Wayne Howell
Howell's radio announcing credits included The Martin and Lewis Show, a 1950s version of The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, The NBC Radio Theatre, and Monitor. Among the television programs he announced on were Broadway Open House, Music Bingo, Dotto, Say When!!, Match Game, Concentration, Missing Links and Jackpot!. From 1966 to 1985, he was announcer for the Miss America Pageant. Howell presumably provided voice-overs for numerous other NBC programs during his tenure, often as a substitute for the show's regular announcer. From 1980-1982 he introduced NBC's regional college basketball opening: "NBC Sports in association with TVS presents the best college basketball... on the [various conference] game of the week."
Among his many assignments for NBC, Howell also appeared regularly as a personality on NBC's New York flagship radio station, WNBC (AM), from the 1940s through the mid-1960s. He also was the last voice on WNWS, an all-news station that ran on NBC's FM owned-and-operated station in 1976, before the station switched to an adult contemporary format.
Wayne Howell remained with NBC as a full-time staff announcer, at a time when the position was being phased out. The broadcasting networks wanted to have their announcers pre-record their remarks so the tapes could be used repeatedly, replacing the announcers in person. The move was resisted by the AFTRA union, and was finally resolved when the union consented to pre-recording but insisted that all incumbent staff announcers must be guaranteed lifetime jobs. Thus Wayne Howell retired from NBC at age 65.
From 1974 through 1982 Howell was married to Donna Marie Gillin, a New York City socialite. They lived in midtown Manhattan until 1982. They were divorced in 1983. He is the maternal step-grandfather of stuntman, comedian and actor Steve-O.
Following his retirement from NBC, Howell moved to Broward County, Florida. He died in Pompano Beach, at age 72.
Biography from the Wikipedia article Wayne Howell. Licensed under CC-BY-SA. Full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Recently Updated Shows
Chicago Fire
No job is more stressful, dangerous or exhilarating than those of the Firefighters, Rescue Squad and Paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51. These are the courageous men and women who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death. These are their stories.
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is an Emmy Award-winning late-night comedy showcase.
Since its inception in 1975, "SNL" has launched the careers of many of the brightest comedy performers of their generation. As The New York Times noted on the occasion of the show's Emmy-winning 25th Anniversary special in 1999, "in defiance of both time and show business convention, 'SNL' is still the most pervasive influence on the art of comedy in contemporary culture." At the close of the century, "Saturday Night Live" placed seventh on Entertainment Weekly's list of the Top 100 Entertainers of the past fifty years.
