Editing George Fenneman

{{Short description|American radio and television announcer (1919–1997)}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = George Fenneman
| image        = George fenneman 1963.JPG
| caption      = Fenneman in ''Your Funny, Funny Films'', 1963
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1919|11|10}}
| birth_place  = [[Peking]], China
| death_date   = {{nowrap|{{Death date and age|1997|5|29|1919|11|10}}}}
| death_place  = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| birth_name   = George Watt Fenneman
| occupation   = [[Game show]] [[Television presenter|host]], [[announcer]]
| nationality  = American 
| years_active = 1942–1993
| spouse       = {{marriage|Peggy Clifford|1943}}
| children     = 3
}}

'''George Watt Fenneman''' (November 10, 1919 – May 29, 1997) was an American radio and television announcer. Fenneman is best remembered as the show announcer and straight man on [[Groucho Marx]]'s ''[[You Bet Your Life]]''. Marx said of Fenneman in 1976, "There never was a comedian who was any good unless he had a good straight man, and George was straight on all four sides".<ref name=Vosburgh>{{cite news |last=Vosburgh |first=Dick |author-link=Dick Vosburgh |date=June 30, 1997 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-george-fenneman-1248400.html |title=Obituary: George Fenneman |newspaper=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> Fenneman, born in [[Peking]] (Beijing), [[China]], died from respiratory failure in Los Angeles, California, on May 29, 1997, at the age of 77.<ref name="nytobit2">{{cite news |last=Van Gelder |first=Lawrence |authorlink=Lawrence Van Gelder |date=June 6, 1997 |title=George Fenneman, 77, Dies; Courtly Foil for Groucho |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/06/arts/george-fenneman-77-dies-courtly-foil-for-groucho.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

==Early life==
Fenneman was born in [[Peking]] (now Beijing), [[China]], the only child of Edgar Warfield and Jessico "Jessie" (née Watt) Fenneman.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1664&h=27561&tid=&pid=&queryId=89d233d2ea773ced4e553544b156522d&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Tnb2&_phstart=successSource |title=George Watt Fenneman in the U.S., Consular Reports of Births, 1910-1949 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=December 5, 1919 |website=ancestry.com |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref> He was an infant when his parents moved to [[San Francisco]], [[California]], where he grew up. Fenneman's father was a [[certified public accountant]] and worked in the import-export business.<ref name=Vosburgh/><ref name=Lemaire>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/LemaireRene |title=Rene Watt Lemaire: Recollections of Life in Lander County, Nevada; Battle Mountain Business; and the Nevada State Senate |last=Lemaire |first=Rene Watt |date=1970 |website=www.archive.org|publisher=University of Nevada Oral History Program |page=8 |access-date= September 5, 2021|quote=}}</ref> His mother was an author<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fenneman |first1=Jessico Watt |last2=Stander |first2=Marjorie Hobson|date=1936 |title=The Art of Living |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/123300936 |location=San Francisco, California|oclc=123300936 }}</ref> and a minister of the Divine Art of Living.<ref name=Lemaire/><ref>{{cite news|date=September 5, 1953 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/458392039/|title=Divine Art of Living |newspaper=The San Francisco Examiner|location=San Francisco, California}}</ref> When Fenneman was eight, he wrote and starred in his own drama before his neighborhood friends in the basement of his home.<ref name=Mirror>{{cite magazine |date=March 1956 |title= Distinguished Target|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Mirror/56/Radio-Mirror-1956-03.pdf |magazine=TV Radio Mirror|location= New York, New York|publisher= Macfadden Publications|access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref> Fenneman grew up in San Francisco's [[West Portal, San Francisco|West Portal]] district.<ref name=Malaspina>{{cite news |last=Malaspina |first=Rick |date=December 6, 1981 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/736548938/|title=George Remembers Groucho |newspaper=Oakland Tribune|location=Oakland, California }}</ref>

==Education==
Fenneman graduated from [[San Francisco Polytechnic High School]].<ref name=Malaspina/><ref name=cornerstone>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19871208&id=1rQeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sc4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4293,3551658&hl=en |title=$1,500 reward offered in theft of cornerstone |newspaper=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]] |date=December 9, 1987 |page=A2 }}</ref> In 1942 he graduated from [[San Francisco State University|San Francisco State College]] with a B.A. in Speech and Drama.<ref name=Vosburgh/><ref name=Webb>{{cite web |last=Galloway |first=Doug|url=https://variety.com/1997/scene/people-news/george-fenneman-1116679816/ |title=George Fenneman|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=June 5, 1997 |website=Variety |access-date=September 5, 2021}}</ref>

