# Rod Roddy
**Rod Roddy** (September 28, 1937 – October 27, 2003) was an American radio and television announcer, known above all as the announcer of the CBS game show *The Price Is Right* from 1986 until his death, where his booming voice called studio audience members to "Come on down!"[1](https://gameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/price-right-announcer-rod-roddy-dies) Before succeeding [Johnny Olson](https://www.edgepedia.org/johnny-olson) on that show, he narrated the television satire *Soap* and announced a string of game shows including *Whew!*, *[Press Your Luck](https://www.edgepedia.org/press-your-luck)*, and the original *Love Connection*.[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | September 28, 1937, Fort Worth, Texas (obituaries gave September 18, 1937; CBS reported his birth year as 1936)[1](https://gameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) • [4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/) |
| Died | October 27, 2003, age 66, Century City Hospital, Los Angeles, after colon and breast cancer (CBS also cited prostate cancer)[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163) • [4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/) |
| Signature role | Announcer of *The Price Is Right*, 1986 to 2003, 17 years, succeeding Johnny Olson[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/price-right-announcer-rod-roddy-dies) |
| Trademark | "Come on down!" and flamboyant, brightly colored Thai silk sport coats[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/) |
| Other game shows | *Whew!* (1979-80), *Battlestars* (1981-82), *Hit Man* (1983), *Press Your Luck* (1983-86), *Love Connection* (1983-85)[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163) |
| Voice acting | Narrator of *Soap* (1977-1981); voice of "Mike the Microphone" on Disney's *House of Mouse*[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) • [3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163) |
## Early life and radio career
Roddy was born in [Fort Worth, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/fort-worth-texas). According to the Los Angeles Times obituary, he attended [Texas Christian University](https://www.edgepedia.org/texas-christian-university), where a fraternity brother helped him get a job at the now-defunct radio station KXOL, and he dropped out in his sophomore year to play piano and try comedy in Miami nightclubs before returning to radio.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html) A game show fan site and the Television Academy notice describe him as a Texas Christian University graduate, so his completion of the degree is reported inconsistently.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/price-right-announcer-rod-roddy-dies)
He worked as a disc jockey and talk show host at stations including KLIF and KNUS-FM in Dallas and spent five years at WKBW-AM in [Buffalo, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/buffalo-new-york), in the 1960s.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html) In his disc jockey days he was known as "Hot Rod Roddy".[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html) His radio career ran through stations in Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami, Orlando, Little Rock, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, Buffalo, New York, and Los Angeles.[7](https://www.nexttv.com/news/price-right-voice-silenced-101070)
After moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s he became a commercial voice-over artist, recording spots for Pennzoil, Pillsbury pudding, [Kal Kan](https://www.edgepedia.org/whiskas), and Kitty Litter.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html)
## Soap and early game shows
In 1977, Roddy replaced [Casey Kasem](https://www.edgepedia.org/casey-kasem) as the announcer-narrator of the ABC comedy series *Soap*, serving through the show's 1977 to 1981 run and delivering its familiar closing line, "Confused? You won't be after this episode of Soap".[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html)
His first game show announcing job came on the short-lived CBS show *Whew!* (later *Celebrity Whew!*), which ran from April 23, 1979, to May 30, 1980.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) CBS dates the start of his run of game show work to 1979 as well.[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163) Over the next several years he announced *Battlestars* (1981-1982), *Hit Man* (1983), *Press Your Luck* (1983-1986), and the original syndicated run of *Love Connection* (1983-1985), whose host was [Chuck Woolery](https://www.edgepedia.org/chuck-woolery).[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163) The *Press Your Luck* host was [Peter Tomarken](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-tomarken); the Los Angeles Times printed a correction after initially confusing him with Woolery.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html)
## The Price Is Right
When Johnny Olson, the original announcer of the 1972 revival of *The Price Is Right*, died in October 1985, the show used a rotation of stand-in announcers including [Gene Wood](https://www.edgepedia.org/gene-wood), Bob Hilton, and Rich Jeffries.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) Roddy was among those who auditioned, and on February 17, 1986, he took over the announcer's booth permanently; former producer Roger Dobkowitz said he liked Roddy best and that he was a CBS favorite.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) An IMDb trivia entry reports that CBS programming executive Barbara Hunter suggested Roddy for the job and that he received the fewest on-air audition episodes before being hired.[8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0734509/trivia/) He also announced for [Tom Kennedy](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-kennedy) on the syndicated nighttime version of the show.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy)
