John Ramsey (1927-January 25, 1990) was a
public address announcer best known as the original PA voice for
the
Los Angeles
Angels,
Los Angeles Dodgers,
Los Angeles Kings,
Los Angeles Lakers and
Los Angeles Raiders. He was also the PA
voice for the
Los Angeles Rams and
USC Trojans football and
basketball teams. He was also the first PA
announcer for the
Super Bowl (he
eventually announced five of them) as well as the basketball PA
voice during the
1984 Summer
Olympics. His voice was also heard through seven
World Series, the
1959 and
1980 Major League
Baseball All-Star Games, ten
NBA
Finals, the
1963 and
1972 NBA All-Star Games and
the
1981 NHL All-Star
Game.
Ramsey, a
native of Berlin, New
Hampshire
, served in the United
States Navy during World War
II. When the war ended Ramsey moved to Los Angeles
, attending El Camino College
and then the University of
Southern California
, from where he graduated in 1954. Upon the
Dodgers' move to Los Angeles in 1958, Ramsey was hired by the team
to be their PA announcer. Two years later, the Lakers moved from
Minneapolis and Ramsey became their PA announcer.
From 1961 until their
move to Anaheim
in 1966, Ramsey was the PA announcer for the
Angels. And when the Los Angeles Kings began play in 1967,
Ramsey became their original PA voice. Over the years Ramsey would
also assume PA announcing duties for the Rams until they moved to
Anaheim in 1980, and the USC Trojans, with whom he remained until
1989. He also was the PA voice for the Raiders during their first
year in Los Angeles.
At one time Ramsey would often announce five
sporting events over a three-day weekend, a feat rivaled only by
Bruce Binkowski, who was a PA voice
for San
Diego
sporting events.
Although
noted for an articulate, deliberate and unruffled announcing style,
sometimes he would mess up, as evidenced when a 1960s Dodgers game
was delayed: "Ladies and gentlemen, while our ballgame is being
temporarily held up because of rainy weather here at Dodger Stadium
, our well-known organist, who is located in the
centerfield bleachers, is going to entertain you by diddling on his
organ." (This announcement was recreated in
Kermit Schaefer's 1974 documentary,
Pardon My Blooper.)
In
addition to Dodger Stadium, Ramsey could be heard at the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum
and Sports Arena
and the Forum
. Ramsey left the Lakers in 1981 and the
Dodgers and Kings in 1982. His successors included
Dennis Packer, who became the PA voice for the
Raiders from 1983 until they returned to Oakland in 1995 and for
the Dodgers during much of the 1980s, and is still the Trojans' PA
voice;
Lawrence Tanter, whose career
as the Lakers' PA voice has eclipsed that of Ramsey; and
Nick Nickson, who took over the Kings' PA
annoucing duties before switching to play-by-play announcing in
1993. Current Angels,
Clippers
and Kings PA announcer
David
Courtney's career is owed to Ramsey; Courtney began his
professional career as a PR assistant for the Kings in 1971 and
occasionally filled in for Ramsey at the Forum before becoming a
full-time PA announcer himself.
Ramsey could also be heard in various movies, including
Two-Minute
Warning.
In later years, Ramsey suffered from
diabetes. He died at
Long Beach Veterans' Hospital
of a
heart attack and was survived by
his wife, Vivian, a daughter, Josette and a brother, Paul.
Sources
Wikis
Map
Search
