Hy Averback; TV Director, Radio Broadcaster

Hy Averback, a versatile actor, director, announcer and producer whose credits spanned the golden years of radio and television, is dead.

The onetime announcer for Bob Hope and Jack Paar and producer/director on “MASH,” “F Troop” and many other TV shows was 76. He died Oct. 14 after open-heart surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

As an actor, he had film roles in “The Benny Goodman Story” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and on television he was a regular on “Tonight” and “Our Miss Brooks.”

Perhaps his most distinctive character was the wartime Tokyo Mose, America’s tongue-in-cheek answer to Tokyo Rose. He broadcast to U.S. fighting forces during the war from Guadalcanal over the self-styled Mosquito Network and, after the war, continued to be heard over Tokyo Radio.

It was a show devoted to recorded music and live humor and was among his proudest accomplishments, his wife, Dorothy, said.

After the war, Averback worked for Paar and Hope on radio on NBC. He moved into television in the 1950s and produced or directed “Meet Corliss Archer,” “The Gertrude Berg Show,” “The Dick Powell Show,” “The Flying Nun,” “McCloud” and dozens of other series.

He also did pilot shows for Jimmy Durante, helped launch “The Love Boat” and did specials for Don Rickles and many episodes of “The Donna Reed Show.”

His most recent appearance was in the documentary “Jack Paar: As I Was Saying.”

Besides his wife, he is survived by two sons, a daughter, a sister and a grandson.

Contributions in his name may be made to the Motion Picture and Television Fund or the Samuel Goldwyn Foundation Children’s Center.