Dawson was born in Gosport, England as Colin Emm. At the age of 14, he ran away from home to join the Merchant Marines, where he pursued a boxing career. Having married British sex symbolDiana Dors, Dawson moved to Los Angeles, California, where he gained fame in the hit show Hogan's Heroes as Cpl. Peter Newkirk. The war-related sitcom was one of the highest-rated shows on television during its six-year run from 1965 to 1971. Dawson and Dors eventually divorced, and Dawson gained custody of both their children, Gary and Mark. Immediately following the cancellation of Heroes, Dawson performed as a regular on the popular NBC variety show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In from 1971 to 1973, and would also be a regular on The New Dick Van Dyke Show from 1973 to 1974. Dawson also appeared as a panelist on the 1972-73 syndicated revival of I've Got a Secret.
After Laugh-In left the airwaves in 1973, game show pioneer Mark Goodson signed Dawson to appear as a regular on Match Game '73. Dawson, who had already served a year as panelist for Goodson's revival of I've Got a Secret, proved to be a solid and funny gameplayer and was the frequent choice of contestants for the "Head-to-Head Match" portion of the show's bonus round, in which the contestant and Dawson had to obtain an exact match to the requested prompt.
In a classic episode of Match Game 77, he and fellow panelist, Debralee Scott revolted when their answer "Finishing School" did not match the answer "school" in the judges' mind; thus sparking the "Match Game '77 School Riot".
In 1975, Dawson was hired by Goodson to emcee an upcoming project entitled Family Feud which debuted in the summer of 1976 on ABC's daytime schedule. Unlike his flop in 1974 with Masquerade Party, Family Feud became a breakout hit (particularly the syndicated nighttime version), eventually surpassing the ratings of Match Game in late 1977. In 1978 he left Match Game but won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Game Show Host for his work on Family Feud. After Dawson became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1984, he showed his passport and photo during the introduction of an episode of Family Feud. He continued hosting the Feud until he was replaced by Ray Combs in 1985
In 1972, Dawson was featured as a panelist on the revival of I've Got a Secret.
Dawson co-starred in the movie The Running Man in 1987, playing evil, egotistical, dark-sided game-show host Damon Killian. He hosted an unsold pilot for a revival of the classic game show You Bet Your Life in 1988. In the fall of 1994, Dawson returned to Family Feud, replacing Ray Combs for what became the final season of the show's official second run (1988-1995). He was considered for the current version of Family Feud, but elected not to host.
Dawson currently resides in Beverly Hills, California, with his wife since 1991, Gretchen (Johnson) Dawson, whom he met when she was a contestant on Family Feud in 1981. They have a daughter, Shannon Nicole Dawson (born in 1990). Richard also has three grandchildren: Lindsay Dors Dawson, Tyler Emm Dawson, and Emma Rose Dawson.
Dawson had been friends with Bill Bixby since 1968, appearing on an episode of The Dating Game. Four years later, Bixby appeared with Dawson in a pilot of a game show that hasn't been aired, "Cop-Out," and two game shows such as: Password and Masquerade Party, where Bixby was the panelist and Dawson served as host.
According to Werner Klemperer, Dawson and Bob Crane were like oil and water. Klemperer told "E! Hollywood Story" that there "was no love lost between the two".
In 2006, Brett Somers told the Game Show Network (GSN) that many of the Match Game personnel were "relieved" when Dawson quit the show in 1978. Dawson was reportedly annoyed that a "star" wheel was added to select celebrities, as most contestants would choose him 3 to 1 over the other five panelists prior to the wheel's addition. Richard had already been starring as host of Family Feud on ABC prior to leaving MG and had been trying to quit MG in order to focus on his "Feud" duties. Producers initially didn't want to release him from his contract. Because of this, in later years of MG, Dawson could be seen as looking like he was sulking and didn't want to participate. On the last MG in 1982, Betty White made a reference to him asking a contestant if she could take her cold virus over and kiss him. It could have been a subtle parting shot toward him.
Dawson had a small role in King Rat (1965 film). As paratrooper Captain Weaver, Dawson makes a dramatic entrance near the movie's end, signaling the liberation of captives from a World War II POW camp.
