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| Rich Fields | |
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 Photo by: David Bergman |
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| Born | Richard Wayne Fields November 30, 1960 Bay Village, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation | Game show announcer, Host, Spokesperson, Voice-over artist, Actor, Meteorologist |
| Years active | 1995–present |
Richard Wayne "Rich" Fields (born November 30, 1960) is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer and meteorologist, best known for being the announcer of the American version of the television game show The Price Is Right, after he succeeded Rod Roddy in 2004.
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Early life and career
Fields was born in Bay Village, Ohio and raised in Avon, Ohio, before moving to Clearwater, Florida in 1976. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1983 with a degree in broadcasting and had a 25 year career as a radio personality, including a ten year stint at KCBS-FM in Los Angeles. In his early career, Fields worked as a show host and announcer at Universal Studios in Hollywood. Fields is a well-known voice-over personality and has done hundreds of television and radio commercials. In 1995, Fields became the announcer for the Florida Lottery's Flamingo Fortune television game show (a Goodson Production) and held that position for three seasons.
In early 2000, Fields returned to college at Mississippi State University[1] to study meteorology and later became a television meteorologist. After an internship at WFLA-TV in Tampa Florida, Fields was offered the morning weather position at CBS-2 KPSP-LP in Palm Springs, California. Fields was later promoted to Chief Meteorologist for CBS-2 and worked for the station until May 2004.
The Price Is Right and other works
In March 2004, while still working for KPSP, Fields auditioned for the announcing role on The Price Is Right that was vacated by the death of Rod Roddy and on April 4, 2004 CBS announced that Rich Fields would be the show's new announcer. Legendary show host Bob Barker introduced Fields to viewers nation-wide on the episode that aired April 27 of that year. In 2008, one year after Drew Carey took over the host position, Rich began to regularly appear on camera. By the start of season 37, and continuing on, Fields would enjoy much more camera time than either of his predecessors. Fields and Carey regularly interact on camera during one-bid prize descriptions and showcases. Fields has also appeared on stage with Drew Carey and his "Comedy Allstars" shows at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV.
As an aside, in 1978, Fields attended a Price Is Right taping. During a question-and-answer segment with then announcer Johnny Olson, Fields asked how he could get Olson's job. Johnny brought Rich up on stage and had Rich belt out into the microphone, "Johnny Olson! Come on down!" Olson pretended to be annoyed, and said "Gimme back that microphone, kid, before Mr. Barker hears you backstage!. Now go sit down".[1] Twenty-six years later, Fields would be standing at Olson's podium saying "Come on Down" for a living.
In 2006, Fields appeared in the FOX sitcom The War at Home as an energetic game show host opposite Michael Rappaport. Also in 2006, Fields was called to do voice-over on the ABC comedy According to Jim. In 2007 Fields appeared as himself on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother with host Bob Barker in the episode titled "Showdown".
In addition to appearing on both the daytime and prime-time versions of The Price is Right, Fields has also made appearances on other television shows including Gameshow Marathon, Inside Edition, The Late Late Show and many others. In 2006 Fields co-hosted the Orlando Christmas parade on Superstation WGN. In 2007 Fields was the host of the first-ever Game Show Hall of Fame Awards in Las Vegas. At that show Fields accepted Merv Griffin's induction into the Hall of Fame at the request of the Griffin family.
Los Angeles radio listeners of the popular KIIS-FM program, On Air with Ryan Seacrest, can hear Fields routinely deliver lines ranging from "Ryan's gonna pay your bills!" to "You just won $10,000". Seacrest said during an appearance by Fields on his show (10/25/07), that Fields "Is the glue that holds The Price is Right together. His voice makes me feel safe. He is the unsung hero of the show".
On May 1, 2008, Fields appeared on GSN Live on Game Show Network. On June 10, 2008, Fields guest starred on NBC's Last Comic Standing as the announcer for the event "Last Comic Smackdown". Prior to this, Fields provided narration for GSN's Top 10 Countdown of the greatest game show hosts during the segment on Bob Barker, with Bob being in the #1 position.
Fields is a former cancer patient having survived testicular and lower lymphatic cancer. He champions free cancer screening and detection programs and volunteers his time at L.A. area animal fundraisers.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Blits, Stan. Come on Down! Behind the Big Doors at The Price Is Right. ISBN 978-0-06-135011-5.
External links
- Rich Fields' Official Website
- Rich Fields' TPIR Twitter Page
- Rich Fields' Personal Twitter Page
- Rich Fields' Bio at CBS - The Price Is Right
- Rich Fields at the Internet Movie Database
- The Price Is Right Website
| Preceded by Rod Roddy 1986–2003 |
The Price Is Right (US game show) announcer 2004–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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