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Saturday Night Live Announcer Don Pardo Dies at 96

Don Pardo, who was the voice of Saturday Night Live for nearly four decades, died in his sleep Monday at his home in Arizona, The Associated Press reports. He was 96.

liz-raftery.jpg
Liz Raftery

Don Pardo, who was the voice of Saturday Night Live for nearly four decades, died in his sleep Monday at his home in Arizona, The Associated Press reports. He was 96.

Pardo's booming baritone is instantly recognizable as the voice that introduced cast members, hosts and musical guests on Saturday Night Live. He is also the addressee in catchphrase of the original, Art Fleming-hosted Jeopardy!, "Tell 'em what they've won, Don!"

Born Dominick Pardo in Westfield, Mass., he graduated from Emerson College in Boston and began doing voiceover work at WJAR in Providence, R.I. In 1944, he moved to New York and began working at the local NBC affiliate. He delivered news updates on the radio during World War II and later worked as an announcer for shows, including The Colgate Comedy Hour, Winner Takes AllThe Price is Right and Jeopardy!

Pardo was the first to announce to NBC viewers that President John F. Kennedy had been shot on Nov. 22, 1963. 

See other celebrities we've lost this year

SNL debuted in 1975 with Pardo as the show's announcer, a role he retained every year with the exception of Season 7 from 1981-82. During this time, he also did voice work for NBC Nightly News, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and local news broadcasts on NBC's New York affiliate.

Pardo officially retired from NBC in 2004 and moved to Tucson, Ariz. But SNL producer Lorne Michaels convinced him to continue doing the show's voiceovers, so Pardo would commute from Tucson to the legendary Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center to announce the show. In 2008, Tina Fey and other cast members presented him with a cake during the show's closing credits to celebrate his 90th birthday.

In recent years, he began recording only the show's intro, and did so from his home in Tucson.

Pardo made cameos in several movies, including Woody Allen's Radio Days, and guest-starred on Fey's sitcom 30 Rock in 2009. He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2010.

Pardo is survived by five children.

Check out this interview with Pardo from 2013 in which he discusses his current role with SNL: