There is some unwritten rule that says that celebrities die in threes, but last week (prior to the death of Eddie Albert) we lost four incredible voice talents.
Frank Gorshin died on May 17th in Burbank, California of lung cancer, emphysema and pneumonia. Most people knew Mr. Gorshin for his Emmy-nominated roles as the Riddler on the "Batman" TV series, and as Commissioner Bele in the very powerful "STAR TREK" episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" (he was the alien who had one side of his face painted black and the other side painted white). Mr. Gorshin was also a very talented impressionist, headlining in Las Vegas. He recently used his talents to play George Burns (with only a little makeup and no prosthetics) on Broadway in the one-man show "Say Goodnight Gracie". He has also voiced many animated characters including Deano Rat in "Firedog", Hugo Strange in "The Batman", Daffy Duck in "Superior Duck", and Yosemite Sam in "From Hare to Eternity".
Henry Corden died may 19th in Los Angeles, California of emphysema.
Mr. Corden took over as the voice of Fred Flintstone when the original voice, Alan Reed, died in 1977 (Reed had had the role since the show first aired in 1960). Mr. Corden began voice acting in the 1960's doing parts in Hanna-Barbera shows like "Jonny Quest," "Josie and the Pussycats" and "The New Tom & Jerry Show." He also played characters in "Challenge of the GoBots", "Mister T", "The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show" "Here Comes Garfield", "The Smurfs", "Fangface and Fangpuss", "Heathcliff", "Thundarr the Barbarian", "The Challenge of the Super Friends", "Dynomutt, Dog Wonder", "Return to the Planet of the Apes", "These Are the Days", "Yogi's Gang", "The Harlem Globetrotters", "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour", "The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show", and "The Jetsons". He can most recently be heard on cereal commercials as Fred Flintstone yelling "Barney, my Pebbles!"
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Article comments
1 - DrPat
It is interesting how these clusters of similar events occur...
2 - Temple Stark
That's depressing .. I haven't heard of any of them. I've heard them but ...
3 - DrPat
Howard Morris and Frank Gorshin were "old friends" of mine - to the extent that if their names were mentioned, I could visualize their faces.
I always thought of Gorshin as the geeky guy who wound up with Connie Francis in Where the Boys Are. (The version with Yvette Mimieux, of course.) He also played the Brando-type actor whose career was jump-started by Judy Holliday in Bells Are Ringing.
Morris was memorable as Professor Lilloman in High Anxiety, though of course I recall him best from the Andy Griffith Show.