Winston Conrad "Wink" Martindale (born
December 4,
1934 in
Jackson, Tennessee) is a
disc jockey and
television game show host.
Martindale started his career as a disc jockey at age 17 at WPLI in Jackson, earning $25 a week. He was hired away by WTJS for double the salary by Jackson's only other station, WDXI. He next hosted mornings at
WHBQ in
Memphis while a college student at
Memphis State College, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1957. In 1959, he became morning man at KHJ in
Los Angeles,
California, moving a year later to the morning show at KRLA and finally to KFWB in 1962. He also had lengthy stays at KKGO/KJQI and
Gene Autry's
KMPC.
Martindale's first break into television was at
WHBQ-TV in Memphis, as the host of
Mars Patrol, a science-fiction themed
children's television program. It was at his tenure with WHBQ that Martindale became the host of the TV show
Dance Party where his close friend
Elvis Presley stopped in to make a public appearance. Following Presley's sudden death in 1977, Martindale aired a nationwide tribute radio special in his honor. Martindale is also a longtime friend of Memphis TV personality
Lance Russell.