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O'Donnell began his career in 1958, working with Dick Clark on American Bandstand. This led to several stints as a disc jockey on Los Angeles radio, and later as news anchorman on Southern California television.
He also made a full-time career as an announcer on many television shows throughout the decades, with such series as The Joker's Wild, Tic Tac Dough, Card Sharks, The $100,000 Pyramid, and The Price Is Right. He has also served as announcer for the American Music Awards, the Emmy Awards, and the Academy Awards.
But the show for which he is best known is Merv Griffin's Wheel of Fortune. Griffin himself knew the only person who could serve as the show's thunderous announcer was Charlie O (as O'Donnell is otherwise called). O'Donnell has served as the show's announcer from episode one in 1975, with the exception of a period in the 1980sMillennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s Years: 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Events and trends when Jack Clark and M.G. Kelly served as announcers (due to a committment to Pyramid). In 1989, O'Donnell returned as permanent Wheel announcer. His most famous shout on the series is "...twenty five th-oooooooooo-sand dollars!" (or higher, depending on the amount of money won in the show's bonus round).