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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

1960s Pop Culture Icon Still on Top of His Game

“Retirement is not in my vocabulary.” Bob Eubanks’s mantra came through loud and clear in his recent talk at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. A rapt audience of senior citizens, mixed with students of art and culture, listened as that resonant voice of the 1960s generation expounded on life’s bottom line: inventiveness. From top rock ’n’ roll disc jockey to TV host extraordinaire, talent manager to concert promoter, Eubanks has reinvented himself over and over through the decades. Now 74 and a resident of Westlake Village, Eubanks has done it again — this time as a keynote speaker to corporate America. He has given motivational talks for Southwest Airlines, John Hancock Insurance and Wachovia Bank, among other companies. He gives 30 to 40 speeches a year. “My philosophy has always been, ‘Take your strengths and reinvent yourself,’” he said to the audience at Cal Lutheran. “There’s a place in life for everybody. You just have to remember what you’re good at and take it to the next logical step.” Eubanks said he wanted to be a DJ since eighth grade. He became a renowned rock ’n’ roll disc jockey at Los Angeles’s premier radio station, KRLA, and a concert promoter who mortgaged his house to bring the Beatles to the Hollywood Bowl in 1964 and 1965. When it became apparent that television was the wave of the future, he left radio. Most widely known for “The Newlywed Game,” Eubanks hosted “Card Sharks” and other highly successful daytime TV programs. The only game show personality to host the same format with original programming for five decades, TV Guide named him one of the top five game show hosts of all time. He won five Emmys, including a lifetime achievement award, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A star in his own right, Eubanks managed the careers of singer-composers Dolly Parton and Barbara Mandrell and became a major concert promoter. He produced more than 100 concerts a year for two decades for acts that included The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Bob Dylan and Merle Haggard. Today he’s still calling his own shots: He keeps busy but won’t let his work keep him on the road too long. “I used to leave town with Merle Haggard on Thursday and come back on Monday,” Eubanks said. Now he has a “two-day rule,” meaning he won’t be away from his family more than two days in a row. “Your laptop will not visit you on your deathbed, I promise you. . . . I’m no longer a workaholic. I no longer chase the deal; I chase my son,” he said of his youngest child, who is 9. Clearly, life is lighter for Eubanks these days. With his trademark comedic timing and bemused smile, he enjoys entertaining an audience. “There’s nothing more satisfying to me than making people laugh,” he said, in an interview after his talk at the university, held late last month. A lifelong cowboy and accomplished horseman, he also enjoys collecting Western art. When Eubanks found that he had more wall décor and sculptures than he could display at home, he donated a collection this summer to Cal Lutheran, where it was displayed after his speech. “No one was enjoying it, so I wanted to donate it where it could be shown to the community rather than being sold,” he said. The $170,000 collection includes four bronze sculptures and 26 oil paintings, fine art prints and pencil drawings. In an endorsement posted on bobeubanks.com, Kay Caldwell, a motivational speaker and former airline executive, wrote after Eubanks addressed a Southwest Airlines group: “Bob has a special way of leading others to self-awareness through humor. He admonishes the significant force in each of us that drives out ambition, prosperity, and takes us to the prize.” Those who know Eubanks personally say he’s a nice guy. “Bob’s a loyal friend and as straight a shooter as you’ll ever meet,” said Buck Wicall, owner of West Valley Horse Center in Agoura Hills, who has known Eubanks more than 50 years. In 1968 the two fellow horsemen founded, operated and later sold Calabasas Saddlery, which quickly became a destination not only for legendary riders and trainers, but also for Hollywood celebrities.

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