Carl Ray Kasell (; April 2, 1934 – April 17, 2018) was an American radio personality. He was a newscaster for National Public Radio, and later was the official judge and scorekeeper of the weekly news quiz show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! until his retirement in 2014.
Early life
A native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, Carl Ray Kasell was a student of drama in high school, where one of his mentors was Andy Griffith, then a high school drama instructor. Although Griffith urged Kasell to pursue a career in theatre, Kasell preferred radio. Kasell began practicing his newscaster voice as a child and got his first on-air job at 16. In an interview with Renée Montagne just before his final broadcast on NPR's Morning Edition, Kasell revealed that he knew he would be in radio at a young age. He said that he hid behind the radio to fool passers-by into thinking they were listening to the radio when they in fact were hearing the young Kasell.
During his time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kasell helped launch local radio station WUNC with fellow student and future broadcaster Charles Kuralt. Kasell pursued a degree in English, but never graduated due to being drafted into the U.S. Army.
He continued to work for NPR through fundraising and visits to member stations. Kasell featured in several segments including "Who's Carl This Time?" and the "Listener Limerick Challenge."
Prior to October 21, 2017, listeners who won a game on the show could have Kasell record a greeting for their home answering machine or voice mail system. More than 2,000 people have had his voice on their answering machines, which he recorded even after he left the show.
For many years, Kasell was the announcer for the annual Kennedy Center Honors broadcast on CBS.
On March 4, 2014, NPR announced that Kasell would be stepping down from his Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! duties. It was later announced that his last show would be May 17, 2014; subsequently he was credited on the air as "Scorekeeper Emeritus".
- 2013 — North Carolinian of the Year