Jim Thornton
Jim Thornton | |
|---|---|
 Thornton in 2016 | |
| Born | |
| Occupation | Radio/television announcer |
| Years active | 1985–present |
Jim Thornton is an American radio and television announcer 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.
Early life and education
Born in Huntington, West Virginia, 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
Radio
Thornton 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
Thornton 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]
Voiceover work
Thornton 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
TV series
| 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 |
| 2016 | Jeopardy! | Host | 1 episode |
| 2021-present | Celebrity Wheel of Fortune | Announcer | 22 episodes |
Shorts
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Let's Pollute | Narrator |
Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Monsters, Inc. | Commercial Narrator |
Video games
| 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 |
References
- ^ "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.