes, said Martindale had been battling cancer for about a year but was “doing well” until he “took a turn for the worse” two weeks before he died.
