Don Pardo

Don Pardo (Dominick George Pardo, born February 22, 1918 in Westfield, Massachusetts) is a legendary radio and television announcer. Since the 1950s, Pardo has been an in-house announcer for the NBC television network. He and Bob Hope are the only two people to have been offered lifetime contracts by the network. His best known announcing work is for the television series Saturday Night Live; he has been with the show since it premiered in 1975, except for one season (1981-2).

Related Topics:
February 22 - 1918 - Westfield, Massachusetts - Announcer - NBC - Bob Hope - Saturday Night Live

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On one memorable SNL episode in 1977, Pardo participated in a musical performance by Frank Zappa, reciting a verse of the song "I'm The Slime". Pardo subsequently reprised this role on the recorded version of the song for the original version of Zappa's Zappa in New York album. (An ongoing business dispute between Zappa and his then-record company led to the song being removed from the album when it was finally released in 1978, but the song does appear in its proper place on the 1993 CD release.)

Related Topics:
1977 - Frank Zappa - Zappa in New York - 1978 - 1993

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Prior to SNL, Pardo made his mark on game shows for NBC as the booming voice of The Price is Right from 1956 until it moved to ABC in 1963. He quickly moved over to Jeopardy!, which he announced until the original version of the series left NBC in 1975. He reprised that role with a cameo voiceover in "Weird Al" Yankovic's 1984 parody song, I Lost on Jeopardy.

Related Topics:
The Price is Right - ABC - Jeopardy! - "Weird Al" Yankovic

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In addition, Pardo has also been the announcer for WNBC-TV's Live at Five news program, NBC Nightly News, Wheel of Fortune (during special on-location weeks, when the show originated in New York), and other game shows.

Related Topics:
WNBC-TV - Live at Five - NBC Nightly News - Wheel of Fortune - Game show

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