Bob LeMond
Encyclopedia
Robert West LeMond, Jr. was an American
radio
and television
announcer
who was best known as the voice who announced for the television shows Leave It to Beaver
and Ozzie and Harriet
. LeMond was also the announcer for the first radio sitcom by Lucille Ball
, My Favorite Husband
, as well as for the first television pilot episode of I Love Lucy
. The peak of his announcing career spanned from the 1930s well into the 1960s.
on April 11, 1913. He was raised in Southern California
, and was reportedly a star football player at Long Beach Polytechnic High School
.
LeMond first became involved in radio announcing during the 1930s. He was selling advertising for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
when his brother-in-law asked him to read a commercial for a radio show
that his advertising agency
was sponsoring. This audition
was performed live on the air, and LeMond was hired on the spot for a salary of $20 dollars a week. He began working as an announcer in both Los Angeles
and San Francisco during the 1930s, before being hired by CBS
as one of its main announcers.
LeMond continued to announce even after entering the U.S. Army
during World War II
, where he worked for Armed Forces Radio
from 1942 until 1946. He ran the Mosquito Network, which broadcast to United States military personnel throughout the South Pacific
.
He met his future wife, Barbara Brewster of the 20th Century Fox
Brewster Twins, at a USO
while stationed in New Caledonia
. Brewster and LeMond were married in 1946 after the end of World War II. The couple eventually had three children together. The marriage lasted for 59 years until her death in June 2005.
My Favorite Husband
from 1948 until 1951. He continued to work with Ball as the announcer for the pilot episode
of the television show which eventually became I Love Lucy
. (This original pilot episode, which never aired, was lost for many years before being rediscovered in 2000 or 2001).
LeMond's other blossoming television and radio credits during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s included Leave It to Beaver
, The Red Skelton Show
, Red Skelton
, Bat Masterson
, Our Miss Brooks
, My Friend Irma, Spike Jones
, Edgar Bergen
's Do You Trust Your Wife? and Life with Luigi
. He also announced for countless television special events including the Academy Awards (for sponsor General Motors
' Oldsmobile
division) and the Tournament of Roses Parade
.
Additionally, LeMond continued to work as a voice actor
for television
and radio commercials. One of his most famous commercials included a spot for Raid bug spray
with Mel Blanc
, the legendary voice actor and voice of Bugs Bunny
. His other commercial credits included Dial Soap, Oldsmobile
and Johnson's Wax
, just to name a few.
in 1971 and moved to Bonsall, California
in 1972. He worked as a real estate
agent and became active with Bonsall's homeowners' association. Many of his new neighbors had no idea about LeMond's past career in television and radio.
In 1998, LeMond and the surviving cast members of My Favorite Husband
were reunited by Gregg Oppenheimer, the son of Jess Oppenheimer
, the original creator and producer of the show, to benefit pediatric
AIDS
research. LeMond reprised his role as the announcer of the show for the event. Oppenheimer commented at the time on LeMond, who used to both announce and warm up the live studio audience
before the show, "He did it again, and it was like magic. It was like it was 1948."
The original pilot episode of I Love Lucy, with LeMond as the show's announcer, was rediscovered in 1990 by the real-life widow of the actor Pepito Pérez, who played Pepito the Clown, who found the missing program under her bed. However, the first 15 seconds of LeMond's original narration
was missing from the film. Gregg Oppenheimer owned the pilot episode's original script, complete with the missing narration. Oppenheimer, who produced the I Love Lucy DVD
releases beginning in 2002, drove to LeMond's home in Bonsall and asked him to re-record the original, missing narration. LeMond agreed and read the words into a microphone which Oppenheimer had brought with him. In doing so, LeMond and Oppenheimer recaptured the first words which were ever associated with I Love Lucy. Oppenheimer was happy with the results of the audio recording: "He sounded older, but it worked."
at his home in Bonsall on January 6, 2008.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
announcer
Announcer
An announcer is a presenter who makes "announcements" in an audio medium or a physical location.-Television and other media:Some announcers work in television production , radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, news updates, station identification, or an introduction of a product in...
who was best known as the voice who announced for the television shows Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
and Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television where it continued its success, running on both radio and TV for a couple of years...
. LeMond was also the announcer for the first radio sitcom by Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, co-starring Lucille Ball, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novel Mr. and Mrs...
, as well as for the first television pilot episode of I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
. The peak of his announcing career spanned from the 1930s well into the 1960s.
Early life
Bob LeMond was born in Hale Center, TexasHale Center, Texas
Hale Center is a city in Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,263 at the 2000 census. Hale Center is near the county seat of Plainview.Hale Center is located at ....
on April 11, 1913. He was raised in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, and was reportedly a star football player at Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a High school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States....
.
LeMond first became involved in radio announcing during the 1930s. He was selling advertising for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
The Los Angeles Herald Examiner was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published Monday through Friday in the afternoon, and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. The afternoon Herald-Express and the morning Examiner, both of which had been publishing in...
when his brother-in-law asked him to read a commercial for a radio show
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
that his advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
was sponsoring. This audition
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
was performed live on the air, and LeMond was hired on the spot for a salary of $20 dollars a week. He began working as an announcer in both Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Francisco during the 1930s, before being hired by CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
as one of its main announcers.
