John Facenda
| John Facenda | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 8, 1913 Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 26, 1984 (aged 71) Havertown, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | broadcaster, sports announcer, news anchor, disc jockey, radio personality |
| Years active | 1935–1984 |
John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda (August 8, 1913 – September 26, 1984) was an American broadcaster and sports announcer. He was a fixture on Philadelphia radio and television for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for NFL Films and Football Follies. Through his work with NFL Films, Facenda was known by many National Football League fans as "The Voice of God."
John Facenda attended Roman Catholic High School in Center City, Philadelphia and then later Villanova University but dropped out. After leaving school, he found employment with the now-defunct Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper. The Public Ledger also owned a radio station, WHAT. Facenda's radio career began when the announcer for WHAT's Scholastic Sports Review program became sick one day, and Facenda was asked to substitute. Soon after, WHAT hired Facenda as an announcer.
Facenda left WHAT after the station's manager refused to reimburse Facenda $5 (equal to $87.77 today) for a pair of pigskin gloves he wore while knocking ice off the station's antenna (one of his duties). He moved to New York City and worked for a few years as the program director for the Ticker News Service, another radio-based business.
He returned to Philadelphia in 1935 and started working for WIP Radio, where he would remain until 1952. He began his work in television at WCAU-TV (which was then Philadelphia's CBS television affiliate) in 1948. He anchored his first newscast on the station on September 13, 1948. He started working full-time at the station after leaving WIP in 1952. Facenda ended his newscasts with the familiar refrain, "Have a nice night tonight and a good day tomorrow. Goodnight, all." The phrase even found its way into the 1956 film The Burglar, starring Jayne Mansfield and Dan Duryea.
...
Wikipedia