Born in Merino, Colorado, Edwards began his career as a radio announcer while a student at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a B.A. in English in 1935. In 1940, Edwards created the game show Truth or Consequences, which aired for 38 years on radio and television. Edwards produced dozens of game shows, including Knockout, Place the Face and It Could Be You, and hosted and produced This Is Your Life. In 1981, with Stu Billett, he created The People's Court, the first program of its type.

During a May 22, 1948, broadcast of his national radio show Truth or Consequences, Edwards interviewed a young cancer patient in Boston who loved baseball and dreamed of having a television to watch his favorite team, the Boston Braves, then the city's National League ball club. At the end of the broadcast, Edwards asked listeners from his studio in Hollywood to donate money for cancer research, as well as to buy a TV for the boy, whom he called "Jimmy" to protect his privacy. "Let's make Jimmy and thousands of other boys and girls happy who are suffering from cancer by aiding the research to help find a cure for cancer in children," Edwards said on the show. By the end of the week, $20,000 in donations were made to "Jimmy" and the fund was born. Since then, the Jimmy Fund has been long favored by the Boston Red Sox.

Edwards died of heart failure in Los Angeles, California, at age 92.