LeMond continued to announce even after entering the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, where he worked for Armed Forces Radio
American Forces Network
The American Forces Network is the brand name used by the United States Armed Forces American Forces Radio and Television Service for its entertainment and command internal information networks worldwide...
from 1942 until 1946. He ran the Mosquito Network, which broadcast to United States military personnel throughout the South Pacific
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....
.
He met his future wife, Barbara Brewster of the 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
Brewster Twins, at a USO
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
while stationed in New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
. Brewster and LeMond were married in 1946 after the end of World War II. The couple eventually had three children together. The marriage lasted for 59 years until her death in June 2005.
Post-war career
LeMond returned to work at CBS after World War II, where he enjoyed the peak of his career. His most famed work came as the announcer for Lucille Ball's radio sitcomSituation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, co-starring Lucille Ball, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novel Mr. and Mrs...
from 1948 until 1951. He continued to work with Ball as the announcer for the pilot episode
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
of the television show which eventually became I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
. (This original pilot episode, which never aired, was lost for many years before being rediscovered in 2000 or 2001).
LeMond's other blossoming television and radio credits during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s included Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver
Leave It to Beaver is an American television situation comedy about an inquisitive but often naïve boy named Theodore "The Beaver" Cleaver and his adventures at home, in school, and around his suburban neighborhood...
, The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show
The Red Skelton Show is an American variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971. It was second to Gunsmoke and third to The Ed Sullivan Show in the ratings during that time. Skelton, who had previously been a radio star, had appeared in several motion pictures as...
, Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
, Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson
William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...
, Our Miss Brooks
Our Miss Brooks
Our Miss Brooks is an American situation comedy starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high school English teacher. It began as a radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television , it became one of the medium's earliest hits...
, My Friend Irma, Spike Jones
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
, Edgar Bergen
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.-Early life:...
's Do You Trust Your Wife? and Life with Luigi
Life with Luigi
Life With Luigi was a radio comedy-drama series which began September 21, 1948 on CBS Radio, with the final episode broadcast on March 3, 1953.The story concerned Italian immigrant Luigi Basco, and his experiences as an immigrant in Chicago...
. He also announced for countless television special events including the Academy Awards (for sponsor General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
' Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
division) and the Tournament of Roses Parade
Tournament of Roses Parade
The Tournament of Roses Parade, better known as the Rose Parade, is "America's New Year Celebration", a festival of flower-covered floats, marching bands, equestrians and a college football game on New Year's Day , produced by the non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.The annual...
.
Additionally, LeMond continued to work as a voice actor
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
for television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and radio commercials. One of his most famous commercials included a spot for Raid bug spray
Raid (insecticide)
Raid is the brand name of a line of insecticides produced by SC Johnson, first launched in 1956.The initial active ingredient was the first synthetic pyrethroid, allethrin...
with Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
, the legendary voice actor and voice of Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
. His other commercial credits included Dial Soap, Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
and Johnson's Wax
S. C. Johnson & Son
S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. , previously known as S. C. Johnson Wax , is a privately held, global manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsin. It has operations in 72 countries and its brands are sold in over 110...
, just to name a few.
Later life
LeMond gradually began to receive less work by the mid-1960s, as the television medium changed and the demand for announcers fell. He officially retired from show businessShow business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
in 1971 and moved to Bonsall, California
Bonsall, California
Bonsall is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California. The population was 3,982 at the 2010 census, up from 3,401 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bonsall is located just east of Oceanside and Camp Pendleton....
in 1972. He worked as a real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
agent and became active with Bonsall's homeowners' association. Many of his new neighbors had no idea about LeMond's past career in television and radio.
In 1998, LeMond and the surviving cast members of My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband
My Favorite Husband is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, co-starring Lucille Ball, was the initial basis for what evolved into the groundbreaking TV sitcom I Love Lucy. The series was based on the novel Mr. and Mrs...
were reunited by Gregg Oppenheimer, the son of Jess Oppenheimer
Jess Oppenheimer
Jess Oppenheimer a radio and television writer, producer, and director, was producer and head writer of the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.Lucille Ball called Oppenheimer "the brains" behind I Love Lucy...
, the original creator and producer of the show, to benefit pediatric
Pediatrics
Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
research. LeMond reprised his role as the announcer of the show for the event. Oppenheimer commented at the time on LeMond, who used to both announce and warm up the live studio audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
before the show, "He did it again, and it was like magic. It was like it was 1948."
The original pilot episode of I Love Lucy, with LeMond as the show's announcer, was rediscovered in 1990 by the real-life widow of the actor Pepito Pérez, who played Pepito the Clown, who found the missing program under her bed. However, the first 15 seconds of LeMond's original narration
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
was missing from the film. Gregg Oppenheimer owned the pilot episode's original script, complete with the missing narration. Oppenheimer, who produced the I Love Lucy DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
releases beginning in 2002, drove to LeMond's home in Bonsall and asked him to re-record the original, missing narration. LeMond agreed and read the words into a microphone which Oppenheimer had brought with him. In doing so, LeMond and Oppenheimer recaptured the first words which were ever associated with I Love Lucy. Oppenheimer was happy with the results of the audio recording: "He sounded older, but it worked."
Death
Bob LeMond died from complications of dementiaDementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
at his home in Bonsall on January 6, 2008.