Network promo announcers, past and present

[Dynomite]

I don't believe we've ever had this discussion before, but here it is. This isn't so much about movie trailer announcers, but it's pretty close to that. I'm talking about TV network promo announcers. If you've paid attention to the network promos, the voices stick in your head. Some of them are known, but all the same, I'm going to start listing them and you can post your favorite, past or present.

1. Don LaFontaine (NBC, Fox & CBS)
2. Joe Cipriano (Fox, CBS)
3. George DelHoyo (Fox, CW)
4. Dave Fennoy (CBS)
5. Mark Elliot (CBS, ABC)
6. Beau Weaver (ABC)
7. Bill Ratner (ABC)
8. Larry Kenney (NBC)
9. Brian Cummings (ABC, Fox)
10. Jim Cummings (NBC, Fox)
11. Peter Cullen (ABC, NBC)
12. Brad Crandall (NBC, CBS)
13. Ernie Anderson (ABC)
14. Danny Dark (NBC, CBS)
15. Bill Wendell (NBC)
16. John Leader (NBC)
17. Gary Owens (NBC, ABC & Fox)
18. Casey Kasem (NBC)
19. Jerry Bishop (ABC, NBC)
20. Les Marshak (NBC)

I know this is a long list, but if you can recognize any of the voices from the broadcast network promos, you would know exactly what I'm talking about. If you know what this topic is about, start chiming in.

[KurtfromPitts]

Mel Brandt, Fred Collins, Vic Robey[NBC]. Also, John Leader also did CBS as well as some early Fox promos as well. And, didn't Casey Kasem voice some ABC Saturday morning ads in the early 70s?

[Dynomite]

Mel Brandt, Fred Collins, Vic Robey[NBC]. Also, John Leader also did CBS as well as some early Fox promos as well. And, didn't Casey Kasem voice some ABC Saturday morning ads in the early 70s?

It never hurts to do a little on-line research as far as Casey Kasem's other network promos is concerned, but you're right on target with the topic. Feel free to expand the list of network promo announcers as each of us individually gets some more information.

[treky]

Ernie Anderson did promos on ABC in the 70s. I can still remember his promos for THE LOVE BOAT where he'd always end them with "....on The Looove Boat".

[comedyfreak]

My ultimate favorite promo announcer is the great Dick Tuffeld. He was the voice of the Robot on Lost In Space, and since the end of the show he's voiced hundreds of shows and cartoons. He has the perfect voice imo.

[Dynomite]

I should've added former CBS staff announcer Chuck Riley to the list. I've just learned he passed away on May 10 at age 66 from kidney failure. At the time of his death, he was still announcing, namely for KABC 7 Eyewitness News broadcasts. It wouldn't be until the early 1980s, when he was finally heard announcing promos on CBS-TV. Before then, he was still both a radio disk jockey and announcer, especially at WIBC radio in Indianapolis. Chuck Riley was unquestionably one of the greats of network promo announcers. It's real sad that he's no longer with us, but at least he's reunited with other greats like Brad Crandall, Ernie Anderson, Danny Dark and Bill Wendell, but others he was, more or less, heard on the same network(s) with, are still with us, namely Don LaFontaine, Mark Elliot, Neilson Ross and Joe Cipriano, among others. Here's a link for more on Chuck Riley:

http://www.voicehunter.com/chuck.htm

[Sakaki Onsei]

Wasn't Larry Kenney also the voice of Lion-O from Thundercats?

If anyone has clips of these guys:

Brian Cummings (ABC, Fox)
Jim Cummings (NBC, Fox)
Bill Wendell (NBC)
Jerry Bishop (ABC, NBC)
Les Marshak (NBC)

That would be quite helpful.

