Johnny Olson

John Leonard Olson was born on May 22, 1910, in Windom, Minnesota, and went on to become one of American broadcasting's most recognized radio personalities and television announcers. He died on October 12, 1985, in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 75. Over a career spanning five decades, Olson built his reputation primarily through his work as an announcer for game shows produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and in 1972 he appeared on Broadway in The Selling of the President.

Olson's earliest broadcasting work took place in the mid-1930s at WTMJ in Milwaukee, where he performed on a variety program called The Grenadiers and subsequently hosted Johnny Olson Rhythm Rascals, a show on which he sang songs requested by callers. His future wife, Penny, was among those regular callers. By 1944, Olson had secured his first network radio position in New York City, co-hosting with Penny an audience-participation program called Ladies Be Seated on ABC Radio, a stunt-based game show comparable in format to Truth or Consequences. That program was followed from 1950 to 1951 by Johnny Olson's Luncheon Club. He also hosted multiple radio programs in Chicago, including an iteration of Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room, a late-night variety broadcast running from 10:30 p.m. to midnight.

Olson's television career began in 1945, when he and his wife hosted a five-week television version of Ladies Be Seated. He then joined the DuMont Television Network, hosting Doorway to Fame, an evening talent program, from May 1947 to July 1949. Beginning in January 1949 and continuing through July 1952, he hosted Johnny Olson's Rumpus Room on DuMont, a daytime talk show that was the first daytime program broadcast from DuMont's flagship station WABD across the network's East Coast affiliates. From September 1951 to June 1952, he also co-hosted the Saturday-morning children's program Kids and Company on DuMont alongside Ham Fisher. During this same period, Olson served as announcer on Break the Bank and as announcer and occasional host on Fun for the Money on ABC-TV in 1949, and he announced Play Your Hunch as well. On October 5, 1952, he debuted as host of Homemaker's Jamboree, an audience-participation game show on WJZ-TV.

Olson's association with Goodson-Todman Productions defined the central chapter of his career. Starting in 1960, he announced the CBS prime-time panel program To Tell the Truth, and the following year he took on the same role for What's My Line?. In 1962 he began announcing the original daytime version of Match Game on NBC, a position he held until that series concluded in 1969. That same year he became the announcer for The Jackie Gleason Show, a role he held until the program's cancellation in 1970. He also served as announcer for five Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethons between 1966 and 1970. Olson appeared twice as the mystery guest on What's My Line? — in 1965, when he succeeded in stumping the panel, and again in 1974, when panelist Arlene Francis identified him. He continued announcing both What's My Line? and To Tell the Truth after each moved from CBS to syndication in the late 1960s.

In 1972, the same year he appeared on Broadway in The Selling of the President, Olson relocated to Hollywood to serve as announcer for the revived versions of The Price Is Right and I've Got a Secret, both of which were taped there. His role on The Price Is Right extended well beyond standard announcing duties. In addition to warming up studio audiences before tapings, he regularly appeared on camera, sometimes exchanging dialogue with host Bob Barker, and he appeared frequently in the program's showcase segments. His call for contestants to come on down became a defining catchphrase of the series and a tradition carried forward by his successors Rod Roddy, Rich Fields, and George Gray. Throughout the 1970s and into the early 1980s, Olson simultaneously announced the revived Match Game and worked on additional Goodson-Todman productions during the peak years of his career.

On October 6, 1985, Olson suffered a stroke and was admitted to St. John's Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He died there six days later, on October 12, 1985. Episodes of The Price Is Right that had already been taped with Olson as announcer continued to air after his death, and host Bob Barker concluded those remaining broadcasts with a tribute acknowledging Olson's passing and his place among the program's cast.