Charlie O'Donnell

Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell (born August 12, 1932, in Philadelphia, PA; died November 1, 2010, in Sherman Oaks, CA) was an American broadcaster and announcer for both television and radio. He has done many works of announcing on other game shows, but most notably, he was familiarized for announcing Wheel of Fortune from 1975 to 1980, and 1988 to 2010. Charlie sub-announced for Burton Richardson on the 90s version of To Tell the Truth; he even did the pilot for that same version. Before his game show announcing career, he was a radio host, disc jockey, and a news anchorman. Also, he announced for the Emmy and Academy awards.

Other than Wheel, he was also the primary announcer, at one point, for Barry & Enright Productions and Chuck Barris Productions, taking those roles from Jay Stewart and Bob Hilton respectively. He also did announcing for other game shows such as Merv Griffin's Monopoly, and Bob Stewart's The $100,000 Pyramid. Charlie passed away in his sleep due to heart failure in 2010. In 2011, Jim Thornton was confirmed as Charlie's permanent successor at the start of Wheel's 29th season in syndication. Wheel did a tribute to him, which aired November 5, 2010.

One of his first national television roles was as Dick Clark's partner and sidekick on American Bandstand; a photo of a younger Charlie next to Clark was included in the tribute. Charlie would work alongside Dick Clark again in the 1980s incarnations of Pyramid.