William Joseph Wenzel Jr. (March 22, 1924 – April 14, 1999), known as Bill Wendell, was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career.

Born William Joseph Wenzel Jr. on March 22, 1924,[1] in New York City, Wendell served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II and graduated from Fordham University with a degree in speech.

[2] Wendell returned to Manhattan in 1952 when he landed a job on the DuMont television network emceeing several shows before jumping to NBC in 1955.

[5] His colleagues were Don Pardo, Wayne Howell, Gene Hamilton, Ben Grauer, Fred Facey, Bill McCord, Roger Tuttle, and Howard Reig.

According to Robert Morton, producer of The Late Show, Bill "had a little flatulence problem" and would often fart openly in front of the production crew and audience.

[7] It was reported at the time that Wendell's departure from The Late Show was on less-than friendly terms, with Letterman refusing comment, and Wendell pointedly saying "I’m retiring from this show", as well indicating that he hadn't talked to Letterman himself in months and that the producers "haven’t said a thing to me, either.