The announcing voice of the classic science fiction radio shows, X MINUS ONE, DIMENSION X and SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, is now silent.

Born to immigrant Polish parents that owned a bakery, Dominick George Pardo began his career on WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island in 1938. With the war in Europe looming, Mr. Pardo became a war reporter for NBC radio and afterwards became the demonstration voice for the new colour, closed circuit TV products from RCA and NBC in 1950.

Mr. Pardo was the first reporter on NBC at Dallas, Texas to announce that John F. Kennedy had been shot on November 22, 1963.

Subsequent announcing roles were on JEOPARDY!, where years later he would reprise his role in Weird Al Yancovic’s parody hit, I LOST ON JEOPARDY as well as working with Frank Zappa in 1978 on his live performance in New York on the songs I’M THE SLIME, THE ILLINOIS ENEMA BANDIT and PUNKY’S WHIPS.

But, it was SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE that Mr. Pardo made a home for himself as the announcer from 1975 to 2014, rarely missing an episode.

After his retirement from NBC in 2004, Mr. Pardo continued to provide voice introductions for the show from his home in Tucson, Arizona until his passing.

The STARBURST team and readers send our good thoughts out to his family to a remarkable man.

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