Editing The Gong Show (section)

===Legitimate talent===
The two biggest ''Gong Show''-related showbiz successes were [[Andrea McArdle]] and [[Cheryl Lynn]]. Twelve-year-old McArdle appeared on an early episode in 1976, shortly before she won the leading role in the hit [[Broadway musical]] ''[[Annie (musical)|Annie]]''. Following Lynn's ''Gong Show'' appearance in 1976, she received a recording contract with [[Columbia Records]] and recorded the [[Top 40]] [[disco]] hit "[[Got To Be Real]]", released in 1978.

Among the other true talents that appeared on the show were country singer [[Boxcar Willie]]; actor [[Kevin Peter Hall]] who later appeared as the original ''[[Predator (film)|Predator]]'' in the 1987 film and as Harry in ''[[Harry and the Hendersons]]''; comics and actors [[Paul Reubens]] and [[John Paragon]] (best known as [[Pee Wee Herman]] and [[Jambi the Genie]]); [[Joey D'Auria]] ("Dr. Flameo", later [[WGN-TV|WGN]]'s second ''[[Bozo the Clown]]''); impressionist/comic [[Michael Winslow]]; novelty rock band [[Green Jellÿ]];<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/R4b8MbN8oXE Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20141109141826/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4b8MbN8oXE Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web|title=Green Jello on the Gong Show| date=8 April 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4b8MbN8oXE&feature=bf_prev&list=ULWdLXPaGNHDE&index=11|publisher=greenjello333|access-date=2011-04-08}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and an unknown band called [[The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo]] which evolved into [[Oingo Boingo]], led by future film and television score composer [[Danny Elfman]]. In 1979, [[Crips]] founder and executed murderer [[Stanley Tookie Williams]] appeared on the show as a bodybuilder. Future Academy Award-nominated actress [[Mare Winningham]] sang the [[Beatles]] song "[[Here, There, and Everywhere]]" on the program in 1976. Future [[Super Bowl XXXV]] winning head coach [[Brian Billick]] also made an appearance, performing a routine known as the "spider monkey". Dancer [[Danny Lockin]], who had played Barnaby in the film ''[[Hello, Dolly! (film)#Principal cast|Hello Dolly!]]'', was murdered hours after winning the show taped August 21, 1977.<ref>{{cite web|title=Danny's Death: A Travesty of Justice|url=http://www.dannylockin.com/death.htm|access-date=6 July 2015}}</ref> Television personality, actress and entrepreneur, [[Rhonda Shear]] appeared on the program in 1979. Journalist [[Maureen Orth]], then writing for ''[[Newsweek]]'', won second-place on a 1977 show, appearing as "The World's Oldest Cheerleader."<ref name=maureenorth/>