Don Pardo, the TV and radio announcer whose exubertant contralto opened Saturday Night Live for all but one of its seasons, has died, NBC confirmed Monday night. He was 96.
Pardo has been an NBC announcer since 1944, and semi-retired in 2004 while maintaining his SNL duties from his Arizona home. During his 60 years with the network, Pardo did TV, radio and just about anything else that required his voice talent, including wartime reporting during World War II.
His break in mainstream TV came in 1956, when Pardo was the first voice of The Price is Right, where he remained until the show went to ABC in 1963. From there he went to Jeopardy! and other NBC game shows including Winning Streak and Jackpot!
As the live announcer on duty at NBC on Nov. 22, 1963, Pardo was first to announce to viewers watching the network that President John F. Kennedy had been shot.
But SNL was the gig for which Pardo will be forever remembered. Pardo worked the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975, and remained on the show for every season thereafter, with the exception of 1981-1982 (the year Lorne Michaels left the show, and Mel Brandt/Bill Hanrahan fulfilled announcing duties). Pardo always took over after the "Live, from New York ..." cold-open, announcing the show's and rolling through the names of castmembers, the guest host and musical guest.
Pardo retired from full-time NBC announcing duties in 2004, but his association with SNL was too strong, and he flew to New York weekly from his Arizona a home to fulfill the duty. He continued to do so until the 2013-2014 season, occasionally pre-recording his parts from home.
Pardo suffered a broken hip last year, and missed two shows, though it's said that castmembers impersonated his otherwise inimitable voice on occasions when he would miss. via Mashable
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