mental_floss » Brenna Ehrlich

The Stories Behind 5 Familiar Voices

Brenna Ehrlich — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 16:42:00 +0000

Note: This article was originally published in 2008, before Brenna wrote a book and went on to big things at Mashable. Server migration week continues, so forgive us for reposting a few oldies/goodies.

You may not recognize the names or faces, but the voices you know. They might tell you to stand clear of closing doors, that your favorite show is coming up, or that it looks like rain. Read on to learn the stories behind five familiar voices.

1. The Game Show Announcer

The Voice: Johnny Gilbert

The Story: Each day, thousands of trivia junkies and elderly folks hear the siren call: “This is Jeopardy!” Johnny Gilbert, the man behind those words, started out as a choirboy at his Lutheran Church in Newport News, Virginia, which led him to pursue a singing career. He hit the entertainment circuit when he left his home state (for the first time) and traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, for an audition with the Dean Hudson Orchestra. He missed that audition, which turned out to be a twist of fate. Gilbert was hired as an emcee at the Sky Way club, and his announcing career was born. Still, he never gave up singing, even while serving in the army—he played the starring role in a military musical called Xanadu.

After serving his country, Gilbert lit up the small screen as host of Music Bingo, cementing his role as a gob for game shows, and leading to the recording of his first album. After working on a few more programs, including The Johnny Gilbert Show, Gilbert’s voice earned him the legendary position of Jeopardy! announcer for the Alex Trebek incarnation, which first aired in 1984. Gilbert’s impassioned intro has been setting hearts (and heart monitors) aflutter ever since.

Voice of: The $25,000 Pyramid, The Joker’s Wild, Tic Tac Dough, Anything for Money, Every Second Counts, The Price is Right and Jeopardy!, among other programs

Famous Phrases: “This is JEOPARDY!”

Here’s Johnny:

[Image courtesy of johnnygilbert.tv]

2. The Movie Trailer Guy

The Voice: Don LaFontaine

The Story: In a world where movie previews had yet to strike a dramatic cord, 13-year-old Don LaFontaine’s voice changed right in the middle of sentence. And on that day, the puberty Gods blessed young LaFontaine with a gift of great power. During his school days in Duluth, Minnesota, LaFontaine used his manly cords mainly for evil—for example, imitating his friends’ fathers to get them out of class. But after a stint in the Army as a recording engineer, LaFontaine moved to New York City, where he got into the sound editing business. Along with fellow soundman Floyd L. Peterson, LaFontaine helped shape the format of the modern movie trailer, and, in 1965, his voice got its big break. When an announcer failed to show up to narrate a preview for Gunfighters of Casa Grande for MGM, LaFontaine grabbed the reins.

LaFontaine went on to head up his own production company—its first gig was Godfather: Part II—and was the longtime voice of Paramount Pictures. He passed away on September 1, 2008, at 68.

Voice of: NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, UPN, TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Ford, Budweiser, McDonalds, Coke, and nearly 5,000 films

Famous Phrases: “In a world,” “A one-man army,” “No where to run, no where to hide and no way out.”

Here’s a clip of Don talking about his life and career:

3. The Disney Monorail Man

The Voice: Jack Wagner

The Story: If you’ve been on the monorail at Disney World, you’ve probably wondered just who was behind that cocoa and butterscotch voice—the fatherly presence that warned you to stand clear of the doors and pointed out Cinderella’s castle. Well, that would be vocal veteran Jack Wagner.

Like most folks associated with Mickey and the gang, Wagner got into the fame game at an early age (four). That’s when he began dubbing American-made movies into his parents’ native French. During the ‘50s, Wagner made appearances on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett, and also appeared on shows like Sea Hunt and Dragnet.

In 1955, Wagner was invited to the opening of Disneyland, which led to a string of jobs doing narration for parades and voicing announcements. By the beginning of the ‘70s, he was a production consultant and park announcer. Although vocal cord surgery forced him to retire in 1991, his voice continued to haunt the park like some kind of friendly ghost—even after he died of a heart attack in 1995.

Voice of: Disney Parks and trams at Orlando International Airport

Famous phrases: “Enjoy your stay,” “Keep your arms and legs inside the coach,” “All aboard!”

Listen to Mr. Wagner narrate this Space Mountain clip:

4. Mr. Moviefone

The Voice: Russ Leatherman

The Story: Not everyone subscribes to French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema; some folks just want to know when the latest blockbuster’s playing. To help simplify the movie-going process, Russ Leatherman co-founded Moviefone in 1989. Leatherman is best known for his distinctive, yet schmaltzy voice, which has been parodied on both Seinfeld and The Simpsons. He’s in on the joke—Leatherman has described his character’s phone voice as “Dick Clark on crack.” Up until 2000, Leatherman had to bite his famous tongue with regard to the quality of the films. But when AOL bought his company for $388 million in stock, Leatherman started meting out his cinematic opinions as a movie reviewer for ABC-7 in Los Angeles, leading gigs on the radio, CNN, and the Internet.

