Bill Kennedy

Willard "Bill" Kennedy (June 27, 1908 – January 27, 1997) was an American actor, voice artist, and host of the long-running Detroit-based television show, Bill Kennedy at the Movies. He began his career as a staff announcer in radio; Kennedy's voice narrates the opening of the television series Adventures of Superman. Career Kennedy was born June 27, 1908, in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He began his media career as a staff announcer at WWJ, The Detroit News. In 1941, he became a Warner Bros. contract player, appearing in dozens of Hollywood movies from 1941 through 1955. He was often cast as a police officer or detective. He played Thierache, the Executioner, who sets fire to Joan (played by Ingrid Bergman) in Joan of Arc (1948), but recounted that after the picture previewed in a neighborhood popular with gays, his one line – "We need more fagots" (a term referring to a bundle of sticks used to burn someone at the stake) – generated loud laughter from the audience during the execution scene. He also played opposite Cary Grant in Destination Tokyo. For the Superman TV series, he was the announcer during its several year run. He appeared off-screen (uncredited) as the wrestling announcer in the 1952 episode, "No Holds Barred;" and on-screen, as one of the radio announcers (uncredited) in the 1953 episode, "Crime Wave"; and as the racetrack announcer in the 1955 episode "Joey". He is believed to have provided the voice on the phone for the 1954 episode, "Beware the Wrecker". Denver Pyle played the part on-screen and had a couple of spoken lines. Kennedy also appeared as a guest star in numerous series, such as The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, The Gene Autry Show, and Death Valley Days.