Bert Parks, the TV game show host and beauty pageant emcee who serenaded Miss Americas for 25 years with his trademark song, "There She Is," died Feb. 2 in La Jolla, Calif. He was 77.

Mr. Parks recently was found to have an inoperable lung disease. He died at Scripps Memorial Hospital, said Mark Howell, a family friend.

Mr. Parks served as emcee of the Miss America pageant from 1955 to 1979. He also worked in radio, television and films. His stage credits include the starring role in a Broadway production of "The Music Man."

Mr. Parks was born Dec. 30, 1914, in Atlanta. He launched his broadcasting career at 16 when he landed a $7-a-week broadcasting job at radio station WGST in Atlanta while attending Marist College, a Catholic prep school.

In 1933 Mr. Parks went to New York and lied about his age to get an audition with CBS as a staff announcer. At 18, he was the youngest network announcer in the country.

His big break came in 1945, when he landed the emcee job on the radio quiz show "Break the Bank." He gained wider fame as a radio personality beginning in 1948 as the host of "Stop the Music."

Both radio shows soon moved to television, along with Mr. Parks. It wasn't long before he was seen in daytime on quiz shows and in prime time on nine different programs. He was host of television's "Double or Nothing" from 1953 to 1955.

But it was as the tuxedo-clad crooner serenading Miss Americas in Atlantic City that he became known to millions.

Mr. Parks was fired as the Miss America Pageant emcee in 1980. Pageant officials said they wanted to give the show a younger look. His firing generated nationwide sympathy and a letter-writing campaign organized by Johnny Carson.

"This was the {time} Ronald Reagan, who's five years older than me, was elected president," Mr. Parks said in a 1990 interview. "He could run the country, but I was too old to run a beauty pageant. Now is that sick or what?"

Mr. Parks made a special return appearance in 1990, when he again sang his signature song. He received a standing ovation when he walked on stage, but the appearance was marred by gaffes and he did not return.

Leonard Horn, chief executive of the Miss America Pageant Organization, praised Mr. Parks yesterday for his role in building the pageant's reputation.

"He was a very important part of our history, and because of what he contributed, we have a present and a future," Horn said, lauding Parks for "his ability to let the young women be the stars."

After the Miss America firing, he had gone on to emcee other pageants ranging from a tugboat competition to a contest judging small dogs.

In an endearing and quirky cameo, Mr. Parks played himself in the 1990 film comedy "The Freshman" with Marlon Brando. In a sendup of his own beauty pageant performances, he serenaded a giant endangered lizard that was to be served up at the main course of a banquet.

He also had a career in dramatic television. He began to act in the 1960s, making guest appearances on "Burke's Law," and in the '70s he played roles on "Ellery Queen" and "The Bionic Woman."

He also appeared as ringmaster of the syndicated Circus series in the early '70s.

Mr. Parks is survived by his wife of 48 years, Annette; twin sons, Joel and Jeffrey; a daughter, Annette Jr.; and two grandchildren.