TV Host Tried Suicide Before, Police Say

Distraught over marital problems and recent career setbacks, former game show host Ray Combs tried to commit suicide at least twice last week before he succeeded in hanging himself in a Glendale hospital room, authorities said Monday.

Police said Combs, 40, who hosted “The New Family Feud” from 1986 to 1994, was found dead in a closet, hanging from a bedsheet, about 4 a.m. Sunday at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

Sgt. Rick Young said Combs was admitted to the hospital Saturday on “72-hour mental evaluation hold” after police responded to a report that Combs was trashing the inside of his family’s house in Glendale.

After talking to Combs’ wife, Debra, officers learned that Combs had been briefly hospitalized for injuries suffered in a suicide attempt earlier in the week. Police decided to put Combs on suicide watch at the hospital after determining that his head injury was self-inflicted, Young said.

Combs was replaced by his predecessor, Richard Dawson, on the popular TV game show in 1994 after a six-year stint as its host.