Roddy served as announcer for 17 years, until his death in 2003, and he was the show's longest-serving announcer up to that point.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/price-right-announcer-rod-roddy-dies) • [1](https://gameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) His signature call, "Come on down!", was inherited from Olson; Roddy's own hallmarks were his exuberant delivery and his wardrobe.[1](https://gameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) Host Bob Barker said Roddy started wearing the jackets when he joined the show and called him "important to the success of the show".[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/)
**The jackets.** Roddy owned at least 500 of the brightly colored, sequined sport coats, which he said filled 80 percent of his [San Fernando Valley](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-fernando-valley) home. He sourced fabrics across Southeast Asia, and Paramount's release describes him as the official ambassador of Chaing Mai, Thailand, which he traveled to frequently to create his Thai silk wardrobe.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html) • [3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163) He told the Omaha World-Herald in 2002: "It's like, how many grown men get to wear that kind of stuff?"[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html)
**Camera time and later years.** Beginning in the show's 31st season, Roddy's on-air camera appearances were largely eliminated. The production company FremantleMedia was said to have a policy against announcers appearing on camera, though a 2009 interview with former model [Holly Hallstrom](https://www.edgepedia.org/holly-hallstrom) later called that policy claim a fabrication; fan accounts attribute the change instead to a falling-out between Roddy and Barker over pay.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) During his illness he found voice work on the [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) with a more flexible schedule, and he continued announcing with fill-ins rotating in as long as he could. His final week of shows aired the week of October 13 to 17, 2003, and his last day was October 20; he died a week later.[5](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy)
## Illness and advocacy
Roddy was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent surgery on September 11, 2001. In March 2003 his left breast was removed after a diagnosis of male breast cancer, and chemotherapy failed to prevent recurrence; he said the two cancers were unconnected.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html) He spent his final two months hospitalized and died on October 27, 2003.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/)
**Advocacy.** After his diagnosis he became a public advocate for early cancer detection, saying, "I could have prevented all this with a colonoscopy". He also urged men to get mammograms, noting that breast cancer is diagnosed in about 1,500 American men a year.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/) Memorial contributions were directed to the Rod Roddy Memorial Fund of the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html)
## Other work and legacy
Roddy played himself in a 1998 episode of *Martial Law* and a 1999 episode of *That '70s Show*, and voiced "Mike the Microphone" in the Disney cartoon *House of Mouse* and the video *Mickey's House of Villains*.[3](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163) He was succeeded as *Price Is Right* announcer by Rich Fields in 2004.[1](https://gameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy)
He was interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth, where his tombstone carries the catchphrase "Come on down!".[1](https://gameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy) Barker, in his statement after Roddy's death, emphasized his humor and courage; Roddy had continued working through more than two years of illness.[4](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/)
## References
1. [Rod Roddy, Game Shows Wiki (Fandom)](https://gameshows.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy)
2. [Price Is Right announcer Rod Roddy dies, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/price-right-announcer-rod-roddy-dies)
3. [ROD RODDY DIES IN LOS ANGELES, Paramount Press Express (CBS)](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/?view=5163)
4. ['Price Is Right's' Rod Roddy Dies, CBS News / AP](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/price-is-rights-rod-roddy-dies/)
5. [Rod Roddy, The Price Is Right Wiki (Fandom)](https://priceisright.fandom.com/wiki/Rod_Roddy)
6. [Robert 'Rod' Roddy, 66; Was Colorful 'Price Is Right' Figure, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-oct-29-me-roddy29-story.html)
7. [Price Is Right Voice Silenced, Broadcasting & Cable / Next TV](https://www.nexttv.com/news/price-right-voice-silenced-101070)
8. [Rod Roddy - Trivia, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0734509/trivia/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Television presenters and hosts › Game show hosts and announcers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license