==Military service==
Poor eyesight and asthma prevented Fenneman from military action in World War II. Fenneman became a broadcast correspondent for the [[U.S. Office of War Information]], where he met [[Jack Webb]], a fellow staff announcer who would later hire him for Webb's ''[[Dragnet (franchise)|Dragnet]]'' radio and TV series.<ref name=Webb/> Fenneman's work in the Army included announcing the wartime service show ''Sound Off!''.<ref name=Emcee>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Cecil |title=Top Announcer Dignified Emcee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/381115843/ |accessdate=September 2, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |agency=Copley News Service |date=August 15, 1958 |location=Los Angeles, California |page=8}}</ref>

In the early part of World War II, he and college classmate [[Bob Sweeney (actor and director)|Bob Sweeney]] formed a stand-up comedy team and entertained troops at military bases.<ref>{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Nancy |title=Funnyman Sweeney now producer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49316209/ |accessdate=September 2, 2021 |work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |agency=Copley News Service |date=August 28, 1977 |location=Ohio, Cincinnati |page=147}}</ref>

==Broadcast career==
===Radio===
In 1941, Fenneman was hired by [[KZAC|KSFO]] (AM) radio for $35 per week. He immediately found himself hosting the show ''Lunch at the Top of the Mark''. The 22-year-old Fenneman's first interview that day was the actor [[Boris Karloff]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Long |first=Tom |title=Monarch Parade Rolls, by George!|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/68231074/ |accessdate=September 2, 2021 |work=Santa Cruz Sentinel |date=October 15, 1989 |location=Santa Cruz, California |page=2}}</ref> In 1942, Fenneman took a job as a radio announcer and actor at [[KGO (AM)]], increasing his salary to $55 per week.<ref name=Malaspina/> His first acting role on the station was the early California bandit [[Joaquin Murrieta]] in the production ''Golden Days''.

Returning to broadcasting in 1946 following World War II, he moved to Los Angeles. "I figured if you're going to be in this business, you've got to be in southern California".<ref name=Malaspina/> In 1948, the ''George Fenneman Show'' was heard weekdays at 4:00&nbsp;p.m. on [[KABC (AM)|KECA (AM)]] radio in Los Angeles. Fenneman was reported to be "one of the better radio voices".<ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 15, 1948 |title=Radio in Review - News and Comment |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Radio-Life/40s/48/Radio-Life-1948-08-15.pdf |magazine=Radio Life and Television|page=9 |location=Los Angeles, California |publisher=Carl M. Bigsby |access-date=September 8, 2021}}</ref> In 1948, Fenneman was an announcer for the [[Abbott and Costello]] radio show.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docplayer.net/43851236-Abbott-costello-radio-log.html |title=Abbott & Costello Radio Log |last=Forsberg|first=Bruce |date=May 31, 2009 |website=docplayer.net |publisher=DocPlayer, Inc. |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref> He became the announcer on the ''Coca-Cola Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands'', heard on over 168 radio stations on the [[Blue Network|NBC Blue Network]].<ref name=War>{{cite news|last=Korman |first=Seymour |title=My War With Groucho|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/116069539/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune |location= Chicago, Illinois |date=October 27, 1957|access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref><ref name=Vosburgh/>

===''You Bet Your Life''===
Fenneman is best remembered as the announcer and good-natured sidekick for [[Groucho Marx]]'s comedy/quiz show ''[[You Bet Your Life]]''. He won the audition as the radio show's announcer in 1947.<ref name=War/> Fenneman stayed with the show when it moved to television in 1950,<ref>{{cite news |title=George Fenneman, Groucho's Sideman Dies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/707420840/|newspaper=The Fresno Bee |date=June 5, 1997|access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref> on [[NBC]] where it remained for 11 years. Fenneman was known as "Groucho Marx's man Friday, who helps him on Wednesdays (on radio) and Thursdays (on TV)".<ref name=Mirror/>

