[quote name=\'Game Show Man\' date=\'Aug 2 2004, 11:44 PM\'] [quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Aug 2 2004, 07:19 PM\'] [quote name=\'HairMetalLives\' date=\'Aug 2 2004, 04:08 PM\'] Does anyone know how old he is or when/where he was born? [/quote]
Let's just say he's old enough to collect Social Security, but young enough to perform with style and professionalism that still set standards of excellence.
Charlie is indeed a Philladelphia boy. His first memories of radio and its inspiration in his life:
When he was 12 or 13 his sister was working in downtown Philly across the street from radio station KYW. She was asked to be part of a team representing her company, Du Pont, in a city-wide spelling bee. She asked Charlie if he would like to go along to see a live radio show. When they arrived he was impressed with the well appointed studio and once they were seated, a handsome man came out to the stage microphone and talked briefly with the audience, telling them what to expect and not to help the contestants. Theme music started and the man put his hand to his ear, ala Gary Owens, and opened the show. "I said to myself, ‘That’s what I want to do."
Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
Some of my earliest childhood memories of television were of Charlie O' introing The Joker's Wild and Tic Tac Dough. I had no idea at the time that Charlie O' had hung out with Dick Clark on the original American Bandstand, which means that Charlie's worked with not one, but two of the guys who inspired me to try to get into television.
I'm almost sad I can't go to the WOF taping with the GSC. [/quote]
Charlie has been around for many, many years; one of the youngest announcers ever on television when the industry boomed in the 1950s. Charlie O. has worked alongside Dick Clark not only on American Bandstand, but on other specials Dick Clark produced over the years, as well as on the $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramid in the 1980s... not to mention voiceover work for NBC, ABC, working as a radio DJ here in L.A. and anchoring the Channel 13 news for a time.
Game-show wise Charlie O'Donnell has worked at least on one game show for the following major production companies: Mark Goodson, Bob Stewart, Barry & Enright, Merv Griffin Enterprises, Chuck Barris, Hill-Eubanks, and Carruthers. He has never announced on a game show produced by Sandy Frank, Bob Snyes, Jay Wolpert, Ralph Edwards, or Reg Grundy.
In any event... he is a true legend not only in the game show world, but in television as well. When he is gone, it will be a very sad day, because there is no voice out there that I know of who will be like his.
