About the author

Gary Owens

<p><strong>Gary Owens </strong>was one of the most recognizable names and voices in show business. Inducted into not one, but three distinguished halls of fame for radio and television, his rich, compelling baritone voice entertained radio and television audiences for many years in animated cartoons, commercials, and motion pictures and on television shows and<br /> specials.</p> <p>After being pushed into the national spotlight as the on-camera announcer on TVs <em>Rowan and Martin&#39;s Laugh-In</em>, Gary enjoyed phenomenal success with his voice. Honored as the Top Radio Personality in the United States and Top Radio Personality in the World by <em>Billboard</em> and <em>Radio &amp; Records</em> magazines, he hosted twelve thousand local and national radio shows. He has also starred in more than one thousand network television shows and specials (and was a regular on sixteen series), voiced over three thousand animated cartoons, including <em>Roger Ramjet</em>, <em>Space Ghost and Dino Boy</em>, <em>The Ren and Stimpy Show</em>, and <em>Buzz Lightyear Star Command</em>, and appeared in seventeen motion pictures.</p> <p>In addition, Gary was a top promo announcer for every major television network. He was featured in over thirty thousand com&shy;mercials for radio and television, lent his voice to numerous videos and DVDs (Richard Jones&#39;s Emmy Award-winning <em>Dinosaurs</em> series, which Gary hosted with Eric Boardman, sold more than five hundred thousand copies on videotape), narrated dozens of audiobooks (about Bill Cosby and many others), appeared on fifteen record albums and CDs, and was nominated for six Grammy Awards for his work.&nbsp; Furthermore, Gary served as the master of ceremonies and hosted thousands of Hollywood events, including major movie premieres and charity shows.</p> <p>Gary was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (next to Walt Disney). Also, his ear print is encased in cement at NBC Studios in &ldquo;beautiful downtown Burbank,&quot; a signature phrase coined by Gary. Gary&#39;s first book sold more than seven hundred thousand copies for Price Stern and Sloan. It was the start of the elephant jokes: <em>Elephants</em>,<em>Grapes, and Pickles</em>. His second book, <em>The Gary Owens What to Do While Holding the Phonebook</em>, was a hit trivia hardback!&nbsp;</p>