Information AboutGary Owens |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GARY OWENS | |
| american radio personalities | |
| american voice actors | |
| people from mitchell, south dakota | |
| south dakota actors | |
| 1936 births | |
| living people | |
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Gary Owens (born '''Gary Altman''' on May 10 , 1936 ) is a Disc Jockey and Voice Actor born in Mitchell, South Dakota . His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on '' Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In ''. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments, and is frequently heard in television, radio, and commercials. CAREER Owens was a journeyman DJ/announcer throughout the midwest and southern U.S. in the late 1950s, finally ending up at Radio Station KEWB , Oakland, California in 1959. He moved to its sister station KFWB in Los Angeles in 1961. From there, he joined the staff of KMPC in 1962 , where he remained for the next two decades working the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift, Monday through Friday. A gifted punster, Owens became known for his surrealistic humor. Among his trademarks were daily appearances by The Story Lady (played by Joan Gerber ), the Rumor of the Day, myriad varieties of "The Nurney Song", and the introduction of the nonsense word "insegrevious", which was briefly included in the Funk And Wagnalls Dictionary. In the early 1960s, like punster-TV star comic colleagues Ernie Kovacs , Steve Allen and Jonathan Winters , Gary Owens created a few comic characters of his own, such as the gruff old man Earl C. Festoon and his wife Phoebe Festoon, the stuffy old businessman Endocrine J. Sternwallow, and the goofy good ol' boy, Merle Clyde Gumpf. Another character was crotchety old cantankerous Mergenthaler Waisleywillow. He also did very funny radio promotions like sending in for "Yours", which turned out to be a postcard from him from the radio station which simply said "Yours" on it; and autographed pictures of the Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles; and his famous "Moo Cow Report" in which Gary and his character Earl C. Festoon would describe where moo cows were moving inbound on the crowded freeways of L.A. During this time he was also known as "Superbeard", because like other radio icon Wolfman Jack, he sported a goatee-beard, wore Hawaiian shirts, baggy Bermuda shorts, and his "1941 wide necktie with a hula girl on it". Often during these comedy skits on the air he would have the assistance of other radio comics, most notably Bob Arbogast (known as "Arbo" to his adoring fans), Stan Ross (of "Drowning in the Surf" fame in 1963), and Jim "Weather Eyes" Hawthorne. Gary also did his famous "Good Evening Kiss" on KMPC when he was on from 9PM to Midnight, by saying "Now I'll just snuggle up to a nice warm microphone, and ''embracemoi'', with a big wet kiss sound effect followed by the sound effect of a big gong striking. In 1966, Gary Owens collaborated with Bob Arbogast, June Foray, Daws Butler, Paul Frees and others on a hilarious comedy spoof record album titled "Sunday Morning With the Funnies" with the Jimmy Haskell Orchestra on Reprise Records. Gary certainly gave comedian Stan Freberg, a popular record album comic, a run for his money. During this period, Owens became more widely known as the voice of the eponymous TV cartoon characters in '' Roger Ramjet '' and '' Space Ghost '', the excitable narrator/announcer from '' The Perils Of Penelope Pitstop '', and perhaps most importantly, as the Announcer on '' Rowan And Martin's Laugh-In '', all the while continuing his show on KMPC. He also hosted its daily game show spin-off, '' Letters To Laugh-In '', during its brief run in 1969. He was also a scriptwriter for Jay Ward Productions , has appeared in many series for Walt Disney , and has done over 30,000 commercials. He was also a guest star on '' The Munsters '' and '' McHale's Navy ''. On the weekend of September 12-13, 1981, Owens substituted for Casey Kasem on '' American Top 40 ''.; it was Gary's only appearance on radio's first nationally syndicated countdown show. That same year Watermark chose Owens to replace Murray the K as permanent host of "Soundtrack of the '60s", an oldies retrospective show. It ran in syndication through 1984. He was the voice of Disney's Epcot Center ride, World Of Motion , which operated between 1982 and 1996. Owens did the humorous news blurbs that are interspersed throughout the 1975 film '' The Prisoner Of Second Avenue ''. In 1976, Owens hosted the first season of the nighttime version of '' The Gong Show ''; he was replaced by the show's creator, Chuck Barris . In one of his bizarre giveaways on KMPC, he offered listeners a chance to receive "an Autographed picture of the Harbor Freeway ." Owens has also provided the voice for
He has narrated or announced dozens of other cartoons, as well as the Fourth and Sixth installments of the '' Space Quest '' PC Game series. In the 1980s, Gary Owens could be found announcing on jazz radio station KKJZ in Westwood, California. In the late 1990s Gary Owens hosted the morning show on the Music Of Your Life radio network, where he later had the evening shift and currently hosts a weekend afternoon show. He also announces pre-recorded Station IDs for Parksville, British Columbia radio station CHPQ-FM (The Lounge). TRADEMARK When appearing "in character" on camera as ''Gary Owens, the announcer,'' Owens holds his right hand up to his right ear while speaking into a Gimbal ed boom Microphone . This is done in imitation of the announcers in the early days of radio, who had to rely upon the acoustic feedback of their cupped hand to hear how they sounded to the audience. Owens created the phrase "Beautiful downtown Burbank " which was later used on Laugh-In and the Tonight Show. Gary received a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1980, between Walt Disney and Betty White. QUOTABLE QUOTES Gary Owens would often paraphrase his boyhood hero Lamont Cranston, also known as The Shadow, on 1940s radio, who said "Friend of those who have no friends"; Gary's version was "Friend of those who want no friends"! Gary also said things like:
Gary Owens, Los Angeles, K- -les -M- -les -les -les C-K!"
"I wanna listen to: Ga-ry O-wens, Los An-ge-lope!" EXTERNAL LINKS |
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