Lee Knudsen Was Much More Than A Pleasant Voice

By CHARLES E. BROWN October 22, 1999 –THE SEATTLE TIMES
For more than three decades, Leland “Lee” Knudsen was a familiar voice to radio and television listeners in the Puget Sound area.
Classical-music lovers could depend on him for tidbits of background about composers and compositions. And when it came to old movies, he made a point of noting who had performed in what. “That’s what made him popular as a radio and TV announcer,” said his wife, Nancy Knudsen, who also has made a career in the broadcast industry. Mr. Knudsen, a longtime Tacoma resident, died Saturday (Oct.16) from complications of Parkinson’s disease and diabetes at the Tacoma Lutheran Home and Retirement Community in north Tacoma. He had lived there for a short time after hospitalization. He was 70. Mr. Knudsen was a 1946 graduate of Ballard High School. In 1950, he got a degree in communications, specializing in radio broadcasting, from the University of Washington, but continued graduate studies and served as night manager for the university’s public-radio station, KUOW-FM. A photo showing him seated at a radio console hung on the wall outside KUOW’s studio in the UW’s School of Communications building for more than a decade, said his wife. Mr. Knudsen went on to work at radio stations KISW-FM in Seattle and KTAC-AM in Tacoma, and he was classical-music host at KXA-AM in Seattle. “He had a vast knowledge of the classical repertoire,” his wife said. He was newscaster and program director at KTW-AM and was one of the few people to work at KING-AM and -FM at the same time. He worked as jazz host at KBVU in Bellevue, and returned to Tacoma to work at KTAC-AM and -FM in 1967. After his radio career, he became involved in television, working as booth and news announcer at KTNT-TV and continuing when it became KSTW (Channel 11), in Tacoma. “Everyone called him the voice because you never saw his face on camera,” said his wife. “He did voice-overs and worked behind the scenes. He was only on camera to do a Christmas greeting during the holidays.” At KSTW, his was the voice that announced the afternoon movie, said his wife. He retired in 1986…

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