Fenneman's mellifluous voice, clean-cut good looks, and gentlemanly manner provided the ideal foil for Marx's zany antics and bawdy ad libs.<ref name = "NYT">{{cite news |title=George Fenneman, Sidekick To Groucho Marx, Dies at 77 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/05/us/george-fenneman-sidekick-to-groucho-marx-dies-at-77.html |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 5, 1997}}</ref> 

Robert "Bob" Dwan, director of ''You Bet Your Life'', said "He had a naturally good voice." One day, Fenneman met Dwan at Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles during his lunch hour. Dwan told Fenneman to immediately go to a studio where auditions were being held for a new Groucho Marx program. Dwan said Fenneman's demeanor made him the perfect straight man for the show.<ref name="nytobit2"/> Initially hired for $55 per week,<ref name="nytobit2"/> Fenneman's salary reportedly grew to "more than $50,000 per year".

Dwan said "He was the perfect foil for Groucho. We didn't pick him for that reason, however. We picked him because he was very bright, someone who could keep track of the quiz score and do the math on the spot. George's main principle was that he didn't tell the jokes, no matter how good a reply he might have. He knew what his role was, and he was, above all, a gentleman."<ref name = "NYT"/> Fenneman got the job, and was paid $55 a week to start.<ref name="nytobit2"/> Groucho frequently encouraged contestants to bet odd amounts, making the arithmetic difficult to keep straight on the fly during a live show. Dwan said "Groucho had a tendency to get them (the show's contestants) to bet odd amounts, like $17.36. So George had a bit of a task."<ref name="nytobit2"/> Fenneman said he was "a spring-board of interplay" between Marx and himself. "I was the foil for a lot of his wit. It was sheer trauma for me. I showed up every night and prayed."<ref name=Foil>{{cite news |title=George Fenneman - Groucho's Foil Is Back|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/324582555/ |newspaper=[[Des Moines Tribune]]|date=December 11, 1974}}</ref>

Fenneman was a resilient target of Marx's frequent mispronunciations of his name ("Feminine") and other light-hearted teasing. "Groucho called Fenneman the male [[Margaret Dumont]]", according to [[Frank Ferrante]], who portrayed Marx onstage in ''Groucho: A Life in Revue''. "George took it as the highest praise. Groucho called him the perfect straight man."<ref name="nytobit2"/>

Fenneman said "I was the gentleman, the nice fellow. Older ladies who would watch the show would see me as their son. Oh, the letters they used to write, castigating mean old Groucho for being cruel to that nice young man."<ref name=Foil/>

When a young female contestant referred to Fenneman as "Mr. Fidderman", Marx ordered Fenneman onstage and accused him of leading a "double life". On one episode Fenneman was suspended in a harness as a substitute for the show's stuffed duck that was dropped from overhead with a $100 payoff in its beak when a contestant said the secret word during every episode. Fenneman's wife said "Everyone had told Groucho 47 times before the show, 'Don't touch him', so George came down, and Groucho immediately came over and pushed him; and he turned upside down. He was absolutely terrified."<ref name="nytobit2"/>

Fenneman said of working with Marx, "I can't impress on you too much what it meant to be working with a legend. I was 30 years old and working with this man who was 60 at the time, who'd been the biggest star of all the media."<ref name=Vosburgh/>

==Success in reruns==

It was customary practice, established in radio, for a successful network series to take the summer months off and return in the fall. A summer-replacement series, usually a musical or comedy half-hour, would fill the established time slot for 13 weeks until the parent program returned. ''You Bet Your Life'' was the first network TV series to ''continue'' into the summer months, with reruns of some of the previous season's better episodes. To inform the public that these summer broadcasts were repeats and not new programs, the summer show was titled ''The Best of Groucho''.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}} 

After ''You Bet Your Life'' ended its network run in 1961, NBC's syndication department prepared new versions of the 1950s shows, with all mentions of the original sponsor removed or cropped out of the picture. Because the reruns had already been established as ''The Best of Groucho'', the syndicated version took that title, and was very successful.{{Citation needed |date=September 2023}} 

Gradually the show fell out of fashion, as faster-paced game shows videotaped in color forced the old, leisurely black-and-white show off the air. The show remained a memory until 1973, when Groucho Marx accepted a huge shipment of old film prints from an NBC warehouse. Producer [[John Guedel]], anxious to see if there was still a market for the show, sold it on a trial basis to a local station for less than $50 for each night. The show became an instant success, prompting Guedel to send the reruns into syndication almost immediately.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://boingboing.net/2013/03/12/the-day-my-grandfather-groucho.html|first=Andy|last=Marx|title=The day my grandfather Groucho and I saved You Bet Your Life|work=[[BoingBoing]].net|date=March 2, 2013|access-date=January 11, 2019}}</ref>

