Voting Station

Harry Von Zell

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Radio Personality

The Resume

    (July 11, 1906-November 21, 1981)
    Born in Indianapolis, Indiana
    CBS radio announcer
    Announcer for 'The March of Time,' 'The Aldrich Family' and the shows of Fred Allen, Bing Crosby, Eddie Cantor, Ed Wynne, Dinah Shore, Judy Davis, and Eddie Duchin
    Appeared in the films 'The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry' (1945), 'You're in the Navy Now!' (1951), 'Son of Paleface' (1952), and 'Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!' (1966)
    Announcer for Jackie Gleason's 'Life of Riley' (1949-50)
    Was the announcer and portrayed George's manager on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1951-58)

Why he might be annoying:

    In a famed live radio blooper, he referred to the president as Hoobert Heever.
    He shilled for Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer and S&H Green Stamps.
    In his most famous role, he portrayed... Harry von Zell.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was an excellent straight man.
    He voiced up to six different characters in a single episode of a radio show.
    His involvement in TV dated back to its earliest days, serving as the announcer for the experimental broadcast in New York City of a series of boxing exhibition bouts (1931-32).
    He wrote the scripts for four episodes of Wagon Train.
    He was married to Minverva 'Mickey' McGarvey for 56 years.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying