John Byron Jacobs (June 22, 1916 – February 8, 1982) was an American television announcer, often for

Chuck Barris Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host, author, and songwriter. A key crew member of several hugely successful game shows, he was the creator of ''The Dating Game'' (1965– ...

productions—namely, ''

The Newlywed Game ''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show. Newly married couples compete against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally created ...

'' and ''

The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

''.

Early life

He was born in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Early career

Radio

Jacobs was the announcer for ''The Steve Allen Show'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

in 1950. The program was a summer replacement for ''

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 ...

'', which starred

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 ...

. In 1952–1953, he was the announcer for ''

The Doris Day Show ''The Doris Day Show'' is an American sitcom which was originally broadcast on CBS from September 1968 until March 1973, remaining on the air for five seasons and 128 episodes. The series is remembered for its multiple format and cast chang ...

'' on CBS. In 1955, he was the announcer for the ''Gary Crosby Show'' on CBS.

Television

In the early 1950s, he was the emcee of a television show called ''Bachelor's Haven''. Also, he was the original announcer for the last season of ''

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 ...

'', in 1956. He was a regular on

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

's comedy show in 1958 and did announcing work for the early 1960s revival of ''

The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC,

''. Other shows he worked on included the ''

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a Crooner ...

Show'' and the ''

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

Show''. Throughout his career, he occasionally acted in television shows, making guest appearances on ''

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

'' (episode 3), ''

Leave It to Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. CBS first broadcast the show ...

'' and ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom about the home life of a family of benign monsters that aired from 1964 to 1966 on CBS. The series stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster (Frankenstein's monster),Episodes referring to the fact that Herman is ...

''. He also appeared, as himself, in ''

The Gong Show Movie ''The Gong Show Movie'' is a 1980 American slapstick film starring, co-written and directed by Chuck Barris, host of the game show of the same name. Plot The film shows a fictional week in the life of Chuck Barris as the host and creator of ' ...

''.

Game shows and final years

He was the first announcer for '' The Joker's Wild'', which starred Jack Barry and debuted on

in 1972. Barry employed Jacobs to announce many such Jack Barry/ Barry & Enright Productions game shows during the early to middle 1970s as '' Blank Check'', the 1976 ABC run of ''Break The Bank'', and '' Hollywood's Talking'' for CBS. Most notably, however,

employed Jacobs's voice talents on the aforementioned ''

'' and ''

'', and also for other such Barris productions as ''

The Gong Show ''The Gong Show'' is an American amateur talent contest franchised by Sony Pictures Television to many countries. It was broadcast on NBC's daytime schedule from June 14, 1976, through July 21, 1978, and in first-run syndication from 1976 to ...

'', ''

Three's a Crowd ''Three's a Crowd'' (also known as ''Three's Company, Too'' in the ''Three's Company'' syndication package) is an American sitcom television series produced as a spin-off sequel and continuation of '' Three's Company'' that aired on ABC from ...

'' and '' The $1.98 Beauty Show''. His last job was announcing a Barris-produced version of '' Treasure Hunt'' which was syndicated during the 1981-82 season (Jacobs had also announced the 1970s syndicated version of ''Treasure Hunt'' as well). However, illness forced him to step down from this version of ''Treasure Hunt'' by late 1981, and he was replaced by frequent Barris fill-in announcer Tony McClay. Jacobs died in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

, where he owned radio station KWG, at the age of 65.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Johnny 1916 births 1982 deaths Game show announcers Radio and television announcers Mass media people from Milwaukee