Remembering Richard Dawson, Supervillain

A look at the 'Family Feud' host's star turn on a far more evil game show: 'The Running Man.'

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Courtesy Everett Collection

Richard Dawson, right, with Arnold Schwarezengger, left, in the 1987 film "The Running Man."

British actor and beloved game show host Richard Dawson passed away over the weekend, after a career that started with a role as a Cockney POW on Hogan’s Heroes and ended with him kissing hundreds of women on the lips as host of Family Feud. But NewsFeed would like to remind everybody of one of our favorite Richard Dawson roles, in which he played a different beloved game show host who is also totally evil.

(LIST: The 15 Greatest Game Show Hosts of All TIME)

Yep, that’s Dawson himself as the Machiavellian host of The Running Man, in the 1987 action movie of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and based with exceeding fecklessness on a Stephen King novel. The Running ManĀ is the most popular game show of the dystopian future, in which contestants must survive various attempts to kill them in entertaining ways while the studio audience bays lustily for blood. In this great clip on YouTube, Dawson lays it on charmingly thick — but then again, have you seen an episode of Family Feud? The only thing that would’ve made this better is if he’d tried to kiss Arnold.

MORE: Family Feud TV Host Richard Dawson Dies at 79