Jim Thornton
Thornton in 2016
Born
Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.
OccupationRadio/television announcer
Years active1985–present

Jim Thornton is an American radio and television announcer, news anchor, 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]

In 2021, Thornton joined Sajak and White as the announcer for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on ABC.

On April 26, 2023, Thornton switched places with host Pat Sajak, hosting the bonus round while Sajak served as announcer, as a contestant named Sarah Ward, who was a fan of Thornton, wanted to meet him in-person.[5]

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.

Filmography

TV series

Year Title Role Notes
1996-presentChannel 2 Action NewsTraffic Reporter
2004The Price Is RightTry-Out Announcer10 episodes
The SoupAnnouncer1 episode
2006-2007Celebrity DeathmatchJohnny Gomez16 episodes
2009The Cleveland ShowAnnouncer2 episodes
2010Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!AnnouncerEpisode: "Comedy"
2010-presentWheel of Fortune Announcer2,200 episodes
2021-presentCelebrity Wheel of FortuneAnnouncer22 episodes

Shorts

Year Title Role Notes
2009Let's PolluteNarrator

Movies

Year Title Role Notes
2001Monsters, Inc.Commercial Narrator

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2006Hitman: Blood MoneyAdditional voices
2008WALL-EOld-Time Announcer
2010Mafia IIDJ
2012Wheel of FortuneAnnouncer

Personal Life

Thornton is married to Sue, and they have a son, Sam.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ "Jim Thornton". CBS Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  2. ↑ Henderson-Bentley, Angela (20 January 2011). "Huntington native takes a spin on the 'Wheel'". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Episode #5336, original air date December 20, 2010
  4. 1 2 Henderson-Bentley, Angela (15 June 2011). "Huntington's Jim Thornton realizes lifelong dream on 'Wheel of Fortune'". The Herald-Dispatch. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  5. ↑ Weisholtz, Drew (27 April 2023). "Pat Sajak was missing from 'Wheel of Fortune' bonus round. Here's the delightful reason why". today.com. NBC Universal. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "VETERAN RADIO ANNOUNCER JIM THORNTON IS THE NEW VOICE OF "WHEEL OF FORTUNE"". paramountpressexpress.com. Paramount. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Jim Thornton". paramountpressexpress.com. Paramount. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
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