Gil Fates

Joseph Gilbert Fates (September 29, 1914 - May 1, 2000) was an American television producer.

Early years Fates was a native of Newark, New Jersey, who studied economics at the University of Virginia. In the summer after he graduated he was an actor at the Barter Theatre in Virginia.

Career Fates went from the Barter Theatre to New York. He acted in the road company of Stage Door and was stage manager for the touring company of The Man Who Came to Dinner.

From 1973 to 1975 Fates's name was invoked by host Larry Blyden on every episode of What's My Line? As Blyden explained before introducing mystery guest Paul Lynde: "It's time to tell the audience and the members of the panel, especially those watching the program over the last 22 years, about a new development known as Fates' Law. Fates' Law is that any member who guesses who the mystery guest is and is wrong is then out. That's Fates' Law." Fates himself explained that the rule was named by Blyden but actually inspired by panelist Soupy Sales: "Soupy knows everybody in show business. He could identify even the most obscure comic or nightclub singer despite the most bizarre vocal disguise... [the new rule] cut down a bit on the number of instant solutions, not only from Soupy but also from other panelists who had a tendency to guess."

Personal life and death Fates and his wife, Faye, had a son and two daughters. At the time of his death, Fates lived in Greenwich, Connecticut. He died on May 1, 2000, at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, aged 86.