Edward Thorgerson; Pioneer Radio Announcer
Edward Thorgerson, a pioneer radio announcer who helped bring news of the Lindbergh kidnapping to the country, has died at his home here at age 95.
Thorgerson was a sports and news announcer in the early days of radio, and later became a familiar voice to millions of moviegoers as the newsreel announcer for Fox Movietone News.
As a young announcer for NBC, where he began his career in 1927, Thorgerson broadcast live from Hopewell, N.J., when aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby was kidnapped in March 1932.
That same year, he scooped the competition by bringing Olympic figure skating champion Sonja Henie to his microphone while covering the winter Olympics at Lake Placid, N.Y.
On newsreels, his staccato delivery made his voice a familiar part of going to the movies.
Thorgerson also worked for CBS and was a news commentator for Dumont Television in New York when he retired in 1959. Previously he worked as a producer and editor for the popular “March of Time” series and as an independent producer of radio and television commercials.
He moved to Wolfeboro a few years ago to be near family members, who were nearby when he died Monday.
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