Don Pardo wasn't just the voice of a generation, but of many generations. None of us can imagine how the opening of Saturday Night Live will sound without his sonorous baritone. And pity the announcer who will follow one of the greatest voices of the medium.  While digging around the internet, I was thrilled to find this video of Don's career highlights and sweet and funny tributes from the SNL cast members that was shown at an NBC party honoring his 60 years as an employee there.  I was in attendance, but it was only my 25th anniversary, so no video for me.  I am not sure if this has been shown publicly.  After the video played and the crowd cheered, Don gave an emotional speech about how he was dealing with his wife's illness and how his work at NBC was helping him get through the difficult ordeal.  We all had tears in our eyes listening to his humble remarks.  What a class act.  

I also found a wonderful collection of interviews on the Archive of American Television website.  They have a library of one-on-one conversations with many legends of television. And there is a three hour long interview with Don.  It's set up so you can jump around from topic to topic. Very smart!  Here's the link for that interview, and check out talks with all the other great pioneers of the industry at emmytvlegends.org .. a great find for any student of TV history.  

RIP Don Pardo, you will be missed.