Johnny Gilbert

John Lewis Gilbert III{{Cite web|title=Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Johnny Gilbert...and More!|url=http://www.johnnygilbert.tv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113214248/http://www.johnnygilbert.tv/biography.html|archive-date=January 13, 2013|access-date=February 20, 2010|publisher=Johnny Gilbert official website}} was born on July 13, 1928{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/johnny-gilbert-voice-of-jeopardy-ebcc084a3c14780a0e8200a18c3b6a40|title=Johnny Gilbert, the voice of 'Jeopardy!', keeps going at 92|last=Elber|first=Lynn|publisher=Associated Press|date=June 3, 2021|accessdate=August 18, 2021}}{{Cite news|date=March 10, 2020|title='Protect Alex Trebek at all costs': Live audiences banished from 'Jeopardy!' and 'Wheel of Fortune' tapings amid coronavirus fears|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/03/10/coronavirus-alex-trebek-jeopardy/|first=Katie|last=Shepherd}}{{Cite news|last=Jacobs|first=Julia|date=January 7, 2021|title=On Alex Trebek's Final 'Jeopardy!,' a Last Introduction From a Friend|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/arts/television/alex-trebek-jeopardy-johnny-gilbert.html|access-date=January 8, 2021}} in Newport News, Virginia. He began performing by singing as a boy in his hometown Lutheran Church choir.{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1959 |title=Johnny Gilbert: Three Talents and Two Voices |page=2 |work=The Milwaukee Sentinel |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y2tQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UhAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5786,2918690&dq=johnny+gilbert&hl=en |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130902011544/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y2tQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UhAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5786,2918690&dq=johnny+gilbert&hl=en |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 2, 2013 }} Although his parents had never worked in the theatrical profession themselves, his grandmother had been a church singer.

While he was still in high school, Gilbert decided to take up a professional singing career and learned from an opera teacher. He never sang opera independently, but was the regular vocalist with Shelly Harmon and His Orchestra, a group that toured the Virginia area.

A few years after graduating from high school, Gilbert resided in Florida for three months working as an emcee, during which he received on-the-job training and learned to walk on stage, speak in front of a public crowd, and tell jokes and stories.

The Dead End Kids, a group comprising young actors such as Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, and Gabriel Dell, were organizing a revue. Gilbert joined the group and played throughout the southwestern United States for 16 weeks. When they played in Norfolk, Virginia, Gilbert got special billing.

In the 1950s, Gilbert joined the United States Army's Seventh Army Special Services in Germany,[https://www.jeopardy.com/sites/default/files/files/press-release/2018-08/johnny-gilbert-gwr.pdf VOICE OF ‘JEOPARDY!’ JOHNNY GILBERT EARNS GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ TITLE FOR LONGEST CAREER AS A GAME SHOW ANNOUNCER FOR THE SAME SHOW.] Jeopardy.com. Retrieved May 24, 2021. and was cast as the lead in Xanadu: The Marco Polo Musical, an original musical comedy inspired in part by the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem Kubla Khan, which chronicles Marco Polo's trip to China. The company toured throughout Western Europe, performing for servicemen and civilians alike.

After resigning from the service and returning to the U.S., Gilbert continued singing and hosting in clubs. One day, a manager of a well-known group in Philadelphia asked Gilbert if he was interested in auditioning for television. He said yes, and received his first television assignment as a singer and emcee on WDSU in New Orleans.{{Cite web |title=Bio of Johnny Gilbert |url=http://www.jeopardy.com/showguide/bios/johnnygilbert/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105212526/http://www.jeopardy.com/showguide/bios/johnnygilbert/ |archive-date=November 5, 2010 |access-date=November 2, 2010 |website=Jeopardy! |publisher=official website}}

Gilbert went to New York City, where he quickly signed with the William Morris Agency and in 1958 received his first job on national television—as the host of a newly created game show, Music Bingo. The show ran for three years, airing first on NBC and then on ABC. His popularity on that show led him to record an album and several singles. Gilbert went on to emcee the local game show Words and Music on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles.

Gilbert was later contacted by Avco Broadcasting to host his own local talk/variety show, The Johnny Gilbert Show, which aired on WLWD-TV (now WDTN) in Dayton, Ohio, and three other Avco stations in Ohio and Indiana. The show was a 90-minute, live telecast running 5 days a week. It included celebrity guests and a 60-person studio audience. He hosted it for two years until he left Dayton on short notice for New York, where he became the host of the Metromedia-produced game show Fast Draw. His slot was then given to Phil Donahue, who at that time was a reporter in WLWD-TV's news department.

After his year-long run on Fast Draw, Gilbert was contacted by Bing Crosby Productions to host the game show Beat the Odds, produced in Los Angeles by Bill Carruthers. After that, he hosted a local, weekday version of Dialing for Dollars on Los Angeles's KCOP-TV."Talent Flourishes at Queen's Arms", Van Nuys Valley News. October 25, 1974.

In 1963, Gilbert was selected by Mark Goodson to replace Don Pardo as the announcer and audience host for the original Bill Cullen-hosted version of The Price Is Right when it moved from NBC to ABC. He hosted the show for the absent Cullen on June 19, 1964.{{Cite web|last=videoarchives1000|date=May 7, 2013|title=The Price Is Right with guest host Johnny Gilbert 6/19/64 part 1|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82-zuxCEaMg|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122012034/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82-zuxCEaMg|archive-date=January 22, 2016|access-date=September 28, 2016|via=YouTube}} Gilbert also served as the announcer and audience host for Dinah Shore's syndicated daily talk show, which ran from 1974 to 1980.{{Cite web|date=September 28, 2017|title=Voice of 'Jeopardy!' John Gilbert achieves a record for his career on the show|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2017/9/voice-of-jeopardy-john-gilbert-achieves-a-record-for-his-career-on-the-show-496223|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019051438/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2017/9/voice-of-jeopardy-john-gilbert-achieves-a-record-for-his-career-on-the-show-496223|archive-date=October 19, 2018|access-date=November 12, 2017|publisher=Guinness World Records|first=Kristen|last=Stephenson}}

When Merv Griffin decided to reintroduce his quiz show Jeopardy! to television in 1984 as a daily syndicated program, the new version's host, Alex Trebek, convinced Griffin to hire Gilbert as announcer and audience host; Trebek had met Gilbert at a dinner party in the early 1980s and was impressed with his voice. Gilbert has held these two roles ever since.{{Cite book|last=Harris|first=Bob|url=https://archive.org/details/prisoneroftrebek00bobh/page/14|title=Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy!|publisher=Random House Digital|year=2006|isbn=978-0-307-33956-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/prisoneroftrebek00bobh/page/14 14]|url-access=registration}} He has become well known for opening each of the show's nightly episodes with the announcement, "This is Jeopardy!" After that opening line, he would introduce the two new challengers for the episode followed by the defending champion, stating the total winnings of the latter, before introducing the host. His additional duties have included announcing the fee plugs for the sponsors of the show (until 1996) and announcing consolation prizes offered to non-winning contestants (until 2002).Opening narrations and other announcements on the daily syndicated version of Jeopardy! from its premiere on September 10, 1984 through the present. As audience host, Gilbert handles warm-up duties, exciting the crowd before the commencement of taping.

In 2017 Gilbert was honored by Guinness World Records for having the longest career as a game show announcer for a single show, after 32 years with Jeopardy!{{Cite web|title='Voice of "Jeopardy!" ' Johnny Gilbert, earns Guinness World Records title for longest career as a game show announcer for same show|url=https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2017/09/28/129947/voice-of-jeopardy-johnny-gilbert-earns-guinness-world-records-title-for-longest-career-as-a-game-show-announcer-for-same-show|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929045457/https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2017/09/28/129947/voice-of-jeopardy-johnny-gilbert-earns-guinness-world-records-title-for-longest-career-as-a-game-show-announcer-for-same-show|archive-date=September 29, 2017|access-date=September 29, 2017|publisher=Niagara Frontier Publications}} This was commemorated with a rare on-screen appearance by Gilbert just before the Final Jeopardy! segment of the episode aired September 28, 2017 (season #34, show #7599, Austin Rogers's 3rd win). He has also lent his announcements to most of the Jeopardy! video games since 1992, including a few game versions in which he voiced all of the clues and effectively hosted the entire game off-screen instead of Trebek.

Gilbert briefly considered retirement after Trebek's death but chose to continue in the role. In recent years, Gilbert has handled much of his announcer load remotely, with a member of the Clue Crew providing in-studio announcements that are replaced with Gilbert's in post-production.{{cite web|last1=Podplesky|first1=Azaria|title=Nine Mile Falls' Staci Huffman to appear on 'Jeopardy!' on Friday|url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/dec/06/nine-mile-falls-staci-huffman-to-appear-on-jeopard/|website=The Spokesman-Review|publisher=Spokesman-Review|access-date=January 10, 2020|ref=Spokane|date=December 6, 2018}} Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Gilbert began doing his announcements in a studio built for him at his home.{{cite web|url=https://theringer.com/tv/2021/4/12/22376095/jeopardy-guest-host-rotation-ken-jennings-dr-oz-aaron-rodgers|title=Inside the 'Jeopardy!' Guest Host Rotation|website=The Ringer|date=April 12, 2021|first=Claire|last=McNear|access-date=February 11, 2023}}{{cite podcast|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=UpGKlwIB1VI|title=What is the Tournament of Champions?|website=Inside Jeopardy!|date=August 15, 2022|first1=Michael|last1=Davies|first2=Sarah|last2=Whitcomb-Foss|access-date=February 11, 2023|via=YouTube}} Since December 19, 2023, he also appears during the show's opening titles.

Following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek on November 8, 2020, Gilbert is the last production member of Jeopardy! to remain on the show since its revival began in September 1984.

In addition to announcing for Jeopardy!, Gilbert has worked as a guest announcer on its sister show, Wheel of Fortune. He announced on the episode that aired on April Fools' Day in 1997,{{Cite web|title=Wheel of Fortune April Fools Episode (1997)|url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21xcrk|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108092542/http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21xcrk|archive-date=November 8, 2020|access-date=January 8, 2021|website=dailymotion.com|date=July 22, 2014|author=kermitTHEdinosaur93}} as well as a few weeks of episodes in 2010 following the death of the show's longtime announcer, Charlie O'Donnell. Gilbert also guest announced on Wheel in late 1995, when O'Donnell was ill,{{Cite web|date=August 25, 2015|title=Wheel of Fortune (December 1, 1995): Sheila/Wayne/Mokihana|url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32yrto|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817184038/http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x32yrto|archive-date=August 17, 2017|access-date=February 23, 2018|website=Dailymotion|first=David|last=Downs}} and on the daytime show in 1988 before the death of then-regular announcer Jack Clark.

Other game shows for which Gilbert has announced over the decades include The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime, The $25,000 Pyramid, The $100,000 Pyramid, Anything for Money, Blackout, Camouflage, Chain Reaction, Dream House, Every Second Counts, Fantasy, Go, Headline Chasers (produced by Griffin), Jackpot, Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, The Joker's Wild, Make Me Laugh, Perfect Match, The Quiz Kids Challenge, Sports Challenge, Supermarket Sweep, Tic-Tac-Dough, Win, Lose or Draw, and Yours for a Song. He substituted for Gene Wood on several Goodson-Todman game shows, including Family Feud, the CBS version of Card Sharks, and Child's Play. He succeeded Rich Jeffries (another part-time substitute for Wood) as permanent announcer of Chuck Woolery's game show Love Connection during the 1988–89 season.

Gilbert's voice was heard on the CBS television special Circus of the Stars, in People's Choice Awards and Emmy Awards ceremonies, and on episodes of the animated series The Angry Beavers and Johnny Bravo. He announced a fictional episode of Jeopardy! in the "Ellen's Energy Adventure" show at EPCOT Center's Universe of Energy attraction, and appeared in a subplot of the 1992 movie White Men Can't Jump in which a character played by Rosie Perez attempts to pass the Jeopardy! audition. Gilbert also lent his voice to an announcer in a 1989 episode of the TV series 227 and announced in The Golden Girls episode "Questions and Answers" (season 7, episode 17, on February 8, 1992) and in the Cheers episode "What Is... Cliff Clavin?" (season 8, episode 14, on January 18, 1990).

Gilbert married his wife Sharee in 1984.{{Cite web|last=Lovece|first=Frank|title='Jeopardy!' announcer Johnny Gilbert pays tribute to Alex Trebek|url=https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/jeopardy-johnny-gilbert-alex-trebek-1.50100314|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225215820/https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/jeopardy-johnny-gilbert-alex-trebek-1.50100314|archive-date=December 25, 2020|access-date=January 25, 2021|website=newsday.com|publisher=Newsday|date=December 22, 2020}}{{Cite magazine|last=Russell|first=Lisa|date=December 21, 2020|title=Voice of 'Jeopardy!' Johnny Gilbert Remembers Alex Trebek: 'Part of Me Left When Alex Left'|url=https://people.com/tv/voice-of-jeopardy-johnny-gilbert-remembers-alex-trebek/|url-status=live|magazine=People|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221230911/https://people.com/tv/voice-of-jeopardy-johnny-gilbert-remembers-alex-trebek/|archive-date=December 21, 2020|access-date=December 22, 2020|quote=Gilbert, now 96 [as of December 22, 2020]}}

On September 29, 2022, Gilbert was inducted into the inaugural class of the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame at the 1st Jeopardy! Honors event.{{cite web|url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=lgN3lYELFVw|title=2022 Jeopardy! Honors Ceremony|author=Jeopardy!|date=September 29, 2022|website=YouTube|access-date=March 23, 2023}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.jeopardy.com/about/cast/johnny-gilbert/ Johnny Gilbert's bio on the Jeopardy! website]
• {{IMDb name|0318114}}

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{{succession box|before= Rich Jeffries |title= Announcer on Love Connection |years= 1988–1989|after= John Cervenka (1989–1994; 1998–1999)}}

{{succession box|before= Don Pardo|title= Announcer on The Price Is Right|years=September 9, 1963 – September 3, 1965|after=Johnny Olson
(in the 1972 revival)}}

{{succession box|before= John Harlan |title= Announcer on Jeopardy!|years=1984–present|after= Sarah Whitcomb Foss
{{small|Foss only announces early sessions for the live taping; Gilbert's voice is dubbed over in post-production.}}}}

{{succession box|before= Richard Hayes |title= Announcer on Supermarket Sweep |years= 1990–1995, April–June 2000|after= Randy West}}

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Category:1928 births

Category:Living people

Category:American game show hosts

Category:Game show announcers

Category:Musicians from Newport News, Virginia

Category:American male singers

Category:Singers from Virginia

Category:Nightclub performers