Gary Owens (born Gary Altman on May 10, 1936) is a disc jockey and voice actor born in Mitchell, South Dakota.

Owens was a journeyman DJ/announcer throughout the midwest and southern U.S. in the late 1950s, finally ending up at radio station KEWB, Oakland, California in 1959. He moved to its sister station KFWB in Los Angeles. From there, he joined the staff of KMPC in 1962, where he remained for the next two decades working the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift, Monday through Friday. A gifted punster, Owens became known for his surrealistic humor. Among his trademarks were daily appearances by The Story Lady (played by Joan Gerber), the Rumor of the Day, myriad varieties of "The Nurney Song", and the introduction of the nonsense word "insegrevious", which was briefly included in the Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary.

During this period, Owens became more widely known as the voice of the eponymous TV cartoon characters in Roger Ramjet and Space Ghost, the excitable narrator/announcer from The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, and perhaps most importantly, as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, all the while continuing his show on KMPC. He also hosted the daily game show Letters to Laugh-In during its brief run in 1969.

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NPR Topics: Arts & Entertainment

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NYT > Arts

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Arts & Culture

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Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0000
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Christian Science Monitor | Arts & Entertainment

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