Zoneboy
01-18-2008, 01:58 AM
Link (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/obituaries/20080113-9999-1c13lemond.html)
Everyone knew Bob LeMond's voice, but they'd have passed him on the street without a second glance.
Mr. LeMond, who every week introduced “America's Favorite Family, the Nelsons” on television, died at his home in Bonsall Sunday of complications from dementia. He was 94.
The popular television and radio announcer seemed to be everywhere in the 1940s and 1950s. In addition to “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet,” Mr. LeMond was the voice of shows such as “Leave It to Beaver,” “Our Miss Brooks,” “My Friend Irma,” “Life With Luigi,” “The Red Skelton Show” and “Bat Masterson.”
He also announced specials such as the Academy Awards and the Tournament of Roses Parade, and voiced commercials for Oldsmobile, Dial Soap, Raid and Johnson's Wax.
Mr. LeMond was born on April 11, 1913, in Hale Center, Texas, but grew up in Southern California. He began his announcing career in the 1930s, and it continued in the Army with Armed Forces Radio from 1942 to 1946.
While stationed in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, Mr. LeMond met Barbara Brewster, one of the “Brewster Twins” in 20th Century Fox films, at a USO show. They were married in 1946.
From 1948 to 1951, Mr. LeMond was the announcer on Lucille Ball's radio sitcom “My Favorite Husband.” In 1951, he announced the pilot episode of the television show that would become “I Love Lucy.”
Mr. LeMond retired from show business in 1971, and in 1972 he moved to Bonsall, where he became involved in real estate.
In 1998, Gregg Oppenheimer, son of Jess Oppenheimer, the creator and producer of “I Love Lucy,” reassembled the remaining members of the cast of “My Favorite Husband” to re-create the show as a fundraiser for pediatric AIDS. Mr. LeMond reprised his role as the announcer.
“He used to warm up the audience before the show,” Oppenheimer said. “He did it again, and it was like magic. It was like it was 1948.”
The pilot episode of “I Love Lucy,” with Mr. LaMond announcing, never aired, and, for half a century, it was thought to be lost.
“But in 2000 or 2001, I started working on 'Lucy' DVDs, and the widow of (the character) Pepito the Clown found it under her bed,” Oppenheimer said.
However, the first 15 seconds of Mr. LeMond's narration was missing; it started in the middle of a sentence. Oppenheimer had the script, complete with the missing narration. So he drove to Bonsall, and 50 years after he read into a microphone the first words ever associated with “I Love Lucy,” Mr. LeMond re-recorded his part.
“He sounded older,” Oppenheimer said, “but it worked.”
For a long time Dick Knight, Mr. LeMond's neighbor in Bonsall, didn't even know he'd been an announcer.
“He was just a very jolly fellow and a very nice guy,” Knight said. “You couldn't be any nicer than Bob LeMond.”
Mr. LeMond was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Barbara, in 2005. He is survived by sons Robert of Malibu, Stephen of Vista and Barry of Issaquah, Wash.; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
No services were planned. The family suggests donations to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, or a favorite charity.
Everyone knew Bob LeMond's voice, but they'd have passed him on the street without a second glance.
Mr. LeMond, who every week introduced “America's Favorite Family, the Nelsons” on television, died at his home in Bonsall Sunday of complications from dementia. He was 94.
The popular television and radio announcer seemed to be everywhere in the 1940s and 1950s. In addition to “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet,” Mr. LeMond was the voice of shows such as “Leave It to Beaver,” “Our Miss Brooks,” “My Friend Irma,” “Life With Luigi,” “The Red Skelton Show” and “Bat Masterson.”
He also announced specials such as the Academy Awards and the Tournament of Roses Parade, and voiced commercials for Oldsmobile, Dial Soap, Raid and Johnson's Wax.
Mr. LeMond was born on April 11, 1913, in Hale Center, Texas, but grew up in Southern California. He began his announcing career in the 1930s, and it continued in the Army with Armed Forces Radio from 1942 to 1946.
While stationed in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, Mr. LeMond met Barbara Brewster, one of the “Brewster Twins” in 20th Century Fox films, at a USO show. They were married in 1946.
From 1948 to 1951, Mr. LeMond was the announcer on Lucille Ball's radio sitcom “My Favorite Husband.” In 1951, he announced the pilot episode of the television show that would become “I Love Lucy.”
Mr. LeMond retired from show business in 1971, and in 1972 he moved to Bonsall, where he became involved in real estate.
In 1998, Gregg Oppenheimer, son of Jess Oppenheimer, the creator and producer of “I Love Lucy,” reassembled the remaining members of the cast of “My Favorite Husband” to re-create the show as a fundraiser for pediatric AIDS. Mr. LeMond reprised his role as the announcer.
“He used to warm up the audience before the show,” Oppenheimer said. “He did it again, and it was like magic. It was like it was 1948.”
The pilot episode of “I Love Lucy,” with Mr. LaMond announcing, never aired, and, for half a century, it was thought to be lost.
“But in 2000 or 2001, I started working on 'Lucy' DVDs, and the widow of (the character) Pepito the Clown found it under her bed,” Oppenheimer said.
However, the first 15 seconds of Mr. LeMond's narration was missing; it started in the middle of a sentence. Oppenheimer had the script, complete with the missing narration. So he drove to Bonsall, and 50 years after he read into a microphone the first words ever associated with “I Love Lucy,” Mr. LeMond re-recorded his part.
“He sounded older,” Oppenheimer said, “but it worked.”
For a long time Dick Knight, Mr. LeMond's neighbor in Bonsall, didn't even know he'd been an announcer.
“He was just a very jolly fellow and a very nice guy,” Knight said. “You couldn't be any nicer than Bob LeMond.”
Mr. LeMond was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Barbara, in 2005. He is survived by sons Robert of Malibu, Stephen of Vista and Barry of Issaquah, Wash.; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
No services were planned. The family suggests donations to Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, or a favorite charity.