Dead, from New Jersey, it's Don Pardo!

He entered the world on February 22, 1918, as Dominick George Pardo. Ironically, his NBC coworkers frequently got his name wrong, so he let himself be known as "Don."

The best way to assure longevity is to secure a lifetime contract with NBC; Bob Hope was the only other person to do so. Don had been under the employ of NBC for 25,631 consecutive days, since his start as an NBC Radio announcer on June 15, 1944. He held the announcer position for radio programs such as science-fiction programs X Minus One and Dimension X.

Don Pardo began calling baseball games on television in 1946, and in the 1950s participated in RCA's and NBC's early color-television demonstrations. He started his game-show announcer duties in 1956 with The Price is Right, continuing until 1963. He then announced the original version of Jeopardy! from 1964 to 1975. Here and there, he provided announcer duties for short-lived American television game shows like Jackpot, Three on a Match, and Winning Streak. Bob Stewart, producer of the latter three shows, was an honoree along with Pardo for the Television Academy's 19th Hall of Fame ceremony in 2010.

Pardo had some acting spots as well, as a radio host for "Guess That Tune" in Radio Days, a guest appearance on Oz, and parodying himself in the "Weird Al" Yankovic song video "I Lost on Jeopardy." Many Frank Zappa fans remember his contribution to "I Am the Slime" ("You will obey me while I lead you/And eat the garbage that I feed you . . ."), especially as he reprised his bit for Zappa's Saturday Night Live appearance. Pardo also provided narration for the Zappa songs "The Illinois Enema Bandit" and "Punky's Whips."

Memorably, Pardo announced the cast and guests of Saturday Night Live for 38 years, except for season 7, when both he and producer/creator Lorne Michaels took a break. He relocated to Arizona in his later years, where he prerecorded the show's opening credits.

"Tell the alt.obituaries Deadpool contestants what they've won, Don Pardo!"

"You've won . . . two points! And that's not all! You also gain or retain an appearance on the AO Deadpool  Standings board, suitable for printing!"

--Keister Button