Charlie O’Donnell, who spent 28 years as the offstage announcer for Wheel Of Fortune, has died. He was 78. O’Donnell was a master of the suspense-laden extended vowel—every drawn-out “Wheeeeel” was a miniature cliffhanger—who began his TV career working as the announcer of American Bandstand for 10 years, and served as an L.A.-area DJ and newscaster throughout the ’60s and ’70s. He was also the announcer for The Beatles’ shows at both Dodger Stadium and the Hollywood Bowl, for Pope John Paul’s visit to the Universal Amphitheatre in 1987 (“Poooooooope John Paul!” is probably not how he introduced him), and also worked on other game shows like The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, The Gong Show, Tic Tac Dough, To Tell The Truth, Joker’s Wild, and many more.