Don Pardo Passes Away At 96

Don Pardo Passes Away At 96

The man behind the booming voice announcing “It’s Saturday Night Live,” Don Pardo, passed away recently in Tucson, Arizona. The news of the death of Pardo was confirmed by officials at NBC. He was 96 when he died in his sleep.

Pardo was hand-picked by Lorne Michaels, creator of the show. He served as the SNL announcer in 38 seasons of the show, having missed the seventh season. He also missed two episodes in 2013 following a broken hp. He returned to the show in September 2013 and worked until the season finale last May.

Pardo became a part of NBC in 1944 when he served as a voice talent in numerous events from newscasts to baseball games and game shows. He also spent seven years with “The Price Is Right.”

After his stint at “The Price Is Right,” Don Pardo lent his voice to “Jeopardy,” where he spent eleven seasons. During this time, Art Fleming was the host of the show. He was basically a pioneer in nearly all shows in television.

John Mulaney, a former writer at SNL, tweeted a goodbye for Pardo. He indicated that Pardo worked from the Second World War until May. He also described Pardo as a cool person and he felt lucky to have talked with the icon for a number of times in the past.

A message was also posted by Dane Cook for Pardo. Cook revealed his lifelong mission was to host SNL and when he got the job and reached New York City, he wanted to get his picture taken with Pardo. He said the voice of Pardo set the tone for the show and it was a dream-come-true for his name to be called by Pardo during the show. Cook also thanked Don Pardo for talking with him and introducing him to America during the show.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Thursday August 21 2014, 2:04 AM EDT. Ref: TMZ. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0