Alan Robert Kalter (March 21, 1943 – October 4, 2021) was an American television announcer from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He is best known as the announcer for the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'', a role he held from September 4, 1995, until Letterman's retirement on May 20, 2015. He also hosted ''Alan Kalter's Celebrity Interview'' that ran concurrently with ''The Late Show''.
Career
Kalter, nicknamed "Big Red" and "TV's Uncle Jerry" by Letterman, began his stint as the "voice" of the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...
'' on September 4, 1995, replacing the retiring
Bill Wendell
William Joseph Wenzel Jr. (March 22, 1924 – April 14, 1999), known as Bill Wendell, was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career.
Life and career
Born in New York City, Wendell served in the United States ...
. He announced the guests at the top of each show and the
one-liner during the
Worldwide Pants title card after the credits and regularly acted in comedic sketches.
Kalter did hundreds of voiceovers for national radio and television commercials and was also the lead continuity voice for the
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
throughout much of the 1980s (his voice was still heard on USA into the mid-2010s for the network's
paid programming disclaimer
A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative langua ...
, until a universal disclaimer for all
NBCUniversal Cable Networks was instituted in 2017). He voiced promos for
SportsChannel America in the early 1990s.
Kalter (credited as Alan Roberts) also filmed two game show pilots for CBS - The Challengers by Ron Greenberg Productions/Universal Television in April 1974, and The Finish Line by Bob Stewart Productions in October 1975. Both shows did not proceed beyond the pilot phase.
Previously, he had been the announcer for many New York-based television shows, including ''
To Tell the Truth'', ''
The $25,000 Pyramid
''Pyramid'' is the collective name of a series of American television game shows that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The original series, ''The $10,000 Pyramid'', debuted on March 26, 1973, and spawned seven subsequ ...
'', ''
The Money Maze'', and ''
The $128,000 Question
''The $128,000 Question'' is an American game show which aired from 1976 to 1978 in weekly syndication. This revival of '' The $64,000 Question'' was produced by Cinelar Associates and distributed by Viacom Enterprises.
Originally, Viacom had in ...
''.
All of those series (except ''The Money Maze'') were taped at some point in the
Ed Sullivan Theater, where the ''Late Show'' is now produced. Additionally, episodes of ''Truth'' announced by Kalter were taped in
NBC Studio 6A, where Letterman later originated ''
Late Night''. Kalter would replace
Bill Wendell
William Joseph Wenzel Jr. (March 22, 1924 – April 14, 1999), known as Bill Wendell, was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career.
Life and career
Born in New York City, Wendell served in the United States ...
as announcer on both ''Truth'' and the ''Late Show''. Kalter was also the announcer for
the 45th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, held in New York in 2003.
''Late Show''
On the ''Late Show,'' Kalter regularly performed in scripted comedy bits in addition to his announcing duties. He was often portrayed alternately as a sexual deviant (often while grinning mischievously), a powerless sap who was beaten to within an inch of his life and left rolling on the ground writhing in pain, or frustrated at having guests for his own interview segment stolen by host
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...
. He was also often compelled to arbitrarily sing, rant in hysteria, or disrobe as he walked offstage. In many of the
sketches, Kalter's antics left host Letterman in a state of shock, amusement, disgust, or total confusion.
Personal life
Kalter was born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
in 1943 and raised in
Little Neck
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
* ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...
and
Cedarhurst, New York. His family was Jewish. He was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and Public Speaking teacher at
Baldwin
Baldwin is a Germanic name, composed of the elements ''bald'' "bold" and ''win'' "friend".
People
* Baldwin (name)
Places Canada
* Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario
* Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District
* Baldwin's Mills, Qu ...
High School on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
in the late 1960s and was also the voice of the
Michelin Man. He attended
Hobart College in
Geneva, New York, and began his broadcasting career on local radio stations.
Kalter lived in
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
. After his longtime marriage to Carol Cepler ended in divorce, he married Peggy Masterson in 2003 (his second marriage). He had two daughters, Lauren Hass and Diana Binger, and five grandchildren.
Kalter died at Stamford Hospital on October 4, 2021, aged 78.
Filmography
* ''
The Money Maze'' (1974) TV Series as "Announcer"
* ''
The $128,000 Question
''The $128,000 Question'' is an American game show which aired from 1976 to 1978 in weekly syndication. This revival of '' The $64,000 Question'' was produced by Cinelar Associates and distributed by Viacom Enterprises.
Originally, Viacom had in ...
'' (1976) TV Series (uncredited) as "Announcer"
* ''
Ed'' (2000)
* ''Get Well Soon'' (2001) as "Announcer"
* ''
When Pop Culture Saved America'' as "Narrator"
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalter, Alan
1943 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
Game show announcers
Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni
People from Brooklyn
People from Cedarhurst, New York
People from Douglaston–Little Neck, Queens
People from Stamford, Connecticut
Radio and television announcers