George Fenneman
Encyclopedia
George Watt Fenneman was an American radio and television announcer.
Fenneman was born in Beijing
, China
, the only child of American parents in the import-export business. He was nine months old when his parents moved to San Francisco, California
, United States
, where he grew up. In 1942 he graduated from San Francisco State College
with a degree in speech and drama, and took a job as an announcer with a local radio station. During the Second World War he worked as a broadcast correspondent for the U.S. Office of War Information. In 1946, he moved to Los Angeles
and resumed his radio career.
He is most remembered as the announcer and good-natured sidekick on the Groucho Marx
comedy/quiz show vehicle, You Bet Your Life
, which began in 1947 on radio
and moved to television
in 1950, where it remained on NBC
for 11 years. Fenneman's mellifluous voice, clean-cut good looks, and gentlemanly manner provided the ideal foil for Marx's zany antics and bawdy ad-libs.
"Groucho called [Fenneman] the male Margaret Dumont
", according to Frank Ferrante
, who portrayed Marx onstage in Groucho: A Life in Revue. "George took it as the highest praise. Groucho called him the perfect straight man." Fenneman was also selected because of his intelligence and ability to calculate the scores of the contestants, whom Groucho frequently encouraged to bet odd amounts, making the arithmetic difficult to keep straight on the fly during a live show. He remained friends with Marx until the latter's death in 1977.
Fenneman was one of a pair of 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." while Stephenson would be heard at the end of the episode describing the court trials and verdicts. He was also the principal commercial announcer for the radio version of Gunsmoke, frequently introducing "Matt Dillon" himself, William Conrad, who appeared out of character after the episode, and would then thank George and extoll the virtues of L&M or Chesterfield cigarettes.
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, The Secret Of 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 in 1957. He avoided on-screen performances thereafter, except as himself in documentaries.
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 two pilots for a show called Crossword, which would later be re-named The Cross-Wits
and picked up in 1975 with Jack Clark
as host. He was the commercial spokesman for Lipton Tea during much of the 1960s, and in that role appeared live on The Ed Sullivan Show
when the Beatles made their second U.S. TV appearance on February 16, 1964. He hosted Talk About Pictures on PBS
from 1978-1982.
In 1963 he hosted an ABC Television
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 2005.
Contrary to popular belief, George Fenneman is not the voice of the US Naval Observatory Master Clock (that distinction belongs to Fred Covington according to Demetrios Matsakis at the observatory), nor of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
's WWV. According to Sean Hall, Marty Edwards is the voice of the U.S. Naval Observatory Master Clock.
Fenneman married Peggy Ann Clifford
in 1943 and had three children.
He died from emphysema
in Los Angeles, California
on May 29, 1997 at the age of 77.
Fenneman was born in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the only child of American parents in the import-export business. He was nine months old when his parents moved to San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he grew up. In 1942 he graduated from San Francisco State College
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
with a degree in speech and drama, and took a job as an announcer with a local radio station. During the Second World War he worked as a broadcast correspondent for the U.S. Office of War Information. In 1946, he moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and resumed his radio career.
He is most remembered as the announcer and good-natured sidekick on the Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx was an American comedian and film star famed as a master of wit. His rapid-fire delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born...
comedy/quiz show vehicle, You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...
, which began in 1947 on radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and moved to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in 1950, where it remained on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
for 11 years. Fenneman's mellifluous voice, clean-cut good looks, and gentlemanly manner provided the ideal foil for Marx's zany antics and bawdy ad-libs.
"Groucho called [Fenneman] the male Margaret Dumont
Margaret Dumont
Margaret Dumont was an American comedic actress. She is remembered mostly for being the comic foil to Groucho Marx in seven of the Marx Brothers films...
", according to Frank Ferrante
Frank Ferrante
Frank Ferrante is an American stage actor, comedian and director known for his stage portrayals of legendary American comedian Groucho Marx in the Arthur Marx/Robert Fisher play Groucho: A Life in Revue and his own touring An Evening With Groucho.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, Frank...
