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Iconic TV Announcer Don Pardo Dies At 96

Frazer Harrison
/
Getty Images

Fans of Saturday Night Live and the original versions of The Price is Right and Jeopardy! recognize Don Pardo's voice immediately.

They may not be able to identify his face, but his voice was famous.

Pardo died Monday in Tucson, Ariz. He was 96 years old.

An NBC spokesman confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he died in his sleep.

Pardo began working for NBC in 1944 and stayed with the network for 60 years.

While he did a variety of jobs throughout his career, perhaps the one that got him the most attention was making the SNL cast introductions at the beginning of the show, which came right after the opening skit.

Pardo was hired by Lorne Michaels in 1975, and except for one season, he was the show's announcer.

Michaels told The New York Times that SNL will pay tribute to Pardo when the next season begins.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Doreen McCallister