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Robert McFadden (January 19, 1923 – January 7, 2000) was an American singer,
impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to
animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...
s. His most popular television cartoon characters included
Milton the Monster ''Milton the Monster,'' also called ''The Milton the Monster Show,'' is an American Saturday morning animated cartoon TV series that ran on ABC from October 9, 1965, to September 8, 1968. It was produced and directed by Hal Seeger. Overview The s ...
from the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
series ''The Milton The Monster Show''; Cool McCool from the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
series ''Cool McCool''; and
Snarf Snarf, SNARF, or their variants may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *''Snarf'', an underground comic published in the early 1970s by Denis Kitchen * Snarf (''ThunderCats''), one of several characters on the television show ''ThunderCats'' ...
from the syndicated series '' ThunderCats''. McFadden was also the voice behind numerous radio and television commercial parts including Franken Berry in the animated commercials for the
General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...
Franken Berry cereal as well as the pet parrot who cackled "ring around the collar" in the TV commercials for Wisk laundry detergent.Morley, Hugh R
"ROBERT `BOB' MCFADDEN; VOICE OF TV COMMERCIALS"
''
The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and P ...
'', January 10, 2000. Retrieved March 31, 2011. "Robert 'Bob' McFadden, a former Leonia resident and show business stalwart who made his name doing radio and television voice-overs and impressions of famous people, died Friday, his family said. He was 76."


Musical career

While in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he began performing as a singer and impressionist. After the war, he went on to work at a
steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...
in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, Pennsylvania, and continued performing nights as an opening act for artists such as
Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...
. In 1959, he appeared as a singer with
folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
artist
Rod McKuen Rodney Marvin McKuen (; April 29, 1933 – January 29, 2015) was an American poet, singer-songwriter, and actor. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range ...
on the
Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing produ ...
album entitled ''Songs Our Mummy Taught Us'' which included the two tracks, "The Mummy" and "The Beat Generation", also released as a single. "The Beat Generation" was later used by
Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television and T ...
as the basis for his song " Blank Generation".


Voice acting

When McFadden moved to New York City after his work in Pittsburgh, he obtained extensive voice-over work in both commercials and animation. He was featured on the best-selling 1962
Vaughn Meader Abbott Vaughn Meader (March 20, 1936 – October 29, 2004) was an American comedian, impersonator, musician, and film actor. Meader began his career as a musician but later found fame in the early 1960s after the release of the 1962 comedy reco ...
comedy LP '' The First Family'' In 1963, McFadden released the
Audio Fidelity Records Audio Fidelity Records, was a record company based in New York City, most active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having produced the first mass-produced American stereophonic long-playing record in November 1957 (although this ...
parody album entitled ''Fast, Fast, Fast Relief From TV Commercials'' followed by the 1968
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
spoken-word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
album ''
The Medium Is the Massage ''The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects'' is a book co-created by media analyst Marshall McLuhan and graphic designer Quentin Fiore, with coordination by Jerome Agel. It was published by Bantam Books in 1967 and became a bestse ...
''.''The Medium Is the Massage'' credits, 2011. Five Day Weekend FDW7711-CD In 1977, McFadden voiced Chugs the Train in the animated
Rankin/Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...
Easter special ''
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' To Town ''The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town'' is a 1977 musical Easter television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, using their "Animagic" stop motion animation. It reunites the writer Romeo Muller. designer Paul Coker Jr., and narrator Fred A ...
''.


