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Gary Owens (born Gary Altman on May 10, 1936) is a disc jockey and voice actor born in Mitchell, South Dakota.
Owens was a journeyman DJ/announcer throughout the midwest and southern U.S. in the late 1950s, finally ending up at radio station KEWB, Oakland, California in 1959. He moved to its sister station KFWB in Los Angeles. From there, he joined the staff of KMPC in 1962, where he remained for the next two decades working the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift, Monday through Friday. A gifted punster, Owens became known for his surrealistic humor. Among his trademarks were daily appearances by The Story Lady (played by Joan Gerber), the Rumor of the Day, myriad varieties of "The Nurney Song", and the introduction of the nonsense word "insegrevious", which was briefly included in the Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary.
During this period, Owens became more widely known as the voice of the eponymous TV cartoon characters in Roger Ramjet and Space Ghost, the excitable narrator/announcer from The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, and perhaps most importantly, as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, all the while continuing his show on KMPC. He also hosted the daily game show Letters to Laugh-In during its brief run in 1969.
He was also a scriptwriter for Jay Ward Productions and has appeared many series for Walt Disney and has done a few commercials. He was also a guest star on The Munsters and McHale's Navy.
He was the voice of Disney's Epcot Center ride, World of Motion, which operated between 1982 and 1996.
In 1976, Owens hosted the first season of the nighttime version of The Gong Show; he was replaced by the show's creator, Chuck Barris.
Owens has also provided the voice for
- Powdered Toast Man of The Ren and Stimpy Show.
- Captain Squash on Bobby's World
- Dirk Niblick on PBS's Square One TV
- Blue Falcon in Dynomutt, Dog Wonder
- Badly Animated Man in Raw Toonage
- Commander Ulysses Feral in The Radical Squadron
Gary currently hosts a weeknight show on the Music of Your Life radio network. He also announces pre-recorded station IDs for Parksville, British Columbia radio station CHPQ-FM (The Lounge).
Trademark
When appearing "in character" on camera as Gary Owens, the announcer, Owens holds his right hand up to his right ear while speaking into a gimbaled boom microphone. This is done in imitation of the announcers in the early days of radio, who had to rely upon the acoustic feedback of their cupped hand to hear how they sounded to the audience.
External links
1936 births | Living people | American voice actors | People from South Dakota | Actors who portrayed Batman | Game show announcers | American radio personalities | American game show hosts
"Gary Owens"