Jim Thornton is an American radio and television announcer, news anchor, and voice actor. He is known for his voiceover work in video games, movies and television shows. Since 2011, he is best known for being the announcer of Wheel of Fortune following the death of longtime announcer Charlie O'Donnell.
Jim Thornton | |
|---|---|
 Thornton in 2016 | |
| Born | |
| Occupation | Radio/television announcer |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouse | Sue Thornton |
| Children | 1 |
Early life and education
editBorn in Huntington, West Virginia, Jim Thornton graduated from Huntington High School in 1983 and then moved to Los Angeles in 1984 where he started his broadcasting career a year later. He also has a degree in linguistics from Marshall University.[1]
Career
editRadio
editThornton is best known as the afternoon anchor on all-news radio KNX 1070 in Los Angeles, having been promoted from traffic reporting. He has also announced on Celebrity Deathmatch and narrated a portion of Monsters, Inc.[2]
Game show announcer
editThornton did substitute announcing work on The Price Is Right following the death of former announcer Rod Roddy. In December 2010, he auditioned for the same role on Wheel of Fortune following the death of the show's announcer Charlie O'Donnell, and was confirmed as the show's new announcer on June 13, 2011.[3][4] Because of this job, Thornton has scaled back from his job at KNX.[4]
In 2021, Thornton joined Sajak and White as the announcer for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on ABC.
On April 26, 2023, Thornton switched places with host Pat Sajak, hosting the bonus round while Sajak served as announcer, as a contestant named Sarah Ward, who was a fan of Thornton, wanted to meet him in-person.[5]
Voiceover work
editThornton provided the voice of Johnny Gomez in Celebrity Deathmatch and the announcer in The Cleveland Show. He also appeared in video games, where he provided additional voice-over work for Hitman: Blood Money and as a DJ in Mafia II.[citation needed]
Filmography
editTV series
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-present | Channel 2 Action News | Traffic Reporter | |
| 2004 | The Price Is Right | Try-Out Announcer | 10 episodes |
| The Soup | Announcer | 1 episode | |
| 2006-2007 | Celebrity Deathmatch | Johnny Gomez | 16 episodes |
| 2009 | The Cleveland Show | Announcer | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! | Announcer | Episode: "Comedy" |
| 2010-present | Wheel of Fortune | Announcer | 2,200 episodes |
| 2021-present | Celebrity Wheel of Fortune | Announcer | 22 episodes |
Shorts
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Let's Pollute | Narrator |
Movies
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | Commercial Narrator |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Hitman: Blood Money | Additional voices | |
| 2008 | WALL-E | Old-Time Announcer | |
| 2010 | Mafia II | DJ | |
| 2012 | Wheel of Fortune | Announcer |
Personal life
editReferences
edit- ^ "Jim Thornton". CBS Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
- ^ Henderson-Bentley, Angela (20 January 2011). "Huntington native takes a spin on the 'Wheel'". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Episode #5336, original air date December 20, 2010
- ^ a b Henderson-Bentley, Angela (15 June 2011). "Huntington's Jim Thornton realizes lifelong dream on 'Wheel of Fortune'". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Weisholtz, Drew (27 April 2023). "Pat Sajak was missing from 'Wheel of Fortune' bonus round. Here's the delightful reason why". today.com. NBC Universal. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ "VETERAN RADIO ANNOUNCER JIM THORNTON IS THE NEW VOICE OF "WHEEL OF FORTUNE"". paramountpressexpress.com. Paramount. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ^ "Jim Thornton". paramountpressexpress.com. Paramount. Retrieved 10 December 2023.