[snl 70s show fan]

how about don pardo who has been with nbc since 1944 and longtime cbs staff announcers bern bennett and roy rowan

[tv star collector]

Did George Fenneman ever do any network promos? I know he is best known
for his on-camera work as Groucho Marx's straight man on the quiz show YOU
BET YOUR LIFE, but he was also the announcer on Jack Webb's DRAGNET (and
even did a little acting in one of the MICKEY MOUSE CLUB serials). But did he
ever voice commercials? It seems that he would have been an excellent one.

[treky]

he was also Grouchos (whose real name was Julias, B.T.W.) announcer for "YOU BET YOUR LIFE" on the radio too.

[W.B.]

Here are a few others I can think of:
ABC: Ed Jordan, Scott Vincent, Fred Foy, Bill Owen, Bob Lloyd, Tedd Lawrence, Bill Rice, Barbara Korsen
CBS: Wally King, Norm Stevens, Allan Berns, Gaylord Avery, Bill Gilliand, Bob Hite, Dave Campbell, Hal Simms, Don Robertson
NBC: New York - (besides the names already mentioned) Jerry Damon, Howard Reig, Bill Hanrahan, Arthur Gary, Wayne Howell, Fred Facey; Hollywood - Don Stanley, Donald Rickles (not to be confused with the insult comic of the same name), Victor Bozeman, Peggy Taylor

[W.B.]

Another NBC New York announcer who was heard all up to the '70's, maybe the start of the '80's (as mentioned above), was Vic Roby. His voice, I've noticed, bore some similarities to Mr. Damon's, in terms of vocal quality and timbre - but there's a world of difference in their delivery. Then there was another voice, dating to the late '30's: Jack Costello.

[repeatshistory]

For a period of time in the early-mid 90s, former Chicago radio disc jockey Jonathan Brandmeier was the voice of ABC. A very strange thing for those of us who listened to his radio show.

[KurtfromPitts]

There was a CBS west coast announcer who intoned "From Television City in Hollywood" at the very start of "All In The Family" when it was based at TV City. I know it wasn't Bern Bennett or Roy Rowan I can tell you.

[Jude The Obscure]

You can add Jerry Houser (best known from the film "Summer of '42" and of course, Wally, Marcia's husband in the various Brady reunions)--CBS.

[W.B.]

Until the early 1980's, Joel Crager was the voice of The ABC Sunday/Friday (etc.) Night Movie. He had been an ABC East Coast staffer since the 1950's.

Over on CBS, pre-1971, the voice of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite was Harry Kramer.

Some of the one-minute NBC News Update / Capsule / Digests from the mid-1970's to the mid-1980's, those which originated from Washington, D.C., boasted the voice of WRC-TV staff announcer Mac McGarry (who, to this day, continues as host of the station's long-running quiz show It's Academic).

Speaking of NBC, another New York staffer who I forgot to mention was Roger Tuttle.

[megamanj2004]

How about some others:

Bill Wolff - he was the primary announcer for the late P&G soap "Another World" on NBC from 1964-87 and also for various other NBC promos after he was let go from "Another World" in 1987.

Hal Simms - he was the voice of CBS during the '60s and part of the '70s and he was also one of the announcers on another late P&G soap in "The Edge of Night" during its final years on CBS and probably even its 1st few years with ABC.

Brian Cummings (ABC, Fox) - he was also the announcer on the 1st season of "The All-New Let's Make a Deal" from 1984-85 and also did various cartoon voiceover work as well as being the announcer on syndicated episodes of "ALF" as well.

Jerry Bishop - he worked on all three of the original Big 3 networks in one form or another. He also did some announcing on "The New $25,000 Pyramid" for CBS during September 16-20, 1983.

Ernie Anderson - this guy was the god of ABC's voiceover department! He was the announcer on AFV w/ Bob Saget and on the syndicated version of "Break the Bank" w/ Jack Barry from Sept. 1976 - Sept. 1977, even though that syndie version did tape at ABC Television Center in Hollywood.

[Schmoopie]

This is a cool thread. Too bad there aren't any sound clips, because hearing these voices again would be a wonderful trip down memory lane!

Andrea