Don Pardo | |
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Pardo announcing Saturday Night Live in 1992
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Born |
Dominick George Pardo February 22, 1918 Westfield, Massachusetts, United States |
Died | August 18, 2014 Tucson, Arizona, United States |
(aged 96)
Other names | Dom Pardo |
Alma mater | Emerson College |
Occupation | Voice actor, announcer |
Years active | 1938–2014 |
Known for | Announcer for Saturday Night Live |
Spouse(s) | Catherine Lyons (m. 1938; d. 1995) |
Children | 5 |
Awards | Television Hall of Fame (member since 2010) |
Signature | |
Dominick George "Don" Pardo (February 22, 1918 – August 18, 2014) was an American radio and television announcer whose career spanned more than seven decades.
A member of the Television Hall of Fame, Pardo was noted for his 70-year tenure with NBC, working as the announcer for early incarnations of such notable shows as The Price Is Right, Jackpot, Jeopardy!, Three on a Match, Winning Streak and NBC Nightly News. His longest, and best-known, announcing job was for NBC's Saturday Night Live, a job he held for 39 seasons, from the show's debut in 1975 until his death in 2014.
Pardo was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, to Dominick and Viola Pardo, immigrants from Poland, who owned a bakery. He spent his childhood in Norwich, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Emerson College in 1942.
Pardo was hired for his first radio position at NBC affiliate WJAR in Providence in 1938.
He joined NBC full-time as an in-house announcer in 1944, remaining on the network staff for 60 years. The radio programs on which he worked as an announcer include Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator, the sci-fi shows X Minus One and Dimension X.
During World War II, Pardo worked as a war reporter for NBC Radio.