Hyman Jack Averback (October 21, 1920 – October 14, 1997) was an American radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director.

Early years

Born in Minneapolis, Averback moved to California with his family when he was nine years old. Averback graduated from the Edward Clark Academy Theater in 1938 and eventually got a job announcing at KMPC Beverly Hills before World War II.

Career

Radio

During World War II, as part of the Armed Forces Radio Service, he entertained troops in the Pacific with his program of comedy and music, where he created the character of Tokyo Mose, a lampoon of Japan's

Tokyo Rose Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...

. After his discharge, his big break came when he was hired to announce the

Jack Paar Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, writer, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of ''The Tonight Show'' from 1957 to 1962. ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine's ob ...

radio show, which replaced

Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky; February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success as a violinist on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...

for the summer beginning June 1, 1947. He became the announcer for

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

on NBC in September 1948 and announced for other NBC radio shows, ''The Sealtest Village Store'' and '' Let's Talk Hollywood'', as well as on the ''Sweeney and March'' show on CBS in 1948 and appeared as the voice of ''Newsweek'' magazine on a weekly radio show on ABC West Coast stations the same year. Averback was also an actor, appearing a number of times on the

radio show, beginning in January 1948. In 1952, Averback starred in ''Secret Mission'', a transcribed program "dealing with factual stories of escape from behind the Iron Curtain" on AFRS. In 1955 he joined the ensemble cast of ''

Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar ''Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar'' is a radio drama that aired on CBS Radio from February 18, 1949 to September 30, 1962. The first several seasons imagined protagonist Johnny Dollar as a private investigator drama, with Charles Russell, Edmond O ...

'', playing multiple character roles in support of leading actor Bob Bailey.

Television

Doing comedy on early television, he appeared on ''The Saturday Night Revue'' (1953–54), ''Tonight'' (1955) & ''NBC Comedy Hour'' (1956). He was a series regular as Mr. Romero on the

Eve Arden Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades. Beginning her film career in 1929 an ...

sitcom ''

Our Miss Brooks ''Our Miss Brooks'' is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a Old Time Radio, radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became ...

'' & appeared on ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'' & other 1950s comedies, then moved into directing at the end of the decade. He directed '' The Real McCoys'' with Richard Crenna. Crenna had been a cast member with Averback on ''Our Miss Brooks''. Averback also directed for '' The Dick Powell Show'' (1961–1963), '' Burke's Law'' (1963-1964), '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (1964–1968), ''

The Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series about a community of nuns, which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for American Broadcasting Comp ...

'' (1967–1970), '' Columbo: Suitable for Framing'' (1971), '' McCloud'' (1971), '' McMillan & Wife'' (The Face of Murder, 1972), '' M*A*S*H'' (1972), ''Needles and Pins'' (1973), ''

Quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nucleus, atomic nuclei ...

'' (1977–1978), the miniseries ''Pearl'' (1978), ''

Matt Houston ''Matt Houston'' is an American crime drama television series starring Lee Horsley as the title character, a wealthy oilman who holds a side job as a private investigator. Created by Lawrence Gordon and produced by Aaron Spelling, it origin ...

'' (1982–1983), ''The Four Seasons'' (1984), ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'' (1985), & '' The Last Precinct'' (1986). For CBS, he produced '' Mrs. G. Goes to College'' (aka ''The Gertrude Berg Show'') in the 1961–1962 season. He co-produced the popular 1960s sitcom '' F Troop'' and supplied the voice over the loudspeaker heard on the television series '' M*A*S*H''. His actual recording from a Bob Hope show was used in ''M*A*S*H'' episode 63, "Bombed," from season 3 where he announces himself as Hope's announcer.

Film

Averback co-narrated ''The Story of Life'', a 62-minute sex educational film, released by Crusader Productions in June 1948. It featured live action as well as animation by former

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

artists Lester Novros and Robert Moore. Film credits include his acting as Willard Alexander in ''

The Benny Goodman Story ''The Benny Goodman Story'' is a 1956 American musical film, musical biographical film starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed, written and directed by Valentine Davies, and released by Universal-International. The film was intended as a follow-up t ...

'' (1956) and directing '' Chamber of Horrors'' (1966), '' Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?'' (1968), '' I Love You, Alice B. Toklas'' (1968), '' The Great Bank Robbery'' (1969), and ''

Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came ''Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came'' (also known as ''War Games, Old Soldiers Never'') is a 1970 American drama-comedy film directed by Hy Averback, produced by Fred Engel, and starring Brian Keith, Don Ameche, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine ...

'' (1970) as well as the TV movie '' The New Maverick'' (1978) with James Garner and Jack Kelly.

Personal life

In 1969, Averback bought a home in the Racquet Club Estates neighborhood of

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

, He died on October 14, 1997, at age 76, and was buried in Westwood Memorial Park.''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries''
books.google.ca. Accessed February 27, 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Averback, Hy 1920 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male radio actors American male television actors American television directors Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Directors Guild of America Award winners Film directors from California Film directors from Minnesota Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from Minneapolis Male actors from Palm Springs, California Radio and television announcers Television producers from California