Roles


Movies and TV specials

*1966 – ''The Soupy Sales Hour'' – Various Roles *1967 – ''The Wacky World of Mother Goose'' – Additional Voices *1972 – ''The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye'': "The Emperor's New Clothes" – Jasper *1974 – ''
The Year Without a Santa Claus ''The Year Without a Santa Claus'' is a 1974 stop motion animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name. It is narrated by Shirley Booth (her final ...
'' – Jingle Bells, Additional Voices *1977 – ''
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town ''The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town'' is a 1977 musical Easter television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, using their "Animagic" stop motion animation. It reunites the writer Romeo Muller. designer Paul Coker Jr., and narrator Fred A ...
'' – Chugs *1979 – ''
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'' (titled on-screen as ''Rudolph and Frosty: Christmas in July'', or simply ''Rudolph and Frosty'') is an American-Japanese Christmas/Independence Day television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions ...
'' – Additional Voices *1980 – ''
Pinocchio's Christmas ''Pinocchio's Christmas'' is a 1980 Christmas stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions that is a holiday adaptation of the 1883 novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' by Carlo Collodi. The special was originally aired on A ...
'' – Cricket *1981 – ''The Berenstain Bears Easter Special'' – Boss Bunny *1982 – ''
The Flight of Dragons ''The Flight of Dragons'' is a 1982 animated fantasy film produced and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. loosely combining the speculative natural history book of the same name (1979) by Peter Dickinson with the novel '' The Dragon ...
'' – Sir Orrin Neville-Smythe/Gorbash The Dragon *1985 – '' The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus'' – Tingler *1985 – '' ThunderCats'' – Lynx-O/Snarf/Slithe *1987 – ''
The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...
'' – Magistrate


TV

*1964 – ''
Linus the Lionhearted ''Linus the Lionhearted'' is an American Saturday morning animated television series that aired on CBS from September 26, 1964 to December 11, 1965, originally airing in black and white. Colorized versions of the episodes started airing on ABC in ...
'' – Loveable Truly, Rory, So-Hi *1965 – ''
Astronut ''The Astronut Show'' is an animated TV series, produced by the Terrytoons animation studio. It first aired on August 23, 1965. Each episode included an episode of ''Astronut'', ''Hashimoto-san'', and ''Luno The White Stallion''. Astronut first ...
'' – Astronut/Oscar *1965–1966 – ''
Milton the Monster ''Milton the Monster,'' also called ''The Milton the Monster Show,'' is an American Saturday morning animated cartoon TV series that ran on ABC from October 9, 1965, to September 8, 1968. It was produced and directed by Hal Seeger. Overview The s ...
'' – Various Roles *1966 – '' Cool McCool'' – Cool McCool/Dr. Madcap/Harry McCool *1966 – '' Journey to the Bottom of the Sea'' – Invader *1972–1973 – '' ABC Afternoon Superstar Movies'' – Barron Von Frankenstein/Additional Voices *1980 – '' Drawing Power'' – Additional Voices *1983 – ''
The Coneheads The Coneheads are a fictional family of extraterrestrials with bald conical heads, created for a series of recurring sketches on ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL). They first appeared on the January 15, 1977 episode hosted by Ralph Nader (episode 3 ...
'' – Louie Boucher *1980 – ''
Gnomes A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its character ...
'' – Kostya the Gnome *1980 – ''
I Go Pogo ''Pogo'' was a daily comic strip that was created by cartoonist Walt Kelly and syndicated to American newspapers from 1948 until 1975. Set in the Okefenokee Swamp in the Southeastern United States, ''Pogo'' followed the adventures of its anthr ...
'' – Howland Owl/Bothered Bat *1985–1989 – '' ThunderCats'' –
Snarf Snarf, SNARF, or their variants may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *''Snarf'', an underground comic published in the early 1970s by Denis Kitchen * Snarf (''ThunderCats''), one of several characters on the television show ''ThunderCats'' ...
/Ma-Mutt/Slithe/Driller/Grune The Destroyer/Tug-Mug/Topspinner/Snarfer/Wolo/Mole Master/Two Time/Polly/Quick Pick/Char/Dr. Dometone/Captain Bragg/Giantors/Bundun/Living Ooze/Burnout/Charr-Nin/Dirge/Enflamer/Micrit Leader/Mad Bubbler/Maftet/Mongor/Mr. Grubber/Mule/Screwloose/Terator/Zaxx/Tuskas/Trollog/Thunderian Guard/Captain Shiner/Guard/Cave Dweller *1986 – ''
Silverhawks ''SilverHawks'' is an American animated television series developed by Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. The animation was provided by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation. In total, 65 episodes were ...
'' – Commander Stargazer/Steelwill/Yesman/