Charles John O'Donnell (August 12, 1932 – November 1, 2010) was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on

game shows A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...

. Among them, he was best known for '' Wheel of Fortune'', where he worked from 1975 to 1980, and again from 1989 until his death.Biography
wheeloffortune.com; accessed August 16, 2017.

Early career

O'Donnell was a Philadelphia native. He began his career as a teenager at

WCHA The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's ice hockey-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated ...

in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. In 1956, he worked as program director at

WHAT What or WHAT may refer to: * What, an interrogative pronoun and adverb * "What?", one of the Five Ws used in journalism Film and television * ''What!'' (film) or ''The Whip and the Body'', a 1963 Italian film directed by Mario Bava * '' What ...

, a 250-watt R&B station in Philadelphia, where he discovered and launched the career of future Philadelphia radio personality Hy Lit. When WIBG became top-40 in 1957, O'Donnell was named news director. In 1958, he became the sidekick of

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting '' American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 19 ...

WFIL-TV WPVI-TV (channel 6), branded on-air as 6 ABC, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station ...

's afternoon dance program, '' American Bandstand''. This led to several stints as a disc jockey on

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' ...

radio (most notably on Pasadena station

KRLA KRLA (870 kHz) "AM 870 The Answer" is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Glendale, California, it serves Greater Los Angeles and Southern California. The station is owned by Salem Media Group, which ...

, 1964–67), and later as news anchorman and staff announcer on Los Angeles television station

KCOP-TV KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both stations ...

, where he performed double duty and often introduced his own newscasts with the self-referential cue "and now Charlie O'Donnell with the news." Additionally, Barry & Enright Productions taped ''

The Joker's Wild ''The Joker's Wild'' is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. In the show, contestants answer questions based on categories determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's ...

'' and ''

Tic-Tac-Dough ''Tic-Tac-Dough'' is an American television game show based on the paper-and-pencil game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer questions in various categories to put up their respective symbol, ''X'' or ''O'', on the board. Three versions were produc ...

'' at KCOP during its initial syndicated runs, which O'Donnell announced for. It was also in this period that he voiced the newscaster on the

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

recording " 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night." He made a full-time career as an announcer on many television shows throughout the decades, with such series as ''

'', ''

Bullseye Bullseye or Bull's Eye may refer to: Symbols * ◎ (Unicode U+25CE BULLSEYE), in the Geometric Shapes Unicode block * (Unicode U+0298 LATIN LETTER BILABIAL CLICK), the phonetic symbol for bilabial click Animals and plants * Bull's Eye, '' Eur ...

'' and '' The $100,000 Pyramid'' (again working with Dick Clark). He also served as announcer for the ''

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Produc ...

'', the ''

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

'', and the ''

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

''.

''Wheel of Fortune'' and other game shows

O'Donnell was perhaps best known as the announcer of the game show '' Wheel of Fortune''. He filled this role from 1975 to 1980 (including two unaired pilots hosted by ''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was ...

'' actor

Edd Byrnes Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series ''77 Sunset Strip.'' He also was featured in the 1978 film '' Gre ...

), acted as a substitute for his successor, Jack Clark, and returned to the show permanently several months after Clark's death in 1988. Between Clark's death and O'Donnell's return, disc jockey M.G. Kelly announced the show for most of its 1988-89 season. O'Donnell was also the announcer for music variety series ''

Dance Fever ''Dance Fever'' is an American musical variety television series that aired weekly in syndication from January 1979 to September 1987. The series was technically created by Merv Griffin but his agent Murray Schwartz actually conceived the idea ...

'' from 1980 to 1987. Among the game show companies O'Donnell worked for as a primary announcer were

Merv Griffin Enterprises Merv Griffin Enterprises was an American television production company founded by Merv Griffin, in business for 31 years from March 1963 to July 1994. History The company was first established as Milbarn Productions on March 7, 1963, and later ...

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainmen ...

(1975–87 and 1989–2010), Barry & Enright Productions (1981–86), and Barris Industries/The Guber- Peters Entertainment Company (1986–89) He also announced game shows for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (including ''

Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. The game features two contestants who attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a row o ...

'', '' Trivia Trap'', '' To Tell the Truth''); Bob Stewart Productions ('' The $100,000 Pyramid''); Hill-Eubanks Group's '' All Star Secrets'' and '' The Guinness Game''; and Scotti Bros.-Syd Vinnedge's ''

Wordplay Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phone ...

''. He and John Harlan filled in for

Rod Roddy Robert Ray 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 '' Whe ...

on different occasions on ''

Press Your Luck ''Press Your Luck'' is an American television game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on CBS daytime on September 19, 1983, and ended on September 26, 1986. The format is a retooling of an earlier Carruthers producti ...

''. He also announced on the game show version of ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

'', and re-voiced the credits tags for episodes of ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...

'', ''Wheel'' and ''

Headline Chasers ''Headline Chasers'' is a syndicated game show that ran daily from September 9, 1985 to May 23, 1986, with reruns airing until September 5. The series was hosted by Wink Martindale, who also created the series and was its executive producer, with J ...

'' (and several other library game shows acquired by Sony) airing on

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along with new, first-run original and revive ...

produced before 1994, when

Columbia TriStar Television Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CTT) was an American television production and distribution company that was active from 1994 to 2002. It was operated as the third name of the early television studio Screen Gems and the four ...

became the new name of what is now

, and their new

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

card replaced those of Coca-Cola Television,

Columbia Pictures Television Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution studio. It is the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems ...

, and

King World Productions King World Productions, Inc. (also known as King World Entertainment, King World Enterprises, or simply King World) was a production company and syndicator of television programming in the United States independently established in 1964 until ac ...

(now

CBS Media Ventures CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glob ...

). He also performed voice acting and host duties off-screen on most of the ''Wheel of Fortune''

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback m ...

s which came out after 1992, either along with Vanna White, or entirely by himself, as

Pat Sajak Pat Sajak ( , born Patrick Leonard ; born October 26, 1946) is an American television personality and game show host. He is best known as the host of the American television game show '' Wheel of Fortune'', a position he has held since 1981. F ...

would not participate in any of the video games until his children were grown. In addition to announcing on '' The All-New Dating Game'', he appeared as a bachelor during the show's 1987-88 season.

Death

O'Donnell died at his home in

Sherman Oaks Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density tha ...

, California, of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, an ...

at the age of 78 on the morning of November 1, 2010. After his death, the show began rotating announcing duties among several guest announcers, including ''

'' announcer

Johnny Gilbert John Lewis Gilbert III (born July 13, 1928) is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various e ...

and former '' Price Is Right'' announcer

Rich Fields Richard Wayne Fields (born November 30, 1960) is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer, and meteorologist. He is best known for a seven-season stint in which he announced for the American version of ''The Price Is Right''. Early life and ...

who voiced some 55 episodes. ''Wheel of Fortune'' host

described O'Donnell as "the perfect voice of the show." O'Donnell's last announced episode aired on October 29, 2010, three days before his death. O'Donnell was succeeded by veteran L.A. radio announcer Jim Thornton. He can still be heard on Wheel of Fortune slot machines. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia posthumously inducted O'Donnell into their Hall of Fame in 2011.Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame
broadcastpioneers.com; accessed August 16, 2017.

References

External links

*
Charlie O'Donnell Interview 2008 for HyLitRadio/Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
* ttp://www.broadcastpioneers.com/ Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia website {{DEFAULTSORT:Odonnell, Charlie 1932 births 2010 deaths Radio personalities from Philadelphia Television anchors from Los Angeles Game show announcers Wheel of Fortune (franchise) Journalists from Pennsylvania