Johnny Gilbert is an institution in the game show scene. Exuding natural charm and warm voice, he has spent 70 years working as a game show announcer, host, and show business personality. In celebration of Gilbert’s 94th birthday, we take a look back at his long career in the entertainment industry.
John Lewis Gilbert III was born on July 13, 1928, in Newport News, Virginia. He started a singing career when he was still in high school and by the time he graduated, he was a singer, comedian, and master of ceremonies at a nightclub in Jacksonville, Florida.
Gilbert toured with the US Army and had the lead role in Xanadu: The Marco Polo Musical, touring Western Europe where he performed for servicemen and the public. He got his first television gig as an emcee and was a singer who got airtime in New Orleans then Nashville. His next move was hosting Music Bingo in New York, then he became the master of ceremonies for Words and Music in Los Angeles.
Avco Broadcasting hired him for his own talk/variety show The Johnny Gilbert Show, which aired in Ohio and Indiana. Next, Gilbert hosted a string of game shows including Fast Draw, Beat the Odds, and Dialing for Dollars. In ’63, he was hired as the announcer and audience host of The Price is Right, and covered the same roles for Dinah Shore’s daily talk show from ’74 to ’80.
In ’84 when Jeopardy returned to the air, host Alex Trebek fought to have Gilbert hired as the show’s announcer. Gilbert’s voice welcoming the audience with “This is Jeopardy” became a signature for the quiz show. In 2017, he was honored by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running game show announcer with 32 years on Jeopardy.
Gilbert has also been a guest announcer on Wheel of Fortune, once as an April Fool’s Day gag in ’97 then for a period after the death of the show’s longtime announcer Charlie O’Donnell. Other game shows Gilbert announced for have included The Joker’s Wild, Hollywood Connection, Chain Reaction, Family Feud, Pyramid, Go, Jackpot, Win, Lose or Draw, Blackout, Love Connection, and Supermarket Sweep.
