FORMER FAMILY FEUD' HOST RAY COMBS DIES

GLENDALE, CALIF. -- Former game show host Ray Combs was found dead June 2, having hanged himself with bedsheets in a hospital psychiatric ward after weeks of suicide attempts, including banging his head on walls, police said.

The former host of "The New Family Feud" was taken to Glendale Adventist Medical Center on June 1 with head injuries and was admitted for 72 hours of observation, Sgt. Rick Young said.

About 14 hours later, hospital workers found Mr. Combs, 40, hanging in a closet. There was no suicide note.

Because the hospital was informed of the previous suicide attempts, Mr. Combs was in a secured room -- one that should contain nothing a patient could use to harm himself. But he was not under constant supervision, Young said.

There was no indication that he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he was admitted, Young said.

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Mr. Combs was host of the game show from 1988 to 1994, when he was replaced by his predecessor, Richard Dawson.

Mr. Combs made his stand-up comedy debut at a Holiday Inn in Indianapolis where David Letterman got his first break. Most recently, he was host of another game show, "Ray Combs' Family Challenge," on the Family Channel. He operated two comedy clubs in Cincinnati but eventually closed them. He wanted to concentrate on a television career, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Mr. Combs had suffered several personal and professional setbacks in recent years, including being replaced by Dawson. He was seriously injured in a July 1994 car accident on a highway north of Los Angeles, leaving him temporarily paralyzed.

He is survived by his parents, Ray Combs Sr. and Anita Jean; his wife, Debbie; and six children.

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