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{{Refimprove|date=October 2011}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Facenda
| image =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|8|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Portsmouth, Virginia]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| occupation = [[Presenter|broadcaster]], [[sports announcer]], [[news anchor]], [[disc jockey]], [[radio personality]]
| years_active = 1935–1984
| death_date = {{death date and age|1984|9|26|1913|8|8}}
| death_place = [[Havertown, Pennsylvania]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| nickname = The Voice of NFL Films
}}
'''John Thomas Ralph Augustine James Facenda''' (August 8, 1913{{spaced ndash}}September 26, 1984) was an [[United States|American]] [[Presenter|broadcaster]] and [[sports announcer]]. He was a fixture on [[Philadelphia]] [[radio]] and [[television]] for decades, and achieved national fame as a narrator for [[NFL Films]] and ''[[Football Follies]]''. Through his work with NFL Films, Facenda was known by many [[National Football League]] fans as "The Voice of God."<ref name=God>[http://www.phillymag.com/articles/icons_the_voice_of_god/ "Icons: The Voice of God," by Matthew Teague (Philadelphia Magazine)]</ref>

==Biography==

===Radio and television work===
John Facenda attended [[Roman Catholic High School]] in [[Center City, Philadelphia]] and then later [[Villanova University]] but dropped out. After leaving school, he found employment with the now-defunct ''[[Philadelphia Public Ledger]]'' [[newspaper]]. The ''Public Ledger'' also owned a radio station, [[WHAT (AM)|WHAT]]. Facenda's radio career began when the announcer for WHAT's ''[[Scholastic Sports Review]]'' program became sick one day, and Facenda was asked to substitute. Soon after, WHAT hired Facenda as an announcer.

Facenda left WHAT after the station's manager refused to reimburse Facenda [[United States dollar|$]]5 (equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|5|1932|r=2}}}} today) for a pair of [[Leather|pigskin]] gloves he wore while knocking ice off the station's antenna (one of his duties).<ref name=God/> He moved to [[New York City]] and worked for a few years as the program director for the ''Ticker News Service'', another radio-based business.{{Citation needed|date=October 2011}}

He returned to Philadelphia in 1935 and started working for [[WTEL (AM)|WIP Radio]], where he would remain until 1952. He began his work in television at [[WCAU-TV]] (which was then Philadelphia's [[CBS]] television affiliate) in 1948. He anchored his first newscast on the station on September 13, 1948. He started working full-time at the station after leaving WIP in 1952. Facenda ended his newscasts with the familiar refrain, ''"Have a nice night tonight and a good day tomorrow. Goodnight, all."'' The phrase even found its way into the [[1956 in film|1956]] film ''[[The Burglar]]'', starring [[Jayne Mansfield]] and [[Dan Duryea]].

During the 1950s and 1960s, Facenda's was the dominant news broadcast in the Philadelphia area (beating the combined ratings of the two other network affiliates) and he achieved iconic status in Philadelphia as both a face and voice before his rise to national prominence. His newscasts, originally just five minutes long, were eventually expanded to 30 minutes. Facenda and WCAU-TV pioneered the television news format as it is still practiced today: News-Sports-Weather.{{citation needed|date=October 2010}}

Among Facenda's writers was [[John Du Bois]], a noted newsman with the [[Philadelphia Bulletin]] and [[County Press]].

===NFL Films===
One night in [[1965 NFL season|1965]], Facenda went to a local [[tavern]], the [[RDA Club]], which happened to be showing footage produced by [[NFL Films]]. He enjoyed the slow-motion game sequences that were already an NFL Films trademark and would later recall:

{{cquote|I started to rhapsodize about how beautiful it was. [[Ed Sabol]], the man who founded NFL Films, happened to be at the bar. He came up to me and asked, 'If I give you a script, could you repeat what you just did?' I said I would try.}}

Thus began Facenda's association with NFL Films, one that would continue until his death. Facenda narrated many highlight films during his career with the company. His dulcet [[baritone]] was the perfect match for the highly dramatic nature of the footage he narrated, and earned him the nickname "The Voice of God." Probably one of the best-remembered (and most frequently-quoted) examples of Facenda's NFL Films narration is something he never actually said: ''"the frozen [[tundra]] of [[Lambeau Field]]"'' was a quote sportscaster [[Chris Berman]] made up, mimicking Facenda's voice when he said it. [[Steve Sabol]], son of Ed, claimed that "John may have made a game seem more important than it was because he read lines with a dramatic directness"<ref>NFL Lost Treasures episode #19 2002</ref> [[Bob Costas]] called Facenda's voice "one of the most remarkable instruments in the history of broadcasting."

