Bern Bennett (October 19, 1921 – May 29, 2014) was an American radio and television

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...

Career

For nearly sixty years, beginning in 1944, Bennett was a staff announcer at

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

and television. In the 1940s and 1950s, he was closely associated with

Bud Collyer Bud Collyer (born Clayton Johnson Heermance Jr., June 18, 1908 – September 8, 1969) was an American radio actor and announcer and game show host who became one of the nation's first major television game show stars. He is best remembered for ...

, as announcer on three Collyer-hosted game shows, '' Winner Take All'', ''

Beat the Clock ''Beat the Clock'' is an American television game show that involves people trying to complete challenges to win prizes while faced with a time limit. The show was a creation of Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. The show began on radio as ' ...

'', and '' To Tell the Truth'', all produced by

Mark Goodson Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions. Early life and ea ...

and

Bill Todman William Selden Todman (July 31, 1916 – July 29, 1979) was an American television producer and personality born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest-running shows with business partner Mark Goodson, with whom he created ...

. Other radio programs for which Bennett was the announcer included ''This Is Broadway'', ''School of the Air'' and ''Breakfast With Burrows''. In 1960, he was host of ''Upbeat Saturday Night'', a 30-minute program featuring live jazz music on CBS radio. Other television programs for which Bennett was the announcer included ''By Popular Demand'', ''

The Jonathan Winters Show ''The Jonathan Winters Show'' is the first of two American television network Variety show television programs to be hosted by comedian Jonathan Winters. The television series was broadcast from October 1956 to June 1957 on NBC. Synopsis This ' ...

'', ''

Password A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...

'', ''

The Phil Silvers Show ''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes were broadcast – all half-a ...

'', and ''Your Surprise Store''. In 1957, Bennett was the subject of a contest on ''Beat the Clock'' in which viewers were asked to "Draw the Masked Announcer" (meaning draw what they thought Bennett looked like). Bennett, who was never seen on-camera, made an appearance with the winner, Edward Darnell of

Columbus, Indiana Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Bartholomew County, Indiana, United States. The population was 50,474 at the 2020 census. The relatively small city has provided a unique place for noted Modern architecture and public art, commissio ...

, who had been flown to New York to be a contestant on ''Clock''. Collyer often kidded Bennett about the tendency for his voice to break when introducing "America's number-one clock watcher... BUD COLLYER", and his voice breaking on the word "Collyer." Bennett was announcer on ''Clock'' until it moved from CBS to ABC in 1958. Bennett served as fill-in announcer on such shows as ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' (1948–1971) and ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'' (1950–1967). In 1960, the network transferred Bennett to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he was heard as announcer on such shows as ''

The Danny Kaye Show ''The Danny Kaye Show'' was an American variety show, hosted by the stage and screen star Danny Kaye, which aired on Wednesday nights from September 25, 1963, to June 7, 1967, on the CBS television network. Directed by Robert Scheerer, it premier ...

'', ''Your Surprise Package'', the

Tournament of Roses Parade A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, and, most notably, the soap operas ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'' and ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

''. He also announced for the short-lived soap opera ''

The Clear Horizon ''The Clear Horizon'' is an American soap opera which ran on CBS Daytime from July 11, 1960 to March 10, 1961 and February 26 to June 15, 1962. Manya Starr created the program and was its head writer. Premise ''The Clear Horizon'' (titled ''The Ar ...

''. In 1975, he subbed for a week on ''

Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...

'' for its regular announcer

Johnny Olson John Leonard Olson (May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985) was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman P ...

. He appeared on other networks: as the voice of a television announcer in an episode of ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'' (ABC) titled "Fred Flintstone: Before and After"; on '' The Facts of Life'' (NBC) in an on-camera appearance; and as a "central subject" on the 1991 NBC version of '' To Tell the Truth''. Bennett died on May 29, 2014 at the age of 92 in San Pedro, Los Angeles. His death was not announced in the media until October.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Bern 1921 births 2014 deaths American radio personalities American television personalities Game show announcers Place of birth missing 20th-century American people