{{Short description|American broadcaster (1918–1996)}} '''William A. Hanrahan''' (September 14, 1918 – August 7, 1996)<ref>[http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?letter=y&lastname=HANRAHAN&firstname=WILLIAM&ssn=043-16-1597&birth=14+Sep+1918&death=07+Aug+1996&middlename=A&namesiffix= Social Security Death Index]</ref><ref>[http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/program.pl?ID=614430 Obituary] on ''NBC Nightly News'', August 9, 1996 Vanderbilt Television News Archive.</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080511234510/http://www.monitorbeacon.com/guestbook.html Monitor Guestbook]}} "I just finished your terrific book on Monitor (Take Two) . . . "</ref> was an American radio and television announcer, perhaps best known as the "Voice of NBC News".
Hanrahan's broadcasting career dated back to the 1940s, when he worked at WELI radio in New Haven, Connecticut,<ref>[http://www.hamdendailynews.com/ArchivesGNDec05.html "Out of the Mouth of Radio Legend Bud Finch,"] by J. R. Morton. ''[http://www.hamdendailynews.com Hamden Daily News]'', December 19, 2005. Retrieved on May 22, 2008. (See also [https://archive.today/20110812042312/http://web.mac.com/hawkline2/iWeb/Site%203/Bud%20Remembers.html].)</ref> and later went to WNHC radio (now WYBC) where he was a newscaster.<ref>Sies, Luther F. ''Encyclopedia of American Radio, 1920–1960''. Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Co., Inc., 2000.</ref> By 1950, he had joined the announcing staff of NBC in New York.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/Home/RadioGoldin_Records?searchString=Hanrahan,%20Bill&type=Artists |title=Bill Hanrahan |access-date=2010-06-04 |quote= |publisher=Radio Gold }}</ref> His radio announcing credits included ''Inheritance'', ''The Eternal Light'', ''Monitor'', and a 1976 special called ''The First Fabulous Fifty'' <ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080511234045/http://www.monitorbeacon.com/sounddownloads.html Monitor Audio Downloads]}} (with audio from ''The First Fabulous Fifty'')</ref> which was a companion to the network's 50th anniversary television special, ''The First Fifty Years''.
Hanrahan's early television credits include ''The Nat King Cole Show'', for which he was one of the announcers during its short-lived 1956–57 run. He also did a few other entertainment-based shows over the years, including two December episodes of ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1981 (the December 5 episode with host Tim Curry and musical guest Meat Loaf and the December 12 episode with host Bill Murray and musical guests The Spinners and The Yale Whiffenpoofs) on which he substituted for Mel Brandt (who was hired to be an announcer for that season following the brief departure of Don Pardo).<ref>[http://www.saturday-night-live.com/snl/notso-faq/thecastandcrew.html ''Saturday Night Live'' "Not-So-FAQ – The Cast and Crew"] ("Q: How many announcers have there been?")</ref><ref>[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/sat-night-live/faq/ Saturday Night Live FAQ: General Questions] ("Subject: Didn't somebody else announce in the early 80's?")</ref>
His greatest notability came as announcer for numerous NBC News programs, including the ''Huntley-Brinkley Report'' and its successor, ''NBC Nightly News'', until his retirement in 1983. He handled announcing duties for the network's coverage of political conventions, space launches, assassinations, and other major stories during his tenure. His voice became as familiar to a generation of viewers as those of fellow staff announcers Don Pardo, Bill Wendell, Wayne Howell, and Hanrahan's eventual successor as ''Nightly News'' announcer, Howard Reig.
Hanrahan died on August 7, 1996, in Fairfield, Connecticut, at the age of 77.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0360545|name=Bill Hanrahan}} * [https://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/Home/RadioGoldin_Records?searchString=Hanrahan,%20Bill&type=Artists Bill Hanrahan radio credits] * {{YouTube|_xmsQrZ8MHY|Video clip of opening of November 21, 1980 edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' announced by Hanrahan}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanrahan, Bill}} Category:1918 births Category:1996 deaths Category:American radio personalities Category:NBC network announcers Category:NBCUniversal people Category:NBC News people Category:People from Fairfield, Connecticut Category:Radio and television announcers Category:Television personalities from Connecticut Category:20th-century American people