Obit: Jerry Lawrence, 93; Announcer for 'Truth or Consequences'

[CrankyYankee]

(From the "L.A. Times")

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituar...ry?coll=la-news-obituaries&ctrack=1&cset=true

(Note: free registration may be required for the above link to work.)
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Jerry Lawrence, 93, early radio and television quiz show host, disc jockey and announcer of such shows as "Truth or Consequences," died Saturday in Los Angeles of unspecified causes, his family said.

Born in Rochester, N.Y., and brought up in Long Beach, Calif., Lawrence developed his radio career in the 1930s at New York City radio stations WOR, WNEW and the CBS network. During World Was II he was recognized for hosting the music and interview show "Moonlight Savings Time," broadcast to troop ships and war industry workers from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. As a disc jockey, he promoted the music of a young singer named Frank Sinatra and was an early announcer on "The Frank Sinatra Show" in 1944.

Lawrence returned to the Los Angeles area in 1945 and worked in radio and early television at KTLA, KCOP and KFWB. He hosted CBS' "The Spade Cooley Show" featuring the orchestra leader in 1951, and helped develop local quiz shows, including "Play Marco" for KTLA. He was an announcer for television's popular game show "Truth or Consequences" when it was hosted by Jack Bailey on NBC in 1954 and 1955.

As an actor, Lawrence made guest appearances on such television series as "Dragnet" and "The Donna Reed Show" and had small parts in the 1953 suspense film "The Hitch-Hiker" starring Edmond O'Brien and 1961's "X-15" with Charles Bronson.
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"What's That?" "French Horns!"

</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by CrankyYankee on 09/29/05 09:28 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Does anyone know if Jerry Lawrence continued announcing "Truth Or Consequences" after Bob Barker took over as host in late 1956??

 

[bpatrick]

> Does anyone know if Jerry Lawrence continued announcing
> "Truth Or Consequences" after Bob Barker took over as host
> in late 1956??
>
According to "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows" by Schwartz,
Ryan, and Wostbrock, Charles Lyon was the announcer for Bob
Barker, both on NBC (1956-65) and in syndication (1966-75).
They also list Ken Carpenter as an announcer (besides Jerry
Lawrence) on the Jack Bailey version.

Other announcers on "T or C" have been:

Frank Barton (Ralph Edwards version, CBS, 1950-51)
Wendell Niles (Steve Dunne version, NBC, primetime 1957-58)
John Harlan (Bob Hilton version, syndicated 1977-78)
Ted Zigler (Larry Anderson version, syndicated 1987-88)

And on radio: Bud Collyer, Mel Allen, Ed Herlihy, Milton
Cross, Jay Stewart, Harlow Wilcox (perhaps the best-remembered),
and Ken Carpenter.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

B. Patrick wrote:

> Other announcers on "T or C" have been:
>
> And on radio: Bud Collyer, Mel Allen, Ed Herlihy, Milton
> Cross, Jay Stewart, Harlow Wilcox (perhaps the
> best-remembered),
> and Ken Carpenter.

Milton Cross?!?!?!?!?

I do know that the early years of the radio version of "Truth Or Consequences" originated from New York, but it seems incredible that Milton Cross, best-known for introducing Metropolitan Opera broadcasts (and author of several best-selling books about opera), would be the announcer of "T Or C".

But then again, Cross was also the host of "Coast-To-Coast-On-A-Bus", a pioneering (Sunday morning or afternoon??) children's radio program on one of the NBC networks in the late 1920's and through the 1930's. So he could indeed have served as Ralph Edwards' announcer/sidekick during the years the radio version of "T or C" originated from New York.

 

[bpatrick]

> B. Patrick wrote:
>
> > Other announcers on "T or C" have been:
> >
> > And on radio: Bud Collyer, Mel Allen, Ed Herlihy, Milton
> > Cross, Jay Stewart, Harlow Wilcox (perhaps the
> > best-remembered),
> > and Ken Carpenter.
>
> Milton Cross?!?!?!?!?
>
> I do know that the early years of the radio version of
> "Truth Or Consequences" originated from New York, but it
> seems incredible that Milton Cross, best-known for
> introducing Metropolitan Opera broadcasts (and author of
> several best-selling books about opera), would be the
> announcer of "T Or C".
>
> But then again, Cross was also the host of
> "Coast-To-Coast-On-A-Bus", a pioneering (Sunday morning or
> afternoon??) children's radio program on one of the NBC
> networks in the late 1920's and through the 1930's. So he
> could indeed have served as Ralph Edwards'
> announcer/sidekick during the years the radio version of "T
> or C" originated from New York.
>
John Dunning's book "On The Air" was my source for that.
He doesn't say how long Milton Cross was the announcer
on "T or C" (probably not very long).

"Coast to Coast on a Bus" was a Sunday-morning show that
aired on NBC-Blue/ABC from 1927-48. Until 1934 it was
called "The Children's Hour," and was popularly known as
"The White Rabbit Line" (the name of the bus). The show
usually aired at 9, 9:15 or 9:30 AM. BTW, it started
locally on New York's WJZ (now WABC) in 1924.