Who Is… JOHNNY GILBERT?

I hired Johnny as the announcer for Jeopardy! Well, technically Merv hired Johnny but on my recommendation. I first met him at a party in Hollywood. And then our paths crossed a few more times. Of course I remembered him. How could you forget a voice like that? We’ve been together longer than either one of our marriages, and we’ve never had a cross word. We don’t socialize outside of work, but we get along marvelously well. We love to tease each other. I’ll joke with the studio audience that Johnny was the first announcer to say, “Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.”

Johnny’s a little older than me, but we both began in broadcasting in the same year. Like me, he was a game show journeyman before he got to Jeopardy! One of the shows he announced was Love Connection, which was hosted by Chuck Woolery, who was indirectly responsible for me landing the Jeopardy! job. It’s funny how small our business is considering the millions and millions of people we reach.

Not many people know that Johnny was a singer earlier in his career, and he recorded two albums in the 1960s. Over the years, we’ve had categories where Johnny sings songs and contestants have to guess the artist. You really haven’t lived until you’ve heard Johnny Gilbert’s rendition of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”

Taking over Johnny’s emcee duties at a Jeopardy! holiday party.