John Henry Harlan (December 21, 1925 – February 27, 2017) was an American television

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 ...

who worked on television projects for over 40 years, particularly game and

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

s. He was from

Sonoma County, California Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

. His work included '' You Don't Say!,'' '' Name That Tune, All-Star Blitz,

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'' (1978 revival) produced between 1974 and 1985. From 1990 to 1993, Harlan was the announcer on '' American Gladiators''. He retired from announcing in 1993 and the Gladiators took turns announcing until 1996. Harlan attended

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

, graduating in 1948. He served as class president for the fall term. At school he was friends with Wendell Bell, serving as his best man at his 1947 wedding. He married Beverly Christensen, who was a model on '' Queen for a Day'' where Harlan was an announcer. Harlan died on February 27, 2017, at the age of 91.

Shows announced

*''

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

'' *''

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...

'' *''

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

'' (first special only;

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

, 1986) *'' The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years'' ( CBS special, 1986) *''

Password A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services t ...

'' ( ABC, 1971–75) *'' Tattletales'' (CBS, 1974) *'' The Flip Wilson Show'' *'' The Merv Griffin Show'' (when based in

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, ...

) *'' You Don't Say!'' (all versions) *'' Face the Music'' (1980–81) *'' Queen for a Day'' *'' The Cross-Wits'' *''

Catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

'' *''

'' (NBC, 1978–79) *'' The Krypton Factor'' *'' American Gladiators'' (Syndicated, 1990–93) *''

Press Your Luck ''Press Your Luck'' is an American television game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. Contestants answer trivia questions to earn "spins" on a randomly cycling game board. The board's spaces display cash, prizes, extra spins, sp ...

'' (as a fill-in for Rod Roddy) *'' Password Plus'' (as a fill-in for Gene Wood) *'' Name That Tune''; he also served as one of the show's associate producers *''Your New Day'' with Vidal Sassoon *''Lucky Numbers'' (pilot similar to '' High Rollers'' in 1985) *'' 50 Grand Slam'' *'' Wipeout'' *'' All Star Blitz'' *'' Celebrity Sweepstakes'' *'' It Takes Two'' *'' Relatively Speaking'' *'' Sports Challenge'' (final season) *'' Book of Lists'' *''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'' *'' Jackpot!'' (Syndicated, 1989–90) *'' UHF'' (Film, 1989; voice of in-film promos for U-62) *'' Make Me Laugh'' (1979) Harlan worked on occasional TV specials up until his death in 2017. He was also president of Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters.

Sources

External links

* 1925 births 2017 deaths California State University, Fresno alumni Game show announcers Radio and television announcers People from Sonoma County, California {{US-tv-bio-stub