Rod Roddy
| Rod Roddy | |
|---|---|
Roddy on the 32nd season premiere of The Price is Right in 2003
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| Born |
Robert Ray Roddy September 28, 1937 Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 2003 (aged 66) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death |
Colon cancer Breast cancer |
| Resting place |
Greenwood Memorial Park, Fort Worth 32°45′43″N 97°22′07″W / 32.76205°N 97.36848°W |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Rod Ray Roddy |
| Alma mater | Texas Christian University |
| Occupation | Announcer, television personality, actor, voice artist, comedian |
| Years active | 1975–2003 |
Robert Ray "Rod" Roddy (September 28, 1937 – October 27, 2003) was an American radio and television announcer. He was primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows. Among the shows that he announced are the CBS game shows Whew! and Press Your Luck. He is widely recognized by the signature line, "Come on down!" from The Price Is Right, and it appears on his grave marker, although the phrase was originated and made popular by his predecessor Johnny Olson. Roddy succeeded original announcer Olson on The Price is Right and held the role from 1986 until his death in 2003, and as of 2015, is the longest-serving announcer on the current incarnation of the show. On many episodes of Press Your Luck and The Price is Right, Roddy appeared on camera. Roddy was also the voice of Mike the microphone on Disney's House of Mouse from 2001 to 2003.
After graduating from Texas Christian University (TCU), Roddy began his professional broadcasting career as a disc jockey and talk show host on KLIF and KNUS-FM (Dallas, Texas). He also worked overnights and mid-days at the Buffalo, New York radio station WKBW AM, a big-signal station covering the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, and at other high-profile stations. Returning to KLIF and KNUS during the 1970s, Roddy hosted a call-in program, "Rod Roddy's Hotline," whose controversial host and topics made him a frequent target of death threats. He conducted a long-running on-air feud with an elderly woman (dubbed "Granny Hate" by an earlier host), who claimed to represent the local Ku Klux Klan.
Roddy announced the sitcom Soap from 1977 to 1981, where he provided the opening and closing narration: "Confused? You won't be after this week's episode of Soap!" He replaced Casey Kasem who quit the series after the pilot. Roddy's first work as a game show announcer was on Whew!, which aired from 1979 to 1980. From there, he went on to announce several other game shows, including Battlestars (1981–1982), Love Connection (1983–1985, 1986), Hit Man (1983) and the popular Press Your Luck (1983–1986). Roddy also voiced a number of national television commercials, including those for Pennzoil and Public Storage.
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