The Voice of: Moviefone

Famous Phrases: “Hello and welcome to Moviefone!”

Here’s Mr. Moviefone in action:

5. The Time Lady

The Voice: Jane Barbe

The Story: She’s purred in the ears of many men as they lay tangled in the sheets of seedy hotels. No, she’s not a sex phone operator—she’s the Time Lady, the voice of the wake-up calls and weather reports that were piped through telephone lines for 40 years. Although she retired in February 2003 and died in July of that same year, Jane Barbe’s messages have been heard by a good portion of America.

Barbe grew up in Atlanta, where she was a sorority girl at the University of Georgia—a Tri-Delt president, no less. She met her husband, John, while they were on tour with the Buddy Morrow Orchestra, and the pair went on to create and produce music for commercials, industrial films, and shows. She began phoning it in when she joined up with the Audichron Company in the mid ‘60s, where she became the voice of the time, temperature, weather, and various and sundry other announcements for the next 40 years.

Voice of: ETC’s Audichron time, temperature, weather announcers and intercept systems.

Famous Phrases: “At the tone, the time will be 10:52.” “I’m sorry, your number cannot be completed as dialed.”

Museums of the Mundane

Brenna Ehrlich — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:00:12 +0000

We are obsessed with chronicling history—immortalizing the past behind glass in a bevy of beguiling museums. But while it makes sense that dinosaurs, mummies and Monet have become the bread and butter of curators across the globe, there are also plenty of museums that seek to show off stranger and much less enthralling fare.

In fact, a lot of museums out there seem downright mundane. You’d be surprised how much culture you’re getting just by rolling out of bed:

7am Sunday morning. You drag yourself out of deep reverie and sit up in your bed.

Jiangnan Hundred-Bed Museum

Located in Wu Zhen, China, this museum is a 1200-square-foot snooze fest—literally. It houses dozens of beds from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

7:15am. You successfully extricate yourself from your sheets and stumble into the kitchen. You pop a prepackaged pastry into the toaster.

The Toaster Museum

Compiled by the Toaster Museum Foundation, this eye-popping collection of more than 500 toasters currently resides at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. They’ve got everything from pre-electric 19th century toasting forks to appliances designed by Michael Graves.

7:16am. You peel a banana.

The International Banana Club Museum

Who knew that Altadena, California, was home to the world’s largest collection of banana-related paraphernalia? With everything from “hard” items (their words, not mine), including an ancient petrified banana, to banana clothing, this place has a certain appeal. Be warned though, according to their Web site: “Nothing lude, crude or lucivious to do with bananas is accepted or displayed in this B.M.”

Drat.

8am. Come on, dude, brush your teeth already! You fire up your electric toothbrush.

Toothbrush Museum

Although it’s only available online, this Swedish museum boasts more than 2,500 pictures of the dental tool. It’s like every little anal-retentive child’s dream come true.

9am. After thoroughly brushing, you decide to surf the web. So you fire up your computer.

Computer History Museum

Appropriately situated in Silicon Valley, this monument to technology houses everything from the Babbage Engine to an exhibit on the history of computer chess.

11am. Your husband/wife/significant other/mother/father tells you to get off the computer and mow the lawn because the neighborhood association is complaining about your unruly grass length. You go to the garage and hunt for the lawnmower.

British Lawnmower Museum

A museum entirely devoted to cutting grass, this place has the best tagline ever: “It’s all you need to mow.”

12pm. Mowing the lawn makes you feel ever so industrious. You decide to pay your bills. Being a fan of licking things, you have not yet switched to online billing. You break out the stamps.

Post Mark Museum and Research Library

With over a million different postal items, this Ohio museum has the largest collection of mail-related items in the world. (Maybe that’s where all my magazines went after I changed addresses…)

1pm. Inspired by this article, you decide to head out to a museum and get yourself some culture.

MuseumLink’s Museum of Museums

A work in progress, this Web site seeks to aggregate all the museums in the country (and Canada) in one place. Check it out next time you’re in the mood to browse everything from mummies and Monet to the utterly mundane.

The Evolution of Rod Blagojevich’s Favorite Phrase

Brenna Ehrlich — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:55:45 +0000

Back in 1967, tough-talking Chicago journalist Mike Royko concocted a new slogan for the City of Strong Shoulders—“Ubi Est Mea,” or: “Where’s mine?”

Although Mike’s phrase has had a good run, I think it’s time the Windy City got a new Latin M.O., inspired by Illinois’ favorite windbag, Governor Rod Blagojevich.

“Carpe Momento,” or: “Seize the moment.”

A look back at Blago’s political career reveals a certain fondness for these rather tragically clichÃ©d words—not only did he employ them during his State of the State Address in 2004, 2005 and 2007, but also on myriad occasions throughout his political career: from urging action in restricting gun sales to fixing the city’s crumbling transit system.

My personal favorite utterance, however, occurred in 2003, when Blago pledged to tackle state corruption: “We have to seize this moment and enact meaningful ethics reform,” Blagojevich said. “After all we’ve been through, we cannot expect the people just instinctively to trust their government.”

