Jay Stewart Fix (September 6, 1918 – September 17, 1989), known professionally as Jay Stewart, was an
American television and radio
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 ...
known primarily for his work on
game show
A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
s. He was probably best known as the announcer on the long running game show ''
Let's Make a Deal
''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is a television game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created and produced by Stefan Hatos and Mo ...
'', in which he appeared throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Other shows for which he announced regularly include the
Reg Grundy productions ''
Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
'' and ''
Sale of the Century
''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being t ...
'', as well as the Jack Barry–Dan Enright productions ''
The Joker's Wild'', ''
Tic-Tac-Dough'' and ''
Bullseye''. Stewart died by
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
in 1989.
Education and early career
Born in
Summitville, Indiana, Stewart broke into show business as a
saxophone
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...
player. He attended
Butler University
Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...
and won a 1939 award as one of the outstanding
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...
graduates in the United States. After graduation he landed radio announcing jobs at
WBOW in
Terre Haute
Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716.
Located along the Wabash River about e ...
and
WLW
WLW (700 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial news/talk radio station city of license, licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. In 1943 Stewart moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, where he continued his career as a radio announcer. In 1953 Stewart became the host of
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 ...
Radio's ''It Pays To Be Married''.
Stewart was one of the hosts for ''
Town Hall Party'', a Los Angeles–based
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
program airing from 1952 to 1961 and carried by
KFI radio and
KTTV-TV television. He was also an announcer for ''
The Mike Douglas Show
''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...
'' when production moved to Los Angeles in 1978.
Stewart was originally married to Beverly Barnes Fix. The two had two daughters, Jamie and Julie Fix (now Julie Bratspis). After divorcing, he later married Phyllis Kiser. Later in life, youngest daughter, Julie had two children, Emily Bratspis (now Liebenberg) and Andrew Bratspis.
Career highlights
Stewart was perhaps best known for his work on ''
Let's Make a Deal
''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is a television game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created and produced by Stefan Hatos and Mo ...
'' and in the 1980s on ''
Sale of the Century
''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being t ...
'' and ''
Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
''. ''Let's Make a Deal'' host
Monty Hall
Monty Hall (born Monte Halparin; August 25, 1921 – September 30, 2017) was a Canadian-American radio and television show host who moved to the United States in 1955 to pursue a career in broadcasting. After working as a radio newsreade ...
called Stewart "the best second banana you ever found in your life" and said that "it was a very, very good feeling between us." On ''Let's Make a Deal'' Stewart participated onstage as well as announcing, often seen modeling the show's "zonk" prizes (a practice also used by current announcer
Jonathan Mangum).
Stewart was also the primary announcer for all
Barry &
Enright game shows from 1977 until 1981, including ''
The Joker's Wild'', ''
Tic-Tac-Dough'', and ''
Bullseye''. Stewart was even the announcer in the trailers and TV spots for the company's controversial 1981 sex comedy ''
Private Lessons''.
Charlie O'Donnell took over the role on the Barry-Enright shows starting in the 1981–82 season, when Stewart left due to his daughter's suicide.
In 1981, Jay was selected by
Mark Goodson
Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
Early life and e ...
to announce approximately four to six weeks worth of episodes on ''
Card Sharks
''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Contestants attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a row of oversized playing cards ...
'', pairing him with future ''Sale of the Century'' host Jim Perry. It was Stewart's only announcing assignment for Mark Goodson Productions, occurring while he was still employed with Barry & Enright. Both Stewart and
Johnny Olson
John Leonard Olson (May 22, 1910 – October 12, 1985) was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman P ...
were brought in to substitute for regular announcer
Gene Wood
Eugene Edward Wood (October 20, 1925 – May 21, 2004) was an American television personality, known primarily for his work as an announcer on various game shows. From the 1950s to the 1990s, he announced many game shows, primarily Mark Goodson ...
, who was recovering from a serious automobile accident.
Besides his duties on the NBC and syndicated versions of ''
$ale of the Century'', Stewart announced the first year of ''
Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
'' before being replaced by
Charlie Tuna in 1985. A year later, in 1986, he made a cameo appearance on the series finale of ''The All-New Let's Make a Deal'' alongside original ''LMAD'' prize model
Carol Merrill; Stewart's appearance, like many of his on-screen appearances on the original series, was modeling a zonk a player had just won (although that time, he wore a business suit rather than a zonk-related costume as he did on the original series). In addition, between his stints with Barry & Enright and
Reg Grundy Productions, Stewart was the voice-over for ''
National Enquirer
The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays Source (journalism), sources for tips (chec ...
'' commercials, which he continued to do until around 1986.
Stewart left ''Sale of the Century'' in 1988. His final announcing position was on ''
Blackout'' shortly after his departure from ''Sale'', where he filled in for an ill
Johnny Gilbert
John Lewis Gilbert III (born July 13, 1928) is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from variou ...
as the show's announcer for its final two weeks.
Later work and declining health
In late 1981, Stewart's daughter Jamie died by suicide. During this time, he took a year-and-a-half respite from announcing and found religion, appearing on ''
The 700 Club
''The 700 Club'' is the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing each weekday in syndication in the United States and available worldwide on CBN.com. The news magazine program features live guests, daily news, p ...
'' to proclaim his newfound faith, which led to him doing voiceover promos for host
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (March 22, 1930 – June 8, 2023) was an American Media proprietor, media mogul, Televangelism, televangelist, political commentator, presidential candidate, and charismatic movement, charismatic minister. Rober ...
's
CBN Cable Network (formerly CBN Satellite Service and now
Freeform). He returned to the game show arena in 1983 as the announcer of ''
$ale of the Century'', which he held for five years. Stewart participated in several Instant Bargains during the course of his tenure on ''Sale''.
Stewart could not overcome the pain of his daughter's death and turned to alcohol, which ultimately led to his departure from ''$ale of the Century'' in January 1988. During this time, he moved into the managerial field; one of his clients was
Harry M. Stevens, who announced the
syndicated version of ''
Finders Keepers'' and the 1989 version of ''
Pictionary''.
Death
On September 17, 1989, Stewart died by
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
by shooting himself in the carport of his home 11 days after his 71st birthday. An explanatory note and a last will and testament was discovered in his possession. He had been experiencing severe
depression and he also suffered from chronic, intractable
back pain
Back pain (Latin: ''dorsalgia'') is pain felt in the back. It may be classified as neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area ...
for years, reportedly due to frequent heavy lifting during his work on ''Let's Make a Deal'' (Stewart had to carry prize display tables to and from the audience area whenever a game on ''Let's Make a Deal'' called for them; he would bring out the prizes, announce them, then take them back offstage when done).
LA Times: Television Announcer Jay Stewart Kills Self
/ref>
Stewart is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...
.
Notes
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Jay
1918 births
1989 deaths
Game show announcers
Suicides by firearm in California
Butler University alumni
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
People from Madison County, Indiana
Let's Make a Deal
1989 suicides