Don Pardo

On his family, growing up in Massachusetts

On high school and college memories

On meeting resistance from his father in choosing a vocation: he wanted to be a dentist

On deciding he wanted to pursue a career in acting

On how he got into radio, working at WJAR in Providence, R.I.; on getting hired as a radio announcer

On how his wife convinced him to take his first job in announcing for radio at WJAR; his job duties as an announcer

On his first trip to New York and meeting other announcers: Hal Sims, Mark Goodson

On becoming a "hitchhike" announcer for commercial radio, along with Mark Goodson as the main announcer

On first working for NBC radio in New York; meeting Patrick J. Kelly

On hearing Frank Gallup and Charles Stark announce when he visited NBC and approaching Patrick Kelly about a job there

On meeting Patrick Kelly at NBC

On getting a job offer from NBC to become an announcer

On the announcer's role to the story on radio

On delivering a news announcement and having to double as an engineer

On first working in early television; on the process of broadcasting early television 

On announcing a baseball game in 1946 on television; on not being interested in working in early television

On working on children's television: Animal Fair

On meeting and working with with Bill Cullen; on working on Follow Your Heart, an early soap opera on NBC

On working with Fred Allen and regretting not having taken a photograph with any of the Hollywood stars

On working with Fred Allen on The Price is Right and how he got the job announcing on that show

On the children's show Choose Up Sides (does voice); on "continuous performance" (speaking over a B movie); on how he preferred radio over television

On The Price is Right; on a typical day and his duties as announcer; on appearing on-camera while filling in for Bill Cullen; on blowing the surprise of a contestant winning a trip to "Rooooooome" on an early Price is Right episode

On rehearsing for The Price is Right; on doing a lot of readings

On Sid Caesar and working on Caesar's Hour, Your Show of Shows; on the Jonathan Winters Show and meeting Carol Burnett

On a sample announcement: Use Shorter Words!

On Stanley; on working with Buddy Hackett, Carol Burnett, Paul Lynde, and Max Liebman

On the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and having to read the announcement of his death on-air

On his decision not to follow The Price is Right to ABC; on becoming the announcer on Saturday Night Live

On Jeopardy! and working with Art Fleming; on how the catchphrase "Thank you, Don Pardo" developed on that show

On how Senator John McCain appeared on Saturday Night Live , and told him he had actually met him as a contestant on Jeopardy! when Pardo was the announcer

On working with Bill Cullen on Jeopardy!

On his various jobs at NBC radio and TV remotes: Peppy's Young Family, Magnificent Montague, and Monitor

On becoming the announcer on Saturday Night Live; on meeting Lorne Michaels

On the beginning of Saturday Night Live and how the announcer gig was described to him; on flubbing the opening for the very first show- misstating the Not Ready for Prime Time players

On Lorne Michaels; on appearing on-camera occasionally on SNL; on a skit where he plays "Ron Lardo" and recites his famous line "It's Saturday Night Live"; on the initial reaction to SNL; on what rehearsals were like

On working at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center for SNL

On his SNL recollections; on Tina Fey, and Dick Ebersol; on Lorne Michaels leaving the show and his replacement, Jean Doumanian

On working with Frank Zappa; on a music video with Weird Al

On his work in commercials; on his announcing style; on his then-current projects

On special moments from his career; on getting recognized; on how microphones have changed over the years

On advice to aspiring announcers; on how he'd like to be remembered

On advice to aspiring announcers