'Lone Ranger' announcer dead at 86
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida -- The voice that summoned millions of children to the radio to hear the exploits of "The Lone Ranger" has fallen silent.
Bob Hite Sr. died Friday, two days after slipping into a coma. He was 86.
Hite began his announcing career in the 1930s at a Detroit radio station, where he alerted youngsters that "The Lone Ranger," "The Green Hornet" and other shows were about to begin. He also introduced a young Frank Sinatra when the singer debuted with the Tommy Dorsey band.
When those children grew up, says veteran news anchor Walter Cronkite, who often sailed with Hite, they never forgot that voice. When other boaters would pass, Cronkite says, they would yell out, "Give us the ranger, give us the ranger!"
Hite's response, delivered in a booming baritone? "From out of the past came the thundering hoof beats of the great horse Silver!"