Television Personality. He is best remembered as the announcer on the daytime television game show "Let's Make a Deal" during the 1960s and 1970s. Born Jay Fix, he attended Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he won an award as one of the outstanding US Sigma Chi graduates in 1939. After graduation he worked for radio stations WBOW in Terre Haute, Indiana and WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio as an announcer. In 1943 he relocated to Los Angeles, California where he continued working as a radio announcer and in 1953 he became the host of the NBC radio program "It Pays to be Married." He also worked as one of the hosts for the Los Angeles-based country music program "Town Hall Party" from 1952 to 1961. In addition to his work on "Let's Make a Deal," he was the announcer for "The Mike Douglas Show" when it moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Los Angeles in 1978. Other television shows that he regularly announced included "Scrabble," "$ale of the Century," "The Joker's Wild," "Tic-Tac-Dough," "Bullseye," and "Card Sharks." In late 1981, after the suicide of his oldest daughter, he took leave from announcing for a year-and-a-half and embraced religion, appearing on evangelist Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" to profess his new-found faith and did voice-over promos for Robertson's CBN Cable. However, he was never able to completely overcome the emotional pain of his daughter's death and began an addition to alcohol, which led to his departure from "$ale of the Century" in January 1988. His last announcing job was on "Blackout" for its final two week run, shortly after his departure from "$ale of the Century." He then became a manager and one of his clients was Harry Stevens, who announced the syndicated version of "Finders Keepers" and the 1989 version of "Pictionary." As a result of his depression, coupled with years of chronic back pain, he committed suicide at his home in Los Angeles, California at the age of 71.
Television Personality. He is best remembered as the announcer on the daytime television game show "Let's Make a Deal" during the 1960s and 1970s. Born Jay Fix, he attended Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he won an award as one of the outstanding US Sigma Chi graduates in 1939. After graduation he worked for radio stations WBOW in Terre Haute, Indiana and WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio as an announcer. In 1943 he relocated to Los Angeles, California where he continued working as a radio announcer and in 1953 he became the host of the NBC radio program "It Pays to be Married." He also worked as one of the hosts for the Los Angeles-based country music program "Town Hall Party" from 1952 to 1961. In addition to his work on "Let's Make a Deal," he was the announcer for "The Mike Douglas Show" when it moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Los Angeles in 1978. Other television shows that he regularly announced included "Scrabble," "$ale of the Century," "The Joker's Wild," "Tic-Tac-Dough," "Bullseye," and "Card Sharks." In late 1981, after the suicide of his oldest daughter, he took leave from announcing for a year-and-a-half and embraced religion, appearing on evangelist Pat Robertson's "The 700 Club" to profess his new-found faith and did voice-over promos for Robertson's CBN Cable. However, he was never able to completely overcome the emotional pain of his daughter's death and began an addition to alcohol, which led to his departure from "$ale of the Century" in January 1988. His last announcing job was on "Blackout" for its final two week run, shortly after his departure from "$ale of the Century." He then became a manager and one of his clients was Harry Stevens, who announced the syndicated version of "Finders Keepers" and the 1989 version of "Pictionary." As a result of his depression, coupled with years of chronic back pain, he committed suicide at his home in Los Angeles, California at the age of 71.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
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