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HOWARD PETRIE — NBC Announcer
UOWARD PETRIE is known almost exclusively to his friends as “Pete.” Besides being the tallest of National Broadcasting Company x announcers, he has the deepest voice. He was born in Beverly, Mass., in November, 1906. His earliest recollections are fishing along the Atlantic coast. Until he was nine years old, his family lived in so many coast towns of Massachusetts, that he cannot remem¬ ber them all. When he was nine years old his family finally settled permanently in Somerville, Mass., which he calls his home town. The announcer’s early inclinations were toward a vocal career. Between the ages of nine and fourteen, he sang in the choir of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, in Boston, commuting every Sunday from Somerville. During his high school years he was a member of the school glee club and the debating team, and took part in the high school plays. After being graduated from high school in 1924, he worked for a Boston bank. In his off hours he studied voice in the New England Conservatory of Music and sang bass in the quartet of the historic Meeting House Church, in Dorchester, Mass. His entry into broadcasting was sudden. One day in the summer of 1928 a friend, con¬ nected with WBZA, in Boston, commented on the toneful quality of his voice, and suggested the possibility that it might be adapted to radio. Announcing seemed to attract him more than anything else, so he asked his friend to secure an audition for him as an announcer. The audition proved satisfactory and he was invited to do part time announcing for the remainder of the week. Soon after, he was given a position on the permanent announcing staff of WBZA. He remained with this station until June, 1930, when he came to NBC. Petrie’s hobbies are few. He likes horseback riding and the theatre. He has traveled extensively through England and Scotland, and hopes to see the rest of the world some time. His pet grief is rushing into a studio on a hasty assignment, without time to raise the announcer’s “mike” to suit his rangy height.
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