Bios

Jim Thornton joined Wheel of Fortune as announcer in 2011, at the start of the show's 29th season.

One of the most popular and distinctive voices in Southern California, Thornton was a part of KNX 1070 Newsradio from 1985 until 2011. He began with the radio network by providing traffic reports through the syndicated traffic service, "Metro Traffic." He later became a full-time traffic reporter during morning drive for both KNX and CBS2 News, before taking on his most recent role as host of the afternoon drive newscast in January 2005. He can also be seen hosting pledge drives on Southern California's KCET, community television station.

In his hometown of Huntington, W. Va., Thornton began his broadcast career in 1983 at WOWK/TV while attending Marshall University. A year later, he moved to California and by 1989, he had his own morning show on Magic 94.3FM in the San Fernando Valley. In 1992, Thornton became a "Hot Country" disc jockey for Westwood One Radio Networks, hosting live music from coast to coast. From 1995 to 1999, he was the voice of Channel 13, KCOP-TV, in Los Angeles

Over the course of his career, Thornton has received numerous broadcasting awards including the Edward R. Murrow award, Golden Mike awards and an Emmy. He also lent his voice to the 2011 Oscar-Nominated Short Animated Film, "Let's Pollute."

Wheel of Fortune viewers may also recognize Thornton's voice from his diverse body of voiceover work including: Disney's Monsters Inc movie, theme park ride and Disney on Ice show; television shows: Celebrity Death Match, The Soup, The Cleveland Show, Rugrats and The Drew Carey Show; National TV and radio campaigns for: Old Spice, Domino's Pizza, Vitamin Water 10, Bacardi, Kraft, Budweiser, Coke NASCAR, Kellogg's Cereal and Starbucks Coffee; video games: Boom Blox 2, Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Cars and Mafia II.

Thornton is married to Sue and they have a son, Sam. He actively supports JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) since his son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2009.