, who portrayed Marx onstage in Groucho: A Life in Revue. "George took it as the highest praise. Groucho called him the perfect straight man." Fenneman was also selected because of his intelligence and ability to calculate the scores of the contestants, whom Groucho frequently encouraged to bet odd amounts, making the arithmetic difficult to keep straight on the fly during a live show. He remained friends with Marx until the latter's death in 1977.
Fenneman was one of a pair of announcers on Dragnet, sharing narration duties with Hal Gibney on radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and the original Dragnet television series, and with John Stephenson
John Stephenson
John Stephenson may refer to:*John Stephenson , American voice actor*John Stephenson , American baseball catcher*John Stephenson , 19th century Irish-American coachbuilder who created the street railway...
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." while Stephenson would be heard at the end of the episode describing the court trials and verdicts. He was also the principal commercial announcer for the radio version of Gunsmoke, frequently introducing "Matt Dillon" himself, William Conrad, who appeared out of character after the episode, and would then thank George and extoll the virtues of L&M or Chesterfield cigarettes.
He appeared on screen in the 1951 film The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World
The Thing from Another World , is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell . It tells the story of an Air Force crew and scientists at a remote Arctic research outpost who fight a malevolent plant-based alien being...
in a substantial but uncredited role. He and his wife were neighbors of the director, Christian Nyby
Christian Nyby
Christian Nyby was an American television and film director.Born in Los Angeles, California, he started his career as a film editor in the 1940s. During this period, he worked on four films for famous director Howard Hawks, of which one led to an Academy Award nomination...
. A spontaneous on-set script revision convinced Fenneman his future was not in movie acting. Producer Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
took a long scientific speech away from Robert O. Cornthwaite
Robert O. Cornthwaite
Robert O. Cornthwaite was an American film and television character actor who began his acting career in 1937, appearing in a college production of Twelfth Night, while attending Reed College in Portland, Oregon....
'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, The Secret Of 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 in 1957. He avoided on-screen performances thereafter, except as himself in documentaries.
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 two pilots for a show called Crossword, which would later be re-named The Cross-Wits
The Cross-Wits
The Cross-Wits is an American syndicated game show which premiered on December 15, 1975 and lasted for five seasons until its cancellation on September 12, 1980. The show was hosted by Jack Clark, with Jerri Fiala as hostess. Announcing duties were handled by John Harlan, Jay Stewart, and Jerry...
and picked up in 1975 with Jack Clark
Jack Clark (television)
Jack Clark was an American television game show host and announcer. He is best known for hosting The Cross-Wits, and as an offstage announcer for Wheel of Fortune...
as host. He was the commercial spokesman for Lipton Tea during much of the 1960s, and in that role appeared live on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
when the Beatles made their second U.S. TV appearance on February 16, 1964. He hosted Talk About Pictures on PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
from 1978-1982.
In 1963 he hosted an ABC Television
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
program, Your Funny, Funny Films, a precursor to America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
. His last credit was as narrator of The Naked Monster
The Naked Monster
The Naked Monster is a 2005 American ultra low-budget science fiction and horror comedy film written by Ted Newsom and directed by Newsom and Wayne Berwick as an homage to and spoof of the "giant monster-on-the-loose" films of the 1950s...
, released posthumously in 2005.
Contrary to popular belief, George Fenneman is not the voice of the US Naval Observatory Master Clock (that distinction belongs to Fred Covington according to Demetrios Matsakis at the observatory), nor of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...
's WWV. According to Sean Hall, Marty Edwards is the voice of the U.S. Naval Observatory Master Clock.
Fenneman married Peggy Ann Clifford
Peggy Ann Clifford
Peggy Ann Clifford is an English film and television actress with a lengthy career, including Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Time of His Life .-Selected filmography:* One Exciting Night...
in 1943 and had three children.
He died from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on May 29, 1997 at the age of 77.