George Archibald Presby (August 27, 1907 – January 22, 2007) was a Canadian-born, American

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience on a broadcast media programme or live event either on radio or television. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaki ...

. Born in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Presby began his announcing career at CFDC in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 1925, and remained with the station at the point where its

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a Identifier, unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be fo ...

changed to the current

CKWX CKWX (1130 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in Vancouver, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Owned by Rogers Radio, a division of Rogers Sports & Media, it broadcasts an all-news radio, news/talk radio, talk ...

two years later. Afterwards he moved to the U.S., and between 1928 and 1935 he worked at KOMO in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington and KEX in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. In 1935, Presby moved to

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, where he became the staff announcer for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

on the West Coast, and also did local announcing work for its

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the ...

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyal ...

, KGO. He was the announcer for years on the program ''Bughouse Rhythm'', which showcased leading

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and swing

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

s. After the network transferred its West Coast programming operations to their newer Radio City studios in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, Presby moved there in 1942 and remained in that base of operations for the rest of his career (which included another move to the network's Color City complex in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

, starting in the 1950s). As NBC did not own a

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

in Los Angeles, he also handled local announcing work for its affiliated station, KFI. After NBC launched its Los Angeles

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...

, KNBH (later KRCA-TV and now

KNBC KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network ...

) in 1949, Presby became one of the station's first announcers. His most famous television credit was as announcer, and the voice of "Froggy the Gremlin," on '' Smilin' Ed's Gang'' (he had also served in both capacities on the radio show) and its successor, ''

Andy's Gang ''Andy's Gang'' is a children's television program broadcast on NBC from August 20, 1955, to December 31, 1960, hosted by the actor Andy Devine. It was the successor to the radio and television program ''Smilin' Ed McConnell and His Buster Brown ...

''. Later in the 1950s, he hosted a local

children's show Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed specifically for children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are normally broadcast durin ...

as "Uncle Archie." Presby remained chief West Coast announcer for NBC, and booth announcer for KNBC, until his retirement in 1972. After retiring, he settled in

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish language, Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, V ...

, and then moved to

Escondido, California Escondido (Spanish language, Spanish for "Hidden") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County (San Diego area), North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San ...

in 1998. He died in Escondido on January 22, 2007, at age 99.

References

Obituary
in North County Times / The Californian, January 28, 2007.
Vancouver Broadcasters (P-Q)

Arch Presby radio credits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presby, Arch 1907 births 2007 deaths Male actors from California Male actors from Quebec People from Sherbrooke People from Vista, California Canadian radio personalities American radio personalities Television personalities from California American male voice actors Radio and television announcers NBC network announcers People from Escondido, California Canadian emigrants to the United States