Truer—or more ironic—words were never spoken.

According to recent events, it seems the only carpe dieming the Gov. has been up to has involved seizing the moment to ask “Ubi Est Mea?”

Before we close the book on Royko’s words of wicked wisdom, let’s take a look back at the history of Blago’s favored phrase: from its blissful conception, to its rather more spotted current state.

Carpe Diem

Once upon a time, before “seize the moment” adorned posters plastered with frolicking kittens and parachutes and the like, people actually used the original Latin words—and a bigger increment of time: “Carpe Diem,” or: “Seize the day.” The phrase came courtesy of poet Horativs Flaccvs, and basically means: Life is short; enjoy it. Blago could take a scroll from Horace’s book at this point in time—at least with regard to his governorship.

“Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance.”

In 1833, US Attorney General William Wirt shared this sentiment with Mr. H.W. Miller, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who was after some advice on the mysteries of success. At this junction, the meaning of “Carpe Diem” drifts a bit farther away from fun and spontaneity, and closer to the smashing of noses to grindstones.

“Seize the Day”

Published in 1956 by Saul Bellow, this novella tells the tale of Tommy Wilhelm, a man on the hunt for the elusive American Dream. The phrase acquires an even stronger taste of shoe leather here—smacking of utter boot-strappery.

So many deeds cry out to be done,
And always urgently;
The world rolls on,
Time presses.
Ten thousand years are too long,
Seize the day, seize the hour!

Mao Zedong’s famous poem, “Reply to Comrade Guo Moruo,” penned in 1961, added a decidedly warlike edge to the phrase as it boosted Communism. It also inspired the next usage on our list…

Seize the Moment: America’s Challenge in a One-Superpower World

Nixon’s book, published in 1992, is all about America’s future: how the US should handle the end of the Cold War, the fall of Communism, etc, etc. More importantly, it cemented the term in the political realm—especially since old Tricky Dick had made good use of it in the past, particularly in his 1971 State of the Union Address. Guess Nixon and Blago have more in common than the specter of impeachment.

10 Book Ideas for the Serial Killer on Your List

Brenna Ehrlich — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:30:06 +0000

Books. They’re the old standby for holiday gift giving, but let’s face it, most of us aren’t all that adept at picking out the perfect tome—even for our closest friends and most unestranged family members. But you know whom it would be totally easy to browse the bookstore for? Serial killers. Think about it—they have very specific (one might say obsessive) interests, lots of free time for reading, and they can’t really return the gift if they don’t find it to their tastes.

1. Mark David Chapman

OK, he wasn’t a serial killer per se, but this dude was one literary you-know-what—he was obsessed with JD Salinger’s immortal tale of adolescent angst, The Catcher in the Rye, which he said led him to kill John Lennon.

The Gift: Forgo the obvious and pick up In Cold Fear: The Catcher in the Rye, Censorship Controversies and Postwar American Character, by Pamela Hunt Steinle. Everyone likes to see his name in print.

2. Charles Manson

Beatles fan. Bible enthusiast. Scary, scary man.

The Gift: …tell them, “The Beatles Are Your Salvation!” by Diann Venita Bobbitt James. It’s got religion and rhythm. More bang for your buck.

3. Richard Ramirez (AKA the Night Stalker)

Satan worshipper, known for his good looks and murderous ways.

The Gift: Paradise Lost by John Milton—the perfect read for anyone who has sympathy for the devil.

4. Ted Kacynzski (AKA the Unabomber)

Reclusive genius with a disdain for technology and a tendency to go postal.

The Gift: Party of One: The Loners’ Manifesto by Anneli Rufus. Come on, that’s, like, too perfect.

5. Zodiac Killer

A man of mystery who killed by numbers.

The Gift: Hardy Boys Secret-Code Activity Book, because every man is—at heart—a scared little boy, even maniacal, puzzle-lovin’ killers.

6. David Berkowitz (AKA The Son of Sam)

Went barking mad—claimed the neighbor’s dog made him do it.

The Gift: Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog, by John Grogan. Every man needs a best friend—even if it is a hound from hell.

7. John Wayne Gacy

It was scary enough that this dude dressed like a clown—he had to be a murderer too.

The Gift: Scary Clowns by Essential Works. Enough said.

8. Jeffrey Dahmer

A man with complicated tastes—mostly for the flesh of other dudes.

The Gift: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan. Although, I’m pretty sure Dahmer knew where his food came from.

9. Ed Gein

Real-life inspiration for Buffalo Bill, from Silence of the Lambs. Ad Hoc Dr. Frankenstein.

The Gift: Patchwork Girl, by Shelley Jackson. Although the girl-on-girl action would totally wig out his Bible-thumpin’ mama.

10. Belle Gunness

A serious black widow—Gunness put out an ad for suitors in the local papers and killed the respondents, feathering her nest with the contents of their wallets. Forget gold digger—this lady was one serious gravedigger.

The Gift: The 10 Commandments of Marriage, by Ed Young and Beth Moore. It probably doesn’t say anything like, “Thou shalt not murder thine husband for cash,” but it should, right?