Editing Gene Rayburn (section)

==Early life==
Rayburn was born in [[Christopher, Illinois]], the younger of two children of Croatian immigrants Mary A. Hikec (August 14, 1897 – April 29, 1985<!-- born in Susak, Austrian Littoral -->) and Peter Pero Jeljenić (January 17, 1887 – December 26, 1918<!-- born in Topolo, Kingdom of Dalmatia -->). In an episode of ''Match Game ‘74'', Rayburn spoke [[Serbo-Croatian]] with a contestant, mentioning that his parents were born in what was then [[Yugoslavia]]. His father died when Rayburn was an infant. Mary moved her family to Chicago, where she met Milan Rubessa. After she married Rubessa on November 10, 1919, Rayburn took the name '''Eugene Rubessa''' ({{IPAc-en|r|uː|ˈ|b|eɪ|ʃ|ə}}).<ref>{{cite news|last=Clothier|first=Gary Lee|title=Mr. Know-It-All: '18 Wheels of Justice' series|newspaper=Daily Breeze|date=August 11, 2009}}</ref> He had an elder brother, Alfred, who was killed when Rayburn was a child and a younger half-brother, Milan Rubessa Jr.

Rayburn graduated from [[Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy|Lindblom Technical High School]] and attended [[Knox College (Illinois)|Knox College]]. At Lindblom, he was senior class president and acted in the plays ''Robert of Sicily'' and ''[[Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch]]''.<ref>Lindblom Technical High School, Class yearbook January 1936</ref>

An aspiring actor and [[opera]] singer, Rayburn moved to [[New York City]] but was unable to find stage work.  He found a job as a [[NBC page|page]] and tour guide at NBC studios at [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]] instead.<ref name = Woo/> After three years in that position, Rayburn began announcing at various radio stations, eventually landing back in New York at [[WBBR|WNEW]]. He enlisted in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] and served in World War II. Gene chose the stage name "Rayburn" by randomly sticking his finger in the phone book.<ref name="Times">{{cite news| last=Severo| first=Richard| title=Gene Rayburn, 81, Longtime TV Host of 'The Match Game'| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/04/arts/gene-rayburn-81-longtime-tv-host-of-the-match-game.html| date=December 4, 1999| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| access-date=October 11, 2017| url-access=limited}}</ref>