Alan Robert Kalter (March 21, 1943 – October 4, 2021) was an American television announcer from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is best known as the announcer for the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'', a role he held from September 4, 1995, until Letterman's retirement on May 20, 2015. He also hosted ''Alan Kalter's Celebrity Interview'' that ran concurrently with ''The Late Show''.

Career

Kalter, nicknamed "Big Red" and "TV's Uncle Jerry" by Letterman, began his stint as the "voice" of the ''

'' on September 4, 1995, replacing the retiring

Bill Wendell William Joseph Wenzel Jr. (March 22, 1924 – April 14, 1999), known as Bill Wendell, was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career. Life and career Born William Joseph Wenzel Jr. on March 22, 1924, in New Y ...

. He announced the guests at the top of each show and the one-liner during the

Worldwide Pants Worldwide Pants Incorporated is an American television and film production company founded and owned by comedian and talk show host David Letterman. The company was formerly headquartered at the Ed Sullivan Theater building in New York City, bu ...

title card after the credits and regularly acted in comedic sketches. Kalter did hundreds of voiceovers for national radio and television commercials and was also the lead continuity voice for the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

throughout much of the 1980s and most of the 1990s (his voice was still heard on USA into the mid-2010s for the network's

paid programming Paid or PAID may refer to: * ''Paid'' (1930 film), an American film starring Joan Crawford * ''Paid'' (2006 film), a Dutch film *''Personality and Individual Differences'', a journal *"Paid", a song by ¥$ from the album ''Vultures 1'' See als ...

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, until a universal disclaimer for all NBCUniversal Cable Networks was instituted in 2017). He voiced promos for

SportsChannel America SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC. Operating from March 1, ...

in the early 1990s. Kalter (credited as Alan Roberts) also filmed two game show pilots for CBS - ''The Challengers'' by Ron Greenberg Productions/Universal Television in April 1974, and ''The Finish Line'' by Bob Stewart Productions in October 1975. Both pilots went unsold. Previously, he had been the announcer for many New York-based television shows, including ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'', ''

The $25,000 Pyramid ''Pyramid'' is an American game show franchise that has aired several versions domestically and internationally. The show was developed by Bob Stewart. The original series, ''The $10,000 Pyramid'', debuted on CBS on March 26, 1973, and spawned ...

'', ''

The Money Maze ''The Money Maze'' is an American television game show seen on ABC from December 23, 1974, to June 27, 1975. The show was hosted by Nick Clooney and was announced by Alan Kalter. It was produced by Daphne-Don Lipp Productions, of which Dick Cave ...

'', and ''

The $128,000 Question ''The $128,000 Question'' is an American game show which aired from 1976 to 1978 in weekly syndication. This revival of ''The $64,000 Question'' was produced by Cinelar Associates and distributed by Viacom Enterprises. Originally, Viacom had i ...

''. All of those series (except ''The Money Maze'') were taped at some point in the

Ed Sullivan Theater The Ed Sullivan Theater (originally Hammerstein's Theatre; later the Manhattan Theatre, Billy Rose's Music Hall, CBS Radio Playhouse No. 3, and CBS Studio 50) is a theater at 1697–1699 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th streets, in the Theat ...

, where the ''Late Show'' is now produced. Additionally, episodes of ''Truth'' announced by Kalter were taped in

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 ...

Studio 6A, where Letterman later originated '' Late Night''. Kalter would replace

as announcer on both ''Truth'' and the ''Late Show''. Kalter was also the announcer for the 45th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, held in New York in 2003.

''Late Show''

On the ''Late Show,'' Kalter regularly performed in scripted comedy bits in addition to his announcing duties. He was often portrayed alternately as a sexual deviant (often while grinning mischievously), a powerless sap who was beaten to within an inch of his life and left rolling on the ground writhing in pain, or frustrated at having guests for his own interview segment stolen by host

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...

. He was also often compelled to arbitrarily sing, rant in hysteria, or disrobe as he walked offstage. In many of the sketches, Kalter's antics left host Letterman in a state of shock, amusement, disgust, or total confusion. A memorable series of sketches in the early 2000s saw Kalter reenacting movie scenes originally performed by

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

Personal life

Kalter was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

in 1943 and raised in Little Neck and

Cedarhurst, New York Cedarhurst is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 7,374 as of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Cedarhurst is located in the region ...

. His family was Jewish. He was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and Public Speaking teacher at

Baldwin Baldwin may refer to: People * Baldwin (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname Places Canada * Baldwin, York Regional Municipality, Ontario * Baldwin, Ontario, in Sudbury District * Baldwin's Mills, ...

High School on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in the late 1960s and was also the voice of the

Michelin Man Bibendum (), commonly referred to in English as the Michelin Man or Michelin Tire Man, is the official mascot of the Michelin tire company. A humanoid figure consisting of stacked white tire, tires, it was introduced at the Lyon Exposition inter ...

. He attended Hobart College in

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

, and began his broadcasting career on local radio stations. Kalter lived in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...

. He married Carol Cepler and they had two children, Lauren Hass and Diana Binger. After his longtime marriage to Carol Cepler ended in divorce, he married his second wife Peggy Masterson in 2003. He had five grandchildren. Kalter died at Stamford Hospital on October 4, 2021, aged 78.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1974) TV Series as "Announcer" * ''

'' (1976) TV Series (uncredited) as "Announcer" * '' Ed'' (2000) * ''Get Well Soon'' (2001) as "Announcer" * '' When Pop Culture Saved America'' as "Narrator"

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalter, Alan 1943 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Game show announcers Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Television personalities from Brooklyn People from Cedarhurst, New York People from Douglaston–Little Neck, Queens People from Stamford, Connecticut Radio and television announcers