The actor who gave beloved U.S. TV character Gumby a voice has died in California
Dick Beals, who also voiced the lead character in TV's Davey & Goliath, was 85.
Beals suffered from a glandular condition which left him with the body and voice of a child.
His distinctive childlike qualities helped the actor become a hit in broadcasting in the 1940s, when he was first heard on radio shows like The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet.
He moved to Hollywood in 1952 and signed on to front Alka-Seltzer ads as animated sprite Speedy.
The character was featured in more than 200 commercials that aired from 1954 to 1964, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As well as his roles in Davey & Goliath and The Gumby Show, Beals also sang with Gene Kelly in the 1967 TV special Jack and the Beanstalk and he beat out 300 child actors for the role of N.J. Normanmeyer in the early 1990s animated series The Addams Family - at the age of 65.
Away from Hollywood, Beals opened an ad agency in his adopted Escondido, California and served as a high school sports announcer.
Dick Beals, who also voiced the lead character in TV's Davey & Goliath, was 85.
Beals suffered from a glandular condition which left him with the body and voice of a child.
His distinctive childlike qualities helped the actor become a hit in broadcasting in the 1940s, when he was first heard on radio shows like The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet.
He moved to Hollywood in 1952 and signed on to front Alka-Seltzer ads as animated sprite Speedy.
The character was featured in more than 200 commercials that aired from 1954 to 1964, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As well as his roles in Davey & Goliath and The Gumby Show, Beals also sang with Gene Kelly in the 1967 TV special Jack and the Beanstalk and he beat out 300 child actors for the role of N.J. Normanmeyer in the early 1990s animated series The Addams Family - at the age of 65.
Away from Hollywood, Beals opened an ad agency in his adopted Escondido, California and served as a high school sports announcer.
- 6/1/2012
- WENN
Dick Beals, the voice-over star best known as the voice of the animated characters Gumby, Speedy Alka-Seltzer and Davey from Davey and Goliath, has died. He was 85.
Related: Beyonce to Star in Animated Movie
Beals died Tuesday at Vista Gardens Memory Care in Vista, according to The Los Angeles Times. The animation pioneer, whose radio and TV career spanned seven decades, stood only 4 foot 6 inches tall, weighed less than 70 pounds and had a voice that hadn't changed since grade school due to a glandular condition. But he turned his challenging situation into a golden opportunity in the late 1950s with his work in The Gumby Show, Davey and Goliath in the early '60s, and more than 200 Alka-Seltzer commercials that aired between 1954 and 1964. He also pitched for Oscar Mayer, Campbell's Soup, Bob's Big Boy and many other brands.
"He was one of the great voice actors of all time," Ron Simon, curator of TV and...
Related: Beyonce to Star in Animated Movie
Beals died Tuesday at Vista Gardens Memory Care in Vista, according to The Los Angeles Times. The animation pioneer, whose radio and TV career spanned seven decades, stood only 4 foot 6 inches tall, weighed less than 70 pounds and had a voice that hadn't changed since grade school due to a glandular condition. But he turned his challenging situation into a golden opportunity in the late 1950s with his work in The Gumby Show, Davey and Goliath in the early '60s, and more than 200 Alka-Seltzer commercials that aired between 1954 and 1964. He also pitched for Oscar Mayer, Campbell's Soup, Bob's Big Boy and many other brands.
"He was one of the great voice actors of all time," Ron Simon, curator of TV and...
- 6/1/2012
- Entertainment Tonight
LONDON -- U.K. children's programming producer Entertainment Rights said Tuesday that it has extended its DVD distribution deal with BCI for the U.S. and Canada. BCI will now handle the DVD release of all of ER's animation catalog, which includes about 230 hours of programming including She-Ra: Princess of Power, Ghostbusters, The New Adventures of Zorro, The Lone Ranger and several live action series like The Secret of Isis. A Navarre Corp. company, BCI recently handled the U.S. DVD release of ER's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
- 1/17/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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