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Whose deep and solemn voice is reading the news in this clip?

Broadcast Date: May 7, 1943

• He graduated from Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., in 1937.

• For his work on CBC Radio, he first became known as the Voice of Doom; later he was called the Voice of Canada.

• In 1964, he had a number one hit song on the Billboard charts.

• By 1967, he was so renowned the world over that a U.N. General Assembly debate ground to a halt as he took his seat in the gallery.

• In the 1980s he hosted a wilderness show.

Whose deep and solemn voice is reading the news in this clip?

• The voice belongs to actor Lorne Greene. During World War II, Greene got the nickname the Voice of Doom because, as a news reader for CBC, his deep, luminous voice became synonymous with the dreaded news from the front. As the news from overseas improved, his moniker took on a similarly more upbeat tone. This clip is the only known recording in the CBC Radio archive of Greene reading the news during this period.

• After several distinguished roles on CBC Radio, Greene moved on to television, and eventually to U.S. television where he was cast Ben Cartwright, the father on the weekly western program Bonanza. That role earned him worldwide audiences and he became one the most beloved TV dads of all time. He later starred in Battlestar Galactica and Lorne Greene's New Wilderness.

• Greene's song Ringo hit number one on the Billboard chart in 1964.

• Lorne Greene passed away on Sept. 11, 1987.

Whose deep and solemn voice is reading the news in this clip?

Medium: Radio

Program: National News Bulletin

Broadcast Date: May 7, 1943

Duration: 5:59

Last updated:
April 9, 2008