Johnny Jacobs

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Johnny Jacobs making an on camera appearance, on Treasure Hunt in the early 1980s (with host Geoff Edwards).
Johnny Jacobs making an on camera appearance, on Treasure Hunt in the early 1980s (with host Geoff Edwards).

Johnny Jacobs (June 22, 1916 - February 8, 1982) was an American television announcer, often for Chuck Barris productions (namely The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show).

[edit] Early career

His earliest work was being the original announcer for the last season of I Love Lucy (1956). He also was a regular on Betty White's comedy show from 1958 and also did announcing work for Steve Allen's show in the 1960s (not to be confused with Steve Allen's Tonight Show).

[edit] Game Shows and Final Years

He was the first announcer for The Joker's Wild, which starred Jack Barry and debuted on CBS in 1972. Barry had co-produced the show with Dan Enright and employed Jacobs on many Barry & Enright/Jack Barry Productions game shows during the early-to-mid 1970s, including Blank Check and Hollywood's Talking. Chuck Barris also still utilized Jacobs' voice talents on the aforementioned The Newlywed Game and The Gong Show and other Barris productions like Three's A Crowd. One of his last jobs was announcing a Barris produced version of Treasure Hunt which was syndicated during the early 1980s (Jacobs had also announced Barris' early 1970s version of Treasure Hunt as well), but illness forced him to step down by late 1981 and he was replaced by frequent Barris fill-in announcer Tony McClay. Jacobs died on February 8, 1982, in Los Angeles, California.


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