Melville "Mel" Brandt (June 18, 1919 – March 14, 2008[1]) was an actor and NBC staff announcer. He served as the primary announcer for Saturday Night Live in season 7, replacing Don Pardo; he provided smaller voice-overs in later years following Pardo's return. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.
Brandt joined NBC around 1948. His radio announcing credits included The Adventures of Frank Merriwell, Author Meets the Critics, and The Eternal Light. In 1975, he announced for a syndicated radio program called Faces of Love.
On television, Brandt's familiar voice was heard over the second animated version of the NBC Peacock from 1962 to 1975, announcing that the program was in "living color" on NBC. He also announced the opening of the television soap opera, The Doctors. His introduction was "The Doctors: The Emmy Award winning program, dedicated to the brotherhood of healing." (In a bit of irony, he missed a 1978 episode and Don Pardo took his place.[2]) He was also announcer on GE College Bowl on NBC from 1963 to 1970; his introduction was "Match wits with the champions in America's favorite question and answer game, live from New York, the General Electric College Bowl," and after a brief plug for General Electric would introduce "the man with the questions, Robert Earle."
Brandt was one of the stars of the first television soap opera, Faraway Hill, broadcast in 1946 on the DuMont Television Network.
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