Ray Szmanda
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Raymond Jack Szmanda, Sr. (born June 22, 1926) is a radio and television announcer who became well-known across the midwestern United States for his "Menards Guy," who has advertised for the home improvement store for more than two decades. He continues to periodically make new ads. Szmanda currently lives in Antigo, Wisconsin. His family includes four sons and three daughters. His wife, Maxine, died in 1999.
Szmanda learned his trade at the American Institute of the Air, and took writing courses from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He worked for radio and television stations as a staff announcer from 1951 to 1958, when he began to freelance. From 1959 until 1978, he operated the Trans-American School of Broadcasting in his hometown of Wausau, Wisconsin. His career with Menards began in 1976, and he was a fixture of the ads until 1998 when he retired. However, he partially returned to the job in 1999, making occasional ads since that time.
In addition to his announcing work, Szmanda has other hobbies, including drumming and operating amateur radio equipment under the call sign KB9JPB. He is also an antique car collector. Szmanda also started taking piano lessons in 2001.
Szmanda once appeared in a 1970s science fiction movie, The Alpha Incident [1]. He also hosted the Wausau version of High Quiz Bowl. His great-nephew Eric Szmanda is also known in television, primarily for playing Greg on CSI.
[edit] Quotes
- "I'm having a ball; I love what I do, and I think as long as I feel that way, that message gets across on television."
- "It's like having a hit record, because it says what everybody wants to hear me say, 'Save Big Money at Menards!'"
