If you've ever watched Saturday Night Live you've heard his distinctive voice at the top of the broadcast. Of course, he was involved in far more than SNL over his lifetime, but that well-known assignment lasted nearly 40 years.
Don Pardo, the Voice Of ‘SNL,’ Is Dead at 96
Don Pardo in 1992. He was the announcer for NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” for 38 seasons.
Credit Al Levine/NBC Universal, via Associated Press
Don Pardo, who literally introduced television viewers to some of America’s biggest stars and soon-to-be-stars as the longtime announcer for “Saturday Night Live,” died on Monday in Tucson. He was 96.
His daughter Dona Pardo confirmed the death.
Mr. Pardo, whose career began in the radio age, continued on “SNL” through the end of its most recent season, in May.
While not many people knew his face, practically every American knew his voice for more than half a century. Mr. Pardo was with “SNL” for 38 seasons, beginning with its first episode, in October 1975, missing only Season 7, and for many years he had been the announcer on the widely watched game shows “The Price Is Right” and “Jeopardy!”
For many viewers of “Saturday Night Live,” the names of scores of stars — from Chevy Chase to Eddie Murphy to Tina Fey — were first heard in Mr. Pardo’s sonorous baritone, which announced the cast each week at the end of the opening skit.
“Every year the new cast couldn’t wait to hear their name said by him,” Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, said on Monday night.
That voice was validation for many stars.
“The moment you said my name was the height of my career,” Maya Rudolph told Mr. Pardo in a video tribute when he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 2010.
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This is from last year:
