Johnny Jacobs

John Byron Jacobs (June 22, 1916 – February 8, 1982) was an American television announcer, often for Chuck Barris productions (namely "The Newlywed Game" and "The Gong Show"). He was born in Texas.

Early career

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," in 1956. He was a regular on Betty White's comedy show in 1958 and did announcing work for Steve Allen's show in the 1960s. Other shows he worked on included the "Gene Autry Show" and the "Dinah Shore Show." Throughout his career, he occasionally acted in television shows, making guest appearances on "Batman," "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Munsters." He also appeared as himself in "The Gong Show Movie."

Game Shows and Final Years

He was the first announcer for "The Joker's Wild," which starred Jack Barry and debuted on CBS in 1972. Barry employed Jacobs on many Barry & Enright/Jack Barry Productions game shows during the early-to-mid 1970s, including "Blank Check" and "Hollywood's Talking". Most notably, however, Chuck Barris used Jacobs' voice talents on the aforementioned "The Newlywed Game" and "The Gong Show" and other Barris productions like "Three's A Crowd" and "The Dating Game." His last job was announcing a Barris-produced version of "Treasure Hunt" which was syndicated during the early 1980s (Jacobs had also announced Barris' mid-1970s version of "Treasure Hunt" as well), but illness forced him to step down by late 1981 and he was replaced by frequent Barris fill-in announcer Tony McClay.

The 65-year-old Jacobs died in Stockton, California, where he owned radio station KWG.