Facenda was at the pinnacle of his style in [[1974 NFL season|1974]]'s "The Championship Chase" with his recitation of “[[The Autumn Wind]],” a football poem written by [[Steve Sabol]], personifying fall weather:

<blockquote>
The Autumn wind is a pirate 
Blustering in from sea 
With a rollicking song he sweeps along 
Swaggering boisterously. 
His face is weatherbeaten 
He wears a hooded sash 
With a silver hat about his head 
And a bristling black mustache 
He growls as he storms the country 
A villain big and bold 
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake 
As he robs them of their gold. 
The Autumn wind is a Raider 
Pillaging just for fun 
He'll knock you 'round and upside down 
And laugh when he's conquered and won.
</blockquote>

The poem and its accompanying theme music have become an anthem of the [[Oakland Raiders]]. It is also known as the "Battle Hymn of the [[Raider Nation]]."<ref>http://tfdssports.com/2009-articles/the-original-real-nation-the-raider-nation.html</ref>

===Speaking style===
To this day, Facenda's speaking style remains the sound most closely linked with NFL Films, and, in some ways, football narration itself. The style is frequently emulated, often in a [[parody|parodic]] manner, in contemporary sports news, advertising, and even other sports-themed entertainment (for example, [[Green Day|Green Day's]] music video for the [[1999 in music|1999 song]] "[[Nice Guys Finish Last]]"). Similarly, Facenda's voice is so closely associated with the NFL that in July 2006, Facenda's son filed a lawsuit against the NFL, claiming that Facenda's voice was used without permission in an NFL Network program promoting the video game ''[[Madden 2006]]''.

A room in the internet virtual Professional Football History Museum is called "The Facenda Audio-Visual Room" in Facenda's honor.

===End of anchorman career===
In the early 1970s, rival WFIL-TV (now [[WPVI-TV]]) adopted the highly successful ''[[Action News]]'' format based on the news broadcasts heard on [[Top 40]] radio stations and heavily influenced by [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] newspapers. Brief coverage was given to almost every event happening in town. WCAU's ratings collapsed, and, as was a common practice, network executives decided that they needed a younger anchor to complement the 60-year-old Facenda. In [[1972 in television|1972]], 27-year-old [[Judd Hambrick]] was brought in as co-anchor. With the first wave of baby boomers entering broadcasting, Facenda graciously decided to step down and make way for the next generation. His last newscast as anchor for WCAU was on March 23, 1973. Many viewers were upset over the loss of Facenda, and his retirement failed to improve ratings.

After stepping down as anchor, Facenda continued to work for WCAU in various capacities as a narrator, program director, and host of special reports. He was co-anchor for the station's coverage of [[Pope John Paul II]]'s visit to Philadelphia in 1979. For many years, he was also the familiar voice of the [[John Wanamaker]] department store Christmas Light Show. In 1983, he narrated the NFL Films production of "Frontiers and Beyond," the tour documentary of the rock band [[Journey (band)|Journey]]. Twelve days before Facenda died, he was presented with the Governors Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Philadelphia chapter of the [[National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences]]. Facenda was named Person of the Year by the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia in 1971 and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1992.

John Facenda died of [[lung cancer]] on September 26, 1984 at the age of 71. His final voice-over work for NFL Films was the highlight film for [[Super Bowl XVIII]].

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* {{Find a Grave|8453023}}
* [http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/johnfacenda.html Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia web page]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Facenda, John}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:Villanova University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Portsmouth, Virginia]]
[[Category:American television journalists]]
[[Category:American broadcast news analysts]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:National Football League announcers]]
[[Category:NFL Films people]]
[[Category:NFL Films]]
[[Category:Television anchors from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:American people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer]]
[[Category:Burials in Pennsylvania]]

John Facenda - Revision history

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