Lee Marshall (born Marshall Aaron Mayer; November 28, 1949 – April 26, 2014) was an American professional wrestling announcer formerly of the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Women of Wrestling (WOW!).[1][2]
| Lee Marshall | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Marshall Aaron Mayer |
| Born | November 28, 1949 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 2014 (aged 64) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Lee Marshall |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Debut | 1968 |
| Retired | 2001 |
Professional wrestling announcing
editWorld Wrestling Federation
editMarshall was briefly with the World Wrestling Federation as a ring announcer. He was the ring announcer for the Los Angeles portion of WrestleMania 2.
American Wrestling Association
editMarshall joined the broadcast team when the AWA Championship Wrestling show was on ESPN.
World Championship Wrestling
editIn January 1996, he signed a three year contract with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he was known as "Stagger Lee" a pun on the Lloyd Price Song of the same name.
Marshall made his WCW Pay Per View debut at Uncensored (1996). Marshall was also one of the announcers at the 1996 World War 3 pay-per-view at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia, covering the third ring with Larry Zbyszko. During the early stages of the three-ring, 60-man Battle Royal, the Four Horsemen and the Dungeon of Doom battled outside the ring and in the ensuing fight, Marshall was knocked down and repeatedly kicked legitimately to the head and chest by the Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian) while on the floor. After the fight moved back toward the locker room, Marshall managed to get himself up and finish calling the match.
In November 1996, Marshall began a weekly 60 second segment on WCW Monday Nitro called "On The Road" when he place a phone call to Tony Schiavone via 1-800-COLLECT from somewhere in America plugging WCW house shows.
In January 1998, TBS added WCW Thunder to their schedule with Marshall as main co-host alongside Tony Schiavone and (real life close friend) Bobby Heenan. Later that year, he would join Mark Madden calling WCW Pay Per View events on the WCW website. Marshall's last WCW appearance was at Starrcade (1998) interviewing The Giant before Marshall left WCW shortly after the PPV due to a contract dispute.
Los Angeles
edit
In 1986, Marshall was the ring announcer for the Los Angeles portion of WrestleMania 2. He was also involved in the Great Western Forum-based Women of Wrestling promotion and served as its play-by-play announcer. He was partnered with company owner David McLane, who served as the color commentator on the syndicated TV show, and worked with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, the color commentator on the WOW pay-per-view on February 4, 2001.
Radio and commercials
editMarshall was also a longtime radio announcer, working at such stations as KABC and KGFJ (now KYPA) and KBLA and KHJ in Los Angeles, KRIZ in Phoenix and CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Detroit). At CKLW, he was one of the anchors for the station's "20/20 News" updates, and at KDAY, he was "King News", bringing attention to the issue of gang violence.[3] Marshall made an appearance in the rap video for "We're All in the Same Gang" as King News telling the gangbangers "they just don't get it."[4]
Other works
editMarshall also did various voices on Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures, including the narrator.
His bass voice is notable within announcing circles, holding the premiere position in that field, the voice of Tony the Tiger (succeeding Thurl Ravenscroft), a position for which Marshall was contracted until 2014.[5]
Death
editMarshall died in Santa Monica on April 26, 2014, of esophageal cancer.[6][7][8] He was 64 years old.
Awards and accomplishments
editReferences
edit- ^ "Christy Hemme, Lee Marshall, Reality Star Trains To Wrestle", wrestlingepicenter.com; accessed April 28, 2014.
- ^ Chawkins, Lee (May 6, 2014). "Lee Marshall dies at 64; voice of Tony the Tiger". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 6, 2015.
- ^ Putting the Rap on Gang Bangers : As KDAY's King News, Lee Marshall uses his on-air pulpit to bully gang members into changing their ways, articles.latimes.com, accessed May 1, 2014
- ^ "We're all the same gang". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19.
- ^ Profile, voice123.com; accessed April 28, 2014.
- ^ "Lee Marshall, Voice Of "Tony The Tiger" Dies Aged 64 In Santa Monica: - Santa Monica Mirror". 30 April 2014.
- ^ "Lee Marshall passes away".
- ^ "Lee Marshall Dies".