Allen Ellsworth Ludden (born Allen Packard Ellsworth; October 5, 1917 – June 9, 1981) was an American television personality, actor, singer, emcee, and game show host. He hosted various incarnations of the game show Password between 1961 and 1980. Early years Ludden was born on October 5, 1917, in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, the first child of Elmer and Leila M. (née Allen) Ellsworth. Elmer was a Nebraska native who worked as an ice dealer, while Leila was a Wisconsin native and housewife. Elmer Ellsworth died the next winter on January 6, 1919, at age 26, from the Spanish flu. When Ludden was about five years old, his mother married Homer J. Ludden, an electrical engineer. Homer J. Ludden was the son of Franklin C. Ludden, a merchant and then the superintendent of the electric plant in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. Allen was given his adoptive father's name and became Allen Ellsworth Ludden. The family lived briefly in the Wisconsin cities of Janesville, Elkhorn, Antigo, and Waupaca before moving to Texas when Ludden was nine years old. The Ludden family resided in Corpus Christi in 1940, appearing in the City Directory, where Allen is listed as a student, Homer an engineer, and Homer and Leila's son, Franklin C. Ludden, a mail clerk. Education and career An English and dramatics major at the University of Texas (now known as the University of Texas at Austin), Ludden graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1940 and received his Master of Arts in English from the same university in 1941. He served in the United States Army as officer in charge of entertainment in the Pacific theater, received a Bronze Star Medal for unknown reasons, and was discharged with the rank of captain in 1946. During the late 1940s and early 1950s he began his career as an adviser for youth in teen magazine columns and on radio. His radio show for teenagers, Mind Your Manners, received an honorable mention Peabody Award in 1950. Ludden hosted many game shows, including the College Bowl, but he was most well known for hosting both the daytime and prime time versions of Password on CBS and ABC between 1961 and 1975. His opening TV catch phrase, "Hi doll," was directed toward Tess White, mother of his wife, actress and television personality Betty White. Ludden began hosting an updated version of the game, Password Plus, on NBC, in 1979,