They introduce the contestants and host as well as describe the prizes that can be won. That's the job description of a game show announcer and HSGN has the Top 10 of all time.
1. Johnny Olson. Since he started out with the Goodson-Todman game show Play Your Hunch, he became the voice for the bulk of the company's shows such as What's My Line, Match Game and the Price is Right where he became famous for one of the most popular game show catch phrases of all time "Come on down!" He was a trouper, never missing a show. According to Stan Blits' book on The Price is Right, on one occasion he was so sick to his stomach that he kept a trash can next to his lecturn and barfed into it between "Come on downs." Not only did he announce many game shows, he was also the announcer for the Jackie Gleason Show when it was produced in Miami Beach from 1964 to 1970. His voice was heard over the shots of the Atlantic Ocean as he opened each show with "From the sun and fun capitol of the world." Olson was also heard in an episode of Maude as the announcer on the fictitious game show Beat the Devil, where Maude and Vivian were contestants and they were eventually disqualified because Vivian's nephew worked on the show.
2. Johnny Gilbert. At 92, Gilbert is still going strong as the voice who opens every episode of Jeopardy with his signature three word opening "This is Jeopardy!" The former night club singer made his game show debut as host of Music Bingo in 1958 and three years later he made his announcing debut on the game show Yours for a Song, the first of more than 30 shows he worked on. When the original version of The Price is Right moved from NBC to ABC, Gilbert would replace Don Pardo as the show's announcer because Pardo was still under contract to the Peacock Network. He would also fill in as host for Cullen and would also host two syndicated game shows in the late 60s Fast Draw and Beat the Odds. Both of them would last only one season.
3. Gene Wood. Since beginning his announcing career on the revived Beat the Clock in 1969, a show he would later host, Wood has been more of a second lieutenant to Olson as an announcer for Goodson-Todman, becoming famous for introducing the families on Family Feud and reading the opening poems of the original version of Card Sharks. Before Wood became involved with game shows, he was a writer for Captain Kangaroo, creating the cartoon series The Adventures of Lariat Sam. He also announced shows for other packagers, including Love Connection and Win, Lose or Draw.
4. Kenny Williams. He was the main announcer for game shows produced by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley that began in 1960 with Video Village. Among the shows he announced were PDQ, Hollywood Squares, Gambit and High Rollers. Williams would also appear on camera as the Town Crier on Video Village, Kenny the Cop on Shenanigans that was hosted by Stubby Kaye and also on the kids version of Hollywood Squares, the Storybook Squares. The only two shows he didn't announce for Heatter-Quigley were Temptation and The Magnificent Marble Machine. BTW, Carl King did Temptation and Gilbert did The Magnificent Marble Machine. But he's best known for introducing Peter Marshall as "The Master of the Hollywood Squares."
5. Jay Stewart. Not only was the announcer on the show he's best known for Let's Make a Deal but he also frequently appeared on camera to assist host Monty Hall with the various deals. He was a key to the show's 13 year run and would later go on to announce for Jack Barry and Dan Enright, working on shows such as The Joker's Wild, Tic Tac Dough and Bullseye. Stewart would move on to announce for Reg Grundy Productions, working on Sale of the Century and Scrabble.
6. Charlie O'Donnell. Before announcing game shows, O'Donnell was the announcer on American Bandstand and sidekick to Dick Clark. He would later work with Clark on numerous specials and awards shows. As far as game shows are concerned, he's best known as the announcer on Wheel of Fortune. He would serve two announcing stints on the long running game show, starting with the debut in 1975 until leaving to become the primary voice for the Barry-Enright game shows and returning in 1989 until he passed away in 2010. In addition, he would announced The Academy Awards, the Miss America Pageant and read the news on Los Angeles TV station KCOP-TV.
7. Rod Roddy. Since his voice was first heard as the announcer/narrator on the controversial sitcom Soap in 1977, he would move into game show announcing two years later with Whew! Since then, he worked on shows such as Battlestars, Hit Man and Press Your Luck before being selected to replace Olson, who died in 1985 as the announcer on The Price is Right. He would work on the long running game show for 17 years until he passed away in 2003. One thing Roddy was known for was his outlandish silk jackets that came from fabric he bought on his frequent trips to Thailand.
8. Don Pardo. The NBC staff announcer worked on a number of New York based game shows for the network, including the original Price is Right where his catch phrase was "Price authority..." in mentioning the name of the company that supplied the prize up for bids. Pardo would stay with the network when the show moved to ABC in 1963 and in 1964 he would become the announcer on the original Jeopardy with Art Fleming. He would also announce other shows such as Eye Guess and Three on a Match before landing his longest running gig in 1975 as the voice for Saturday Night Live. Pardo would also announce for many year's NBC's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
9. Johnny Jacobs. Since TV viewers first heard him in 1965 on Chuck Barris' maiden voyage into game shows The Dating Game, he would be the announcer for almost every show that Barris produced. His long time friend Jack Barry would use him as the announcer on The Joker's Wild when the show debuted in 1972. Before Jacobs got into game show announcing, he appeared in an episode of Leave it to Beaver as the moderator of a TV show Beaver appeared on Teenage Forum.
10. John Harlan. Second to Gilbert as the oldest surviving game show announcer, Harlan's voice has been heard frequently on shows produced by packagers named Ralph, Andrews and Edwards. He would be the announcer on Tom Kennedy's first hit show You Don't Say in 1963 and reunite with him on Name that Tune in the mid 70s. But Harlan's also did shows for other companies. He was the announcer on the early 70s incarnation of Password and the short lived 1978 revival of Jeopardy. Harlan's voice was also heard on another music game show Face the Music.
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