Early life

Hamel was born in Toronto, Ontario. He is Jewish. He attended the television arts programme at Ryerson Institute of Technology in 1954 but did not graduate.

Career

Hamel co-hosted the Canadian children's television series Razzle Dazzle (1961-64). The show featured a talking turtle, Howard. In the late 1960s he hosted two syndicated game shows which aired on all the ABC owned and operated TV stations as well as others: Wedding Party (1968) and Anniversary Game (1969), where he first met Suzanne Somers, whom he later married in 1977. In the late 1970s, he hosted The Alan Hamel Show, a popular daytime talk show on Canadian TV. People magazine considered him "Canada's leading TV talk show host".

For several years during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hamel was a commercial pitchman for American Stores, a chain of supermarkets spanning coast to coast. Hamel specifically did advertisements for Alpha Beta stores in the western United States and also appeared in occasional spots for Acme Markets in the northeastern United States.

Hamel eventually became a producer, often working on projects involving his wife. He occasionally performed as an actor as well, also sometimes on Somers' shows.

Personal life

Hamel has two children, a son Stephen and a daughter Leslie, from his first marriage to Marilyn Hamel. He met his current wife, actress and author Suzanne Somers who is ten years his junior, when she was a prize model on The Anniversary Game, a game show he hosted. Alan and Suzanne lived together for about ten years before marrying. A rabbi and a Catholic priest officiated at their wedding. Alan is stepfather to Bruce Somers, Jr., Suzanne's son from a previous marriage during her teens.

Filmography

(partial)

• 1961-64: Razzle Dazzle (CBC Television)
• 1968: Wedding Party (ABC/syndicated)
• 1969: Anniversary Game (ABC/syndicated)
• 1971-72: Mantrap
• 1972-73: Alan Hamel's Comedy Bag (CBC)
• 1976-80: The Alan Hamel Show (CTV)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]