Monday, July 21, 2014

Author Randy West, and the book "Johnny Olson: A Voice in Time"

Randy West made a return visit to my weekly radio program, recently, to talk about his very enjoyable book about his friend and mentor, the late radio and television announcer Johnny Olson (1910-1985).

Olson is no doubt best-remembered as the announcer for The Price is Right, with host Bob Barker, but he also served as announcer for a long list of other television programs, including What's My Line?, To Tell the Truth, and The Jackie Gleason Show.  He was also the host, himself, of a number of radio and television shows, including early television's Doorway to Fame (the Dumont Network), and Ladies Be Seated (which aired on ABC Radio, as well as ABC-TV).  

Randy West's book, brought out in 2009 by BearManor Media, is Johnny Olson: A Voice in Time; it is subtitled From The Birth of Modern Media to The Price is Right.  

West is a game-show announcer, voice-over performer, actor, lecturer, and author.  His book, of course, chronicles Johnny Olson's life, and lengthy career--but it is also a portrait of the different broadcast eras Olson was a part of (including the early years of both radio and television).

The Kindle version of the book is currently on sale, until August 15th:


Here, too, is the amazon.com link to the softcover edition of the book: