Victor Mills Roby, Jr. (November 9, 1917 – September 22, 2011 ) was an American radio and television announcer,

voice-over artist Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

and public affairs show host, and served for years as a staff announcer with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Early life and career

Born in

Tylertown, Mississippi Tylertown is a town in Walthall County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat of Walthall County. The population was 1,609 at the 2010 census. History The town of Tylertown was first known as the Magee Settlement. It was settled by ...

, Roby was an alumnus of

Millsaps College Millsaps College is a private liberal arts college in Jackson, Mississippi. It was founded in 1890 and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History The college was founded in 1889–90 by a Confederate veteran, Major Reuben Webster M ...

('38) where he had been an Alpha Iota brother. He entered the

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

business in 1943, working as a newsreader and announcer at

KOA (AM) KOA (850 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado. Owned by iHeartMedia, it serves the Denver-Boulder media market. KOA broadcasts a news/talk radio format, and is also the flagship station of the Denver Broncos, C ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. After a brief stint with the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

where he announced on the 1950 version of ''

The Rudy Vallee Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', Roby joined the announcing staff of

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in 1950.

Network announcer

Roby handled announcing for numerous radio and television programs during his career, including ''

Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West Vir ...

'' and working as sub-announcer on ''

Concentration In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', ''molar concentration'', ''number concentration'', an ...

'' and ''

The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...

'' in the early 1960s. But his chief claim to fame was announcing on network promos, bumpers and program introductions, most notably a variation of the shortened 1968 version of the "Laramie Peacock" bumper on which he intoned, "''The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC''," which ran on

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

s aired on the network through 1975. In addition, he handled local announcing duties for

WNBC-TV WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...

, including

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

station identification Station identification (ident, network ID or channel ID or bumper) is the practice of radio and television stations and broadcast network, networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name (sometimes known, ...

s, live tags and occasional

Emergency Broadcast System The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), sometimes called the Emergency Broadcasting System or the Emergency Action Notification System (EANS), was an emergency warning system used in the United States. It replaced the previous CONELRAD system an ...

tests. He was one of a core group of well-known voices for the NBC network which also included

Don Pardo Dominick George "Don" Pardo (February 22, 1918 – August 18, 2014) was an American radio and television announcer whose career spanned more than seven decades. A member of the Television Hall of Fame, Pardo was noted for his 70-year tenure with ...

Howard Reig Howard Reig (May 31, 1921 – November 10, 2008)Mel Brandt Melville Brandt (June 18, 1919 – March 14, 2008) was an actor and NBC staff announcer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Brandt joined NBC around 1948. His radio announcing credits included '' The Adventures of Frank Merriwell'', ''Author Meet ...

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 ...

, Roger Tuttle,

Bill McCord William J. McCord (December 18, 1916 – January 17, 2004) was an American radio and television announcer. Born in Colville, Washington, McCord moved to Spokane in the 1930s, where he began his broadcasting career. During World War II, he ...

Arthur Gary Arthur John Gary (January 28, 1914 in New York City – October 31, 2005 in New York) was an American radio and television announcer. A graduate of New York University, Gary's announcing career spanned from 1936 to 1984. From the 1940s until his ...

Bill Hanrahan William A. Hanrahan (September 14, 1918 – August 7, 1996) was an American radio and television announcer, perhaps best known as the "Voice of NBC News." Hanrahan's broadcasting career dated back to the 1940s, when he worked at WELI radio in New H ...

Wayne Howell Wayne Howell Chappelle (February 16, 1921 – July 8, 1993) was a voice-over announcer for the NBC television and radio networks from 1947 through 1986. He was born in Lexington, Kentucky, and became one member of a core group of New York-based ...

and

Jerry Damon Horace Jerome D'Amato (August 24, 1927 – January 24, 1979), known professionally as Jerry Damon, was an American radio and television announcer and actor. Biography Damon was a staff announcer for NBC in New York from 1954WOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW (ch ...

Phil Tonken Phil Tonken (born Philip Simon Tonken; April 13, 1919 – February 4, 2000 in Washington, D.C.) was an American radio and television producer, announcer and voice-over artist. Career Tonken was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a grad ...

) who did so. Roby made headlines in 1969 when he put an

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

indicating that he would no longer be available for cigarette commercials, citing "evidence . . . that smoking could lead to cancer, heart attacks, strokes,

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

and fires." He was one of a growing number of media personalities to do so, nearly two years before

cigarette advertising Nicotine marketing is the marketing of nicotine-containing products or use. Traditionally, the tobacco industry markets cigarette smoking, but it is increasingly marketing other products, such as electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco produ ...

on television was banned.

Public affairs host

Roby also served as host, narrator or interviewer on numerous public affairs shows that ran on NBC's New York radio and TV outlets. On WNBC-TV, he was a moderator of the discussion/call-in show ''Direct Line'' for much of its 1959–73 run, and after its cancellation he was one of the narrators of the long-running weekly documentary series, ''New York Illustrated''. On

WNBC (AM) WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...

, he hosted another call-in series, ''In Contact.''

Retirement and death

Roby, who lived for years in

Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several village ...

, retired from NBC in 1983. In 2008, he and his wife, Josephine, moved to

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popu ...

. Roby died in

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part of the Greater Boston area. ...

after a brief illness on September 22, 2011 at age 93.Vic Roby, Announcer, at 93, of Framingham

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

, September 28, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-03.

References and notes

External links

*
Vic Roby radio credits
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roby, Vic 1917 births 2011 deaths Millsaps College alumni People from Scarsdale, New York Radio and television announcers Game show announcers American broadcast news analysts American radio personalities American television talk show hosts American male voice actors NBC network announcers People from Tylertown, Mississippi