GEORGE FENNEMAN
Name: George Watt Fenneman
Born: 10 November 1919
Died: 29 May 1997
George Watt Fenneman (November 10, 1919 - May 29, 1997) was a radio and
television announcer. He was born in Beijing, China and grew up in San Francisco,
California. He graduated from San Francisco State College in 1942 and worked as
a radio correspondent during World War II.
His career began as a radio announcer for commercials. His most famous role was
as announcer on the Groucho Marx quiz show, You Bet Your Life. The show began in
1947 on radio. Fenneman joined the program while still on the radio and stayed
with it when it moved to the television medium in 1950. He was the perfect
straight man for the zany antics and quips of Marx. Fenneman was actually
selected because of his intelligence and ability to calculate the score of the
contestants. He remained friends with Marx after the show ended in 1961 until
the comedian died in 1977.
Fenneman was one of two paired announcers on Dragnet, sharing narration duties
with Hal Gibney on radio and the original Dragnet television series, and with
John Stephenson when Dragnet returned to TV in 1967. It was Fenneman's voice
which announced, "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been
changed to protect the innocent."
He appeared on screen in the 1951 film The Thing from Another World in a
substantial but uncredited role. He and his wife were neighbors of the director,
Christian Nyby. A spontaneous on-set script revision convinced Fenneman his
future was not in movie acting. Producer Howard Hawks took a long scientific
speech away from Robert O. Cornthwaite's character Dr. Carrington, preferring to
give exposition to a minor character (Fenneman). As a radio performer accustomed
to reading from a script and not used to quick memorization, Fenneman stumbled
over the technical gobbledegook ("We have the time of arrival on the
seisomograph..."), resulting in 27 takes of the scene. In the final film,
viewers can see the other actors trying not to smile as Fenneman spouts the
lines. He also appeared in an obscure serial, Mystery Lake, in which he played
the unlikely role of a naturalist teaching a young girl about the flora and
fauna around a Tennessee lake. This serial aired on The Mickey Mouse Club. He
avoided on-screen performances thereafter, except as himself in documentaries.
Mr. Fenneman also hosted two different game shows, Anybody Can Play in 1958; and
a daytime offering from CBS, Your Surprise Package in 1961. In 1966, he hosted a
pilot for a show called Crossword, which would later be re-named The Cross-Wits
and picked up nine years later with a new host.
In 1963 he hosted an ABC program, Your Funny, Funny Films, a precursor to
America's Funniest Home Videos. His last credit was as narrator of The Naked
Monster, released posthumously in 2006. He can still be heard, however, as the
voice that gives the official time from the United States Naval Observatory in
Washington, D.C.
He was married to Peggy Ann Clifford from 1943 until her death in 1984 and
had three children.
He died from emphysema in Los Angeles, California.
Name: George Watt Fenneman
Born: 10 November 1919
Died: 29 May 1997
George Watt Fenneman (November 10, 1919 - May 29, 1997) was a radio and
television announcer. He was born in Beijing, China and grew up in San Francisco,
California. He graduated from San Francisco State College in 1942 and worked as
a radio correspondent during World War II.
His career began as a radio announcer for commercials. His most famous role was
as announcer on the Groucho Marx quiz show, You Bet Your Life. The show began in
1947 on radio. Fenneman joined the program while still on the radio and stayed
with it when it moved to the television medium in 1950. He was the perfect
straight man for the zany antics and quips of Marx. Fenneman was actually
selected because of his intelligence and ability to calculate the score of the
contestants. He remained friends with Marx after the show ended in 1961 until
the comedian died in 1977.
Fenneman was one of two paired announcers on Dragnet, sharing narration duties
with Hal Gibney on radio and the original Dragnet television series, and with
John Stephenson when Dragnet returned to TV in 1967. It was Fenneman's voice
which announced, "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been
changed to protect the innocent."
He appeared on screen in the 1951 film The Thing from Another World in a
substantial but uncredited role. He and his wife were neighbors of the director,
Christian Nyby. A spontaneous on-set script revision convinced Fenneman his
future was not in movie acting. Producer Howard Hawks took a long scientific
speech away from Robert O. Cornthwaite's character Dr. Carrington, preferring to
give exposition to a minor character (Fenneman). As a radio performer accustomed
to reading from a script and not used to quick memorization, Fenneman stumbled
over the technical gobbledegook ("We have the time of arrival on the
seisomograph..."), resulting in 27 takes of the scene. In the final film,
viewers can see the other actors trying not to smile as Fenneman spouts the
lines. He also appeared in an obscure serial, Mystery Lake, in which he played
the unlikely role of a naturalist teaching a young girl about the flora and
fauna around a Tennessee lake. This serial aired on The Mickey Mouse Club. He
avoided on-screen performances thereafter, except as himself in documentaries.
Mr. Fenneman also hosted two different game shows, Anybody Can Play in 1958; and
a daytime offering from CBS, Your Surprise Package in 1961. In 1966, he hosted a
pilot for a show called Crossword, which would later be re-named The Cross-Wits
and picked up nine years later with a new host.
In 1963 he hosted an ABC program, Your Funny, Funny Films, a precursor to
America's Funniest Home Videos. His last credit was as narrator of The Naked
Monster, released posthumously in 2006. He can still be heard, however, as the
voice that gives the official time from the United States Naval Observatory in
Washington, D.C.
He was married to Peggy Ann Clifford from 1943 until her death in 1984 and
had three children.
He died from emphysema in Los Angeles, California.