Eugene Wood, 78, announcer for more than 25 game shows

Eugene Edward Wood could travel incognito only until he opened his mouth and the voice that introduced more than 25 popular game shows boomed out. His face rarely appeared on camera, but his resonant intonation of "It's time for the Family Feud!" signaled the start of that show for millions of viewers.

The Quincy native, who relocated from Los Angeles to Adamsville, R.I., four years ago, died of lung cancer Friday at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was 78.

"He was the definitive signature announcer in the genre of game shows from the '80s to the mid-'90s," said Steve Beverly, a game-show historian and professor of broadcasting at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. "He built a relationship with the emcees that made him the quintessential sidekick."

Known as Gene, Mr. Wood never minded his relative anonymity, said his daughter Mia Claudia Wood of Los Angeles. Often strangers couldn't even place how they knew his voice.

But members of the live studio audiences at the game show tapings rarely forgot him. Mr. Wood's role as announcer included working as the "warm-up guy," entertaining the audience during breaks.

"He would get audiences in a terrific frame of mind," said his colleague Ira Skutch.

Mr. Wood encouraged audience members to leave their seats and partake in droll skits carefully calibrated to last as long as the break allowed. Caught up in the whimsy of the plot of a 15-minute Romeo and Juliet or Tarzan and Jane, the audience remained in high spirits until the stars of the show and cameras returned.

"His job was to keep the energy level really high and the enthusiasm level high," said his daughter. "He would come home and be really exhausted."

But as long as he had an audience, Mr. Wood would be willing to perform, friends said. On airplanes, he would josh with the stewardesses. At barbecues, he would lead the children in a march around the yard, friends said.

"He loved an audience, even if it was just one person," said his longtime friend Arnie Meissner.

During his days at Emerson College, from which he graduated in 1950, he appeared as the lead in 27 plays. He roomed with comedian Bill Dana and the two briefly had an act together.

Mr. Wood had planned a career in movies or in theater, but he shifted his focus after learning that the relatively new medium of television was upstaging them.

In a 1996 interview with David Hammett posted on the Internet, Mr. Wood recalled that "compared with Broadway, the studios were clean and the people were courteous."

At first he focused on radio and television commercials. Over seven years, he filmed no fewer than 100 a year. Once he downed 18 eight-ounce glasses of Bromo-Seltzer in a quest for the perfect shot. After that, he would quip, he didn't have a headache for years.

During this period, Mr. Wood also wrote for Bob Keeshan's "Captain Kangaroo" television show and created the first nonviolent cartoon for children, "The Adventures of Lariat Sam."

Then an old friend, Frank Wayne, offered him the role of announcer on "Beat the Clock" and he figured he would give it a shot. Eventually he became the host.

But his forte proved to be working with audiences.

"Once they know you won't hurt them and once they know you respect them and want to have fun, they'll do almost anything," he told Hammett.

In 1974 he moved the family to Los Angeles and threw himself wholeheartedly into the game-show world. Over the course of the next 25 years he would appear on shows on all three major networks -- ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Mr. Wood made a brief foray into local politics in the late 1980s. The community of Malibu, where the family lived, was trying to incorporate as a city, and he became involved in hopes of keeping development at bay. Mr. Wood, a natural at public speaking, joined the Malibu Grassroots Movement and considered running for city council, his daughter said.

Some competitors, however, protested, saying that because of his profession, he would enjoy unfair air time in the race. He dropped out.

Throughout his life in California, Mr. Wood dreamed of returning to New England. In 2000, he and his wife sold their house and moved east. Quickly, Mr. Wood, who earlier in life had worked hard to lose his signature accent, reacclimated, dropping his R's from that powerful voice once more, his daughter said.

In addition to his daughter Mia Claudia, he leaves his wife of 44 years, Carleen Marion (Anderson) of Adamsville, R.I.; another daughter, Sasha Alexandria Eleanor Wood of Los Angeles; a son from a previous marriage, Timothy Emanuel Wood of San Francisco; and two grandchildren.

Mr. Wood was cremated. His friends in Los Angeles plan a memorial service at a later date.