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Roddy succeeded original announcer Olson on The Price Is Right and held the role from 1986 until his death in 2003, and as of 2022, is the longest-serving announcer on the current incarnation of the show.
Oct 28, 2003 · Rod Roddy, who invited audience members to "Come on down!" for 17 years on "The Price is Right", passed away in 2003 at age 66. He had colon and breast cancer, but continued to work and spread awareness of early detection.
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Robert Ray "Rod" Roddy (b. September 28, 1937 - d. October 27, 2003) was an American broadcaster and announcer. He was most recognizable as a game show announcer, he was the announcer for shows such as Press Your Luck, Love Connection and Whew! Like Johnny Olson before him, Roddy was mostly notable for The Price is Right from 1986-2003 (his death).
Born on September 28, 1937 in Fort Worth, Texas, Roddy graduated from Texas Christian University and was a Disc Jockey and talk show host on KLIF and KNUS-FM (Dallas, TX), working overnights and mid-days at the Buffalo, New York radio station WKBW AM, a big-signal station covering the Eastern Seaboard of the US and at other high-profile stations. I...
Roddy's first game show announcing job came in 1979 when he was the announcer on the short-lived game show Whew! This ran from April 23, 1979, to May 30, 1980. From there, he went to announce for shows such as Battlestars (1981-1982), Love Connection (1983-1985, 1986), Hit Man (1983) and most notably Press Your Luck (1983-1986).
After Johnny Olson died in October of 1985 and after a rotation of stand-in announcers (Gene Wood, Bob Hilton, and Rich Jeffries), Roddy was selected as Olson's permanent replacement. The then producer, Roger Dobkowitz, stated that he liked Roddy the best and that he was a CBS favorite. On February 17, 1986, Roddy took his permanent place at the an...
Roddy had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2001, which he requested a leave of absence from Price to undergo and recover from surgery and chemotherapy. (The day he learned of his cancer diagnosis was September 11, 2001, which, ironically, had also been associated with death and darkness for Americans.) During Roddy's leave, Burton Richardson, wh...
On October 27, 2003, less than a month after his 66th birthday and exactly a week after his final on-air appearance, Roddy lost his battles with colon and breast cancer and died of both diseases. He was interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth, TX, his birthplace and he had "COME ON DOWN" inscribed on his tombstone, a phrase popularized by Johnny Olson. At the time of his death, he had been the longest-serving announcer of The Price is Right, serving for 17 years and breaking Olson's record for tenure duration as Price announcer. Roddy received a short tribute from Barker, which aired before the start of a later episode. (The tribute only lasted eighteen seconds and while some fans felt Barker's tribute was heartfelt, others were infuriated and felt the tribute should've been longer) Craig Kilborn, then-host of The Late, Late Show paid a longer tribute to Roddy, which some fans considered much better, on the October 28, 2003 show. (Roddy, one of Kilborn's friends, had been a frequent guest on Kilborn's program.) Hollywood Squares dedicated a special week of shows titled "Game Show Week II" to Roddy's memory, as he had been the announcer on the first edition of "Game Show Week" (with original host Peter Marshall in the center square) in December of 2002. The rotation of fill-in announcers, which included Richardson and West, as well as Jim Thornton, continued until producers settled in on Rich Fields (April 2004) being chosen as Rod's permanent replacement. (Fields continued as an announcer on Price until his dismissal in 2010.) In a similar matter to the eighteen-second tribute, Roddy was only mentioned once in Barker's memoir, Priceless Memories, when he listed the show's announcers throughout the years. This also angered some fans, as their on-screen chemistry seemed excellent. However, Barker did speak of Roddy at length for an interview with CBS Radio the day after his passing, including a mention of visiting him in the hospital several days before his death.
'As many of you know, we have lost our dear friend Rod Roddy. Rod's many television friends and all of us associated with The Price is Right will miss his splendid talent and his great sense of humor. May God bless Rod.'
•In 1997, Roddy & former Price model (a.k.a. Barker's Beauty) Janice Pennington appeared on an episode of The Family Channel (Formerly CBN/Christian Broadcasting Network, then Fox Family, then ABC Family and now Freeform) game show It Takes Two (a reboot of the short-lived NBC daytime game show hosted by the late Vin Scully from 1969 until 1970) hosted by the late Dick Clark and was announced by former Price sub-announcer and announcer for the short-lived syndicated Davidson version in '94 Burton Richardson.
•He was also the voice of Mike the Microphone on Disney's House of Mouse from 2001-2003.
Rod Roddy was the announcer for The Price Is Right from 1986 to 2003, replacing Johnny Olson. He was also known for his weight loss, his sequined jackets, and his health problems.
May 19, 2012 · Watch Rod Roddy announce the Price is Right for the first time on February 17, 1986. See the pricing games, the contestants, and the record-breaking moment in this classic episode.
- 42 min
- 79.5K
- Nick C Media
Robert Ray “Rod” Roddy, the colorful, bespangled announcer who for 17 years invited lucky audience members to “come on down” and play television’s venerable game show “The Price is Right,” has...
Oct 10, 1996 · Watch a classic episode of The Price is Right with Bob Barker and Rod Roddy from 1996. See who wins the best prizes and a car game with a twist.
- 40 min
- 4.3K
- Game Show Temple Archives
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Oct 28, 2003 · Rod Roddy, who called upon audience members on The Price is Right! to "Come on down!", passed away in 2003 at age 66. He was the show's announcer for 17 years and also worked on Love Connection and Press Your Luck.
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