Gary Owens

Trivia

• When Gary was on radio in the 1960's, he created some comic characters for his show such as the gruff old man Earl C. Festoon and his wife Phoebe Festoon, the stuffy old businessman Endocrine J. Sternwallow, the goofy good ol' boy, Merle Clyde Gumpf, and the crotchety old cantankerous Mergenthaler Waisleywillow.
• Gary narrated phonograph records that contained clips from movies of 1930's in the 1960's.
• Gary used to do bizarre give aways on the radio station, KMPC. One example was an autographed picture of the Harbor Freeway.
• Gary authored a book called How to Make a Million Dollars With Your Voice (or Lose Your Tonsils Trying) in 2004.
• Gary has been a scriptwriter for Jay Ward Productions.
• Gary has done over 30,000 commercials.
• Gary wrote a book called The (What to Do While You're Holding the) Phone Book in 1973. It was a comedic history of the telephone.
• Gary's parents were Bernard Joseph Altman, a county treasurer and sheriff, and Venetta, an educator and county auditor.
• Gary's trademark is to have his hand cupped over his ear while he is talking into the microphone.
• In the year 2000, Gary made a special appearance for the U.S. Army troops stationed in Korea at Camp Garry Owen.

Quotes

• "This is your offstage announcer reminding you... that this is your offstage announcer."
• " And now here he is, Gary Owens. Thank you very much, me!"
• " The technical difficulty originally scheduled for this time has been postponed - due to technical difficulties."
• " See your doctor before it's too late. And if it's too late, come back in the morning, when he's open."
• " It's been downright insegrevious, folks!"
• " If anyone has the attention span of a crazed amoeba, they should enjoy all of these episodes!"
• " Community history is something that people need to pay attention to."
• “There's a difference between being funny with your boys and being funny with strangers. Everyone's like, hey you should be a comedian. It's not that easy!”
• “80 percent is true; 20 percent is exaggerated truth.”
• “The people of Cascade County have been so generous in sending help to the areas affected by the hurricanes, and we are confident that those same people will help us achieve our goal, which will allow us to continue meeting needs right here in our own community,”