Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019) was born on December 19, 1942, in Brookings, South Dakota. He was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling. Okerlund was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by Hulk Hogan. He was signed to a lifetime contract with WWE. He has been described by some journalists as the best interviewer in the history of professional wrestling.

He grew up in Sisseton and was raised on an Indian reservation. He graduated from Sisseton High School in 1960. He was an all-around athlete, participating in basketball, baseball, football and track. After studying broadcast journalism at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln), Okerlund landed a job as a disc jockey at KOIL, a popular radio station in Omaha, Nebraska. Okerlund later moved to Minneapolis where he worked for WDGY as a radio host under the alias of Gene Leader. He later left that position to become Program Director at KDWB. Okerlund also worked in Minneapolis for a local television station in the front office.

Okerlund played with the Harold Johnson Orchestra and fronted the band Gene Carroll and the Shades. The band released "Is It Ever Gonna Happen" on the album In This Corner, on Norton Records in 1962.

Okerlund left the radio industry for a position at the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in 1970, where he occasionally filled in for ailing ring announcer and interviewer Marty O'Neill, eventually becoming O'Neill's permanent replacement by the end of the decade. His first interview was with Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan. While there, Jesse "The Body" Ventura gave him the moniker "Mean" Gene. According to Ventura, "In an interview, I laughingly called him 'the Mean Gene Hot Air Machine,' and the 'Mean Gene' stuck, I'm proud that I gave him a nickname that will stick with him forever." He stayed with the AWA until the end of 1983, when he was one of many AWA personnel to join the expanding World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

He stayed with the WWF for nine years as their top interviewer and was a host of such WWF shows as All-American Wrestling. He sang the national anthem at the inaugural WrestleMania and Tutti Frutti on The Wrestling Album. Okerlund's interviews were memorable, most notably those involving Hulk Hogan, who began his interviews with "Well, you know, Mean Gene …". He also notably teamed up with Hulk Hogan to face the duo of George Steele and Mr. Fuji in a winning effort.

Okerlund made his final WWF appearance of the 1990s on the September 18, 1993, edition of Superstars. He then left the WWF entirely when his contract expired. He stated in an RF shoot interview, that although he probably could have re-negotiated a new contract, he was never actually offered one, thus opting to become an interviewer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He claimed at the time of his hiring with WCW that he had not been on speaking terms with McMahon for the past few years he was working in the WWF.

He debuted on the November 6, 1993, edition of WCW Saturday Night. He was mostly used in a mentor role. Three years later, his contract with WCW expired and he was off television for two months in the fall of 1996. Okerlund had talks with the WWF during this time, however, they could not come to terms. Okerlund signed a new contract with WCW and returned on the November 11, 1996, edition of WCW Monday Nitro. He was with WCW until March 2001 when the company was purchased by the WWF.

On January 22, 2018, at Raw 25 Years, Okerlund made his final WWE appearance where he interviewed the then WWE Champion, AJ Styles. He worked on a lot of shows showcasing classic wrestling matches in the latter part of his WWE career.

He appeared in numerous movies television shows over the years. On November 12, 1985, Okerlund, along with Hulk Hogan, Bobby Heenan, Ricky Steamboat, Davey Boy Smith, Corporal Kirchner, Dynamite Kid and Big John Studd, appeared on The A-Team. He appeared as himself, along with Jesse Ventura in the 1989 action movie No Holds Barred, as well as in the comedy films Repossessed in 1990, as the commentators for the exorcism and Ready to Rumble in 2000. Okerlund was one of the professional wrestling legends on the WWE Network's show Legends' House.

Okerlund died on the morning of January 2, 2019, at the age of 76 in a Sarasota, Florida hospital. It was revealed by his son, Todd Okerlund, that he had received three kidney transplants and had suffered a fall which caused his health to deteriorate in the weeks leading up to his death.

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