George Fenneman remained friends with Marx until the latter's death in 1977.<ref name = "NYT"/> During that year, Fenneman recalled he was walking a frail Groucho Marx back to his bed during one of his last visits and Marx quietly whispered "Fenneman, you always were a lousy dancer."<ref name = "NYT"/>

===''The Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis Show''===
Fenneman also announced the ''[[Dean Martin]] and [[Jerry Lewis]] Comedy Show'', sponsored by [[Chesterfield (cigarette)|Chesterfield]] cigarettes. Fenneman said Martin and Lewis would shower him with sheet music or cut off his tie while he was on camera selling cigarettes.<ref name=Martin>{{cite news |last=Oliver |first=Myrna |date=June 5, 1997 |title=George Fenneman; 'You Bet Your Life' Announcer |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-05-me-408-story.html |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> On one episode, Fenneman spoofed himself. During a parody of ''You Bet Your Life'', on the broadcast of October 14, 1952, "Groucho Martin" (Dean Martin) asks Fenneman to remind listeners about how "the other couple" is doing. Fenneman said "The sponsor and the sponsor's wife are way ahead with eighteen million dollars".<ref>{{cite web|title=Martin & Lewis On The Radio Part Two: The 1951–53 Series |url=http://www.mwotrc.com/rr2003_04/mandl2.htm |last=Hayde |first=Michael |date=2003 |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>

===Game show host===
Fenneman also hosted many game shows: in 1953, ''Your Claim To Fame'', a panel quiz show sponsored by the Regal Amber Brewing Company of San Francisco,<ref>{{cite book |last=Leichter |first=Jerry |author-link= |date=September 13, 1953 |title=Ross Reports on Television|url=https://archive.org/stream/rossreportstele35ross/rossreportstele35ross_djvu.txt |location= |publisher= Television Index, Inc.|page=6}}</ref> ''Anybody Can Play'' in 1958 with Dolores Reed,<ref>{{cite news |title=George Fenneman becomes quizmaster in ''Anyone Can Play''|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/324582555/ |newspaper=The Times-Tribune |location=Scranton, Pennsylvania|date=July 5, 1958|access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>Clemens, Samuel. "Tall and Tawny", ''Classic Images''. September 2022</ref> ''The Perfect Husband'', ''Who In The World'' and ''Your Surprise Package'' in 1961.<ref name=Martin/> Fenneman hosted an un-aired pilot episode of ''Take My Advice'', an NBC game show where a celebrity panel offered advice to contestants about how to handle personal problems.<ref>{{cite book |last=Terrace |first=Vincent |author-link= |date=September 28, 2018 |title=Encyclopedia of Unaired Television Pilots, 1945-2018 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufx0DwAAQBAJ |location= |publisher= McFarland, Incorporated|page=229|isbn=9781476672069}}</ref> In 1966 he hosted two pilot episodes for ''Crossword'', a game show that would be renamed ''[[The Cross-Wits]]'' in 1975 and aired with [[Jack Clark (television)|Jack Clark]] as host.

===Commercial production company===
Fenneman formed the "George Fenneman Productions (Ltd.)" commercial production company in 1962. His first client was the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. He also created commercials for the [[Paper Mate]] pen company.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Alan |date=August 8, 1962 |title=Fenneman Forms TV Film Firm |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/482598890/ |newspaper=Valley Times|location=North Hollywood, California|access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>

He was the commercial spokesman for [[Lipton Tea]] during much of the 1960s, and in that role appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' when [[The Beatles]] made their second U.S. TV appearance on February 16, 1964. The entire episode (including commercials) had been taped at Miami Beach, Florida's [[Hotel Deauville (Miami)|Hotel Deauville]] prior to broadcast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wentyworld.com/2021/04/04/forgotten-icons-of-broadcasting-george-fenneman/ |title=Forgotten Icons of Broadcasting: George Fenneman |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=wentyworld.com |date=4 April 2021 |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>

Fenneman also recorded commercials for Philip Morris. From 1978 to the end of his life in 1995, Fenneman was both the public relations spokesperson and commercial announcer for the Los Angeles-based [[H. F. Ahmanson & Co.|Home Savings & Loan]].<ref name="nytobit2"/><ref name=Maksian>{{cite news |last=Maksian |first=George |date=September 1, 1977 |title=He took it all from Groucho |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/482598890/ |newspaper=Daily News|location=New York, New York}}</ref>

===Television show host===
In 1963, he hosted an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] television program called ''Your Funny, Funny Films'', a precursor to ''[[America's Funniest Home Videos]]''.<ref name = "NYT"/> He was also host of a highly regarded [[KCET|KCET-TV]] program, ''On Campus''.<ref name=Martin/>

On January 14, 1964, Fenneman hosted the half-hour special, ''Here Comes a Star''. During the special, Fenneman led the audience on a tour of the then brand new [[Hanna-Barbera|Hanna-Barbera Animation Studio]] on [[Cahuenga Boulevard]] in Hollywood, California. Fenneman interviewed [[William Hanna|Bill Hanna]] and [[Joseph Barbera|Joe Barbera]] as they readied their newest cartoon show ''[[The Magilla Gorilla Show]]''. The show featured story artists, layout men, animators, inkers and painters putting together the first Magilla Gorilla cartoon. The show ended with the completed premiere episode of the cartoon.<ref>{{cite web |last=Buchner |first= Chris |url=https://www.saturdaymorningsforever.com/2019/01/the-magilla-gorilla-show.html |title=The Magilla Gorilla Show |website=www.saturdaymorningsforever.com |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pruiksma.com/magilla.html |title=I've Got A Gorilla For Sale. Magilla Gorilla For Sale! |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.pruiksma.com |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>

In 1974, Fenneman co-hosted ''Talk About Pictures'', an Emmy Award-winning program created by [[Life (magazine)|''Life'']] magazine photographer Leigh Wiener. The show featured a wide-ranging cross-section of photographers and photography collectors including [[Ansel Adams]], [[Alfred Eisenstaedt]] and [[Graham Nash]]. 130 episodes were broadcast on [[NBC]]'s Los Angeles affiliate [[KNBC]]. The show won a local Emmy award in 1974.<ref name=Wiener>{{cite web |url=http://www.leighwiener.com/gallery/talk-about-pictures/ |title=The Photography of Leigh Wiener - Talk About Pictures |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.leighwiener.com |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>

==Announcing career==
Fenneman was the announcer for a number of radio shows, including ''[[Pete Kelly's Blues (radio series)|Pete Kelly's Blues]]'', ''[[The Orson Welles Show]]'', ''The [[Eddie Albert]] Show'' and ''The [[Hedda Hopper]] Show''. He was also an announcer on television shows as well, including ''[[The Life of Riley]]'', ''[[The Jim Nabors Hour]]'' and ''[[Donny & Marie (1976 TV series)|The Donny & Marie Show]]''. He was also an announcer on the radio program ''[[The Navy Swings|Go Navy! The Navy Swings]]''. Fenneman described the show as "a labor of love".<ref name=Emcee/>

Fenneman also narrated many commercial and industrial films including work for [[Lockheed Corporation|Lockheed Aviation]] and the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] in [[Pasadena, California]].<ref name=Webb/>

===''Dragnet''===
Fenneman was one of a pair of announcers on ''Dragnet''. He shared narration duties with [[Hal Gibney]] on [[radio]] and the original [[Dragnet (1951 TV series)|1951 ''Dragnet'']] [[television series]], and then with [[John Stephenson (actor)|John Stephenson]] when Dragnet returned to TV in 1967. It was Fenneman's voice which announced, "The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent", while Stephenson would be heard at the end of the episode describing the court trials and verdicts.<ref name=Martin/>

On radio, Fenneman also provided the intro to the finale (and last commercial): "On (date), trial was held in Department (number), Superior Court of the State of California. In a moment, the results of that trial. Now, here is our star, [[Jack Webb]], for (sponsor)".

(Webb frequently took the cue with "Thank you, George" or "Thank you, George Fenneman," as Fenneman was not identified in the show's credits, which were read by Gibney and ended with "Hal Gibney speaking".)

===''Gunsmoke''===
He was the principal commercial announcer for the radio version of ''[[Gunsmoke (radio)|Gunsmoke]]'', and frequently introduced "Matt Dillon" ([[William Conrad]]) after the episode to extoll the virtues of L&M or Chesterfield cigarettes.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}

===''The Simpsons''===
Fenneman narrated ''[[The Simpsons]]'' season 5 episode "[[Marge on the Lam]]" broadcast on November 4, 1993.<ref name="Officialsite">{{cite web |url=http://www.thesimpsons.com/#/recaps/season-5_episode-6 |title=Marge on the Lam |accessdate=September 3, 2021 |publisher=The Simpsons.com}}</ref> The episode's closing sequence is a reference to ''[[Dragnet (series)|Dragnet]]''. Fenneman recorded the episode's ending in a ''Dragnet''-style summation of the three principal characters' fates.<ref>{{cite video |people=Kirkland, Mark |date=2004 |title=The Simpsons The Complete Fifth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Marge on the Lam" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref>

===Residual income from announcing===
Fenneman purchased a 10 percent interest in the ''You Bet Your Life'' production company. "I had a good lawyer" Fenneman said. "Instead of the usual residuals, I get a percentage of the gross revenues (from ''You Bet Your Life'')". Fenneman also received residual payments for ''Dragnet''. "Every time you see the show and hear me say 'The story you are about to see is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent', I get a paycheck. A small one, but they add up".<ref name=Maksian/>

===Spurious credits===
Oft-repeated statements that Fenneman is the voice of the [[US Naval Observatory]] [[US Naval Observatory#Time service|Master Clock]] or the [[National Institute of Standards and Technology]]'s radio station [[WWV (radio station)|WWV]] are untrue. Those announcements were actually performed by Fred Covington (1928–1993).<ref name=proceedings>{{cite journal|last1=Schmidt|first1=Richard|title=Reflections on Ten Years of Network Time Service|journal=Proceedings of the 36th Annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) Meeting|date=December 2004|page=123|url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA434455|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306090345/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA434455|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 6, 2016|accessdate=30 April 2015}}</ref>

==Acting career==
===Radio actor===
Fenneman played Buzz, the co-pilot on the radio show ''[[I Fly Anything]]'', a radio adventure drama, broadcast on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] from November 29, 1950, until July 19, 1951.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn |url-access= registration |quote= I Fly Anything, adventure drama. |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/336/mode/1up 336] |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref><ref name="rp">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-4513-4|pages=160–161}}</ref>

===Film and television actor===
He appeared on screen in the 1951 film ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'' as "Dr. Redding",<ref>{{Cite web|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/50336-THE-THING?sid=f027706b-51d7-4c70-b58c-d312ef3b5a91&sr=3.4522069&cp=1&pos=0|access-date=2021-05-24|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref><ref name=fuhrmann19970525>Fuhrmann, Henry [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-25-ca-62224-story.html "A 'Thing' to His Credit."] ''Los Angeles Times'', May 25, 1997. Retrieved: April 20, 2012.</ref> Fenneman was a neighbor of ''The Thing from Another World''{{'}}s director, [[Christian Nyby]]. A spontaneous on-set script revision convinced Fenneman his future was not in movie acting. Producer [[Howard Hawks]] took a long scientific speech away from [[Robert O. Cornthwaite]]'s character Dr. Carrington, preferring to give exposition to a minor character (Fenneman). The scene was "the most difficult to shoot" in the science fiction film. Fellow cast member [[Kenneth Tobey]] said "George didn't even know what he was talking about, and it took him thirty takes to get through the speech". As a radio performer accustomed to reading from a script and not used to quick memorization, Fenneman stumbled over the technical gobbledegook ("We have the time of arrival on the seismograph..."), resulting in multiple takes of the scene. In the final film, viewers can see the other actors trying not to smile as Fenneman spouts the lines.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCarthy |first=Todd |date=2000 |title= Howard Hawks - The Grey Fox of Hollywood |publisher=Grove Press|page=480 |isbn=9780802137401}}</ref>

In the 1950s, he made appearances in serialized science and nature themed segments on ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]'', including a February 1957 appearance as Dr. Bill Richards, who undertakes a difficult expedition into the wilderness in ''The Secret Of Mystery Lake''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=George Fenneman|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba5eb1699|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190211192408/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba5eb1699|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 11, 2019|access-date=September 5, 2021|website=www2.bfi.org.uk}}</ref>

Fenneman portrayed Randy Rambo in ''[[The Tom Ewell Show]]'' episode "The Prying Eye," broadcast on March 28, 1961.<ref>{{cite book |last=Leszczak |first=Bob |date=2012 |title= Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979 A Complete Guide|publisher=McFarland, Incorporated|page=187 |isbn=9780786493050}}</ref> On October 20, 1966, he appeared as a newsman in "The Yegg Foes of Gotham", episode 48 of the ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' TV show.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Batman: The Yegg Foes of Gotham (TV)|url=https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item/?q=batman&f=all&c=all&advanced=1&p=1&item=T79:0048|access-date=September 5, 2021|website=www.paleycenter.org}}</ref>

In 1967 Fenneman appeared in the film adaptation of the Broadway show ''[[How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (film)|How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying]]'' as himself. In the film, he portrayed the host of a new television show who is introduced as "George Fenneman". He is credited at the end as "TV Announcer".

==Personal life==
[[File:George Fenneman and wife 1958.JPG|thumb|George and Peggy Fenneman, 1958]]
Fenneman married his college sweetheart, Margaret "Peggy" Jane Clifford in 1943.<ref name="nytobit2"/><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=July 15, 1942 |title=Births + Marriages + Deaths - Notices of Intentions to Wed|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/458271425 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |location=San Francisco, California |access-date=September 9, 2021}}</ref> They had three children. He died from respiratory failure at his home in [[Los Angeles, California]], on May 29, 1997, at the age of 77.<ref name="nytobit2"/> Fenneman's body was cremated, and the location of ashes is unknown.

==Awards==
* 1981 — Hollywood Walk of Fame, 1500 Vine Street (location)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://walkoffame.com/george-fenneman/ |title=George Fenneman |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=October 7, 1981 |website=walkoffame.com |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>
* 1974 — National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles Chapter, Regional "Emmy" Award, Information Series - ''Talk About Pictures''.<ref name=Wiener/>
* 1956 — Best Announcer, Television Critics of the United States, ''Motion Picture Daily'' and ''Fame'' magazines
* 1955 — Best Announcer, Television Critics of the United States, ''Motion Picture Daily'' and ''Fame'' magazines
* 1954 — Best Announcer, Television Critics of the United States, ''Motion Picture Daily'' and ''Fame'' magazines
* 1953 — Best Announcer, Television Critics of the United States, ''Motion Picture Daily'' and ''Fame'' magazines
* 1951 — Best Announcer, Television Critics of the United States, ''Motion Picture Daily'' and ''Fame'' magazines

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1951|| ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'' || Dr. Redding || Uncredited
|-
|1953|| ''Tanga-Tika'' || Narrator ||
|-
|1953|| ''Mystery Lake'' || Bill Richards ||
|-
|1954|| ''Stormy, the Thoroughbred'' || Narrator ||
|-
|1954|| ''The World Dances'' || Narrator ||
|-
|1958|| ''A Question of Romance'' || Quizmaster
|-
|1960|| ''[[Ocean's 11]]'' || On Phone Talking to Sheriff Wimmer || Voice, Uncredited
|-
|1960|| ''[[The Horse with the Flying Tail]]'' || Narrator ||
|-
|1967|| ''[[How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (film)|How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying]]'' || Himself / TV Announcer ||
|-
|1969|| ''[[Once You Kiss a Stranger]]'' || Announcer ||
|-
|-1960's - early 1970's|| On-camera and voice announcer for "[[Union Home Loans television commercials]]"
|-
|1971|| ''[[Big Jake]]'' || Narrator (voice) || Uncredited
|-
|1981|| ''The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell'' || Himself / TV Announcer || PBS, 1981–82
|-
|1983|| ''Those Wonderful TV Game Shows'' || Himself / TV Announcer ||NBC, 1983–84
|-
|1991|| ''Here He Is... The One, The Only... Groucho'' || Himself / TV Announcer ||HBO, 1991–92
|-
|2005|| ''[[The Naked Monster]]'' || Narrator (voice) || Final film role
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commonscatinline}}
*{{IMDb name|0271929}}

{{Jack Webb/Mark VII Limited}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenneman, George}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:American game show hosts]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American radio personalities]]
[[Category:Deaths from emphysema]]
[[Category:Game show announcers]]
[[Category:People from Beijing]]
[[Category:Radio and television announcers]]
[[Category:San Francisco State University alumni]]
[[Category:People of the United States Office of War Information]]
[[Category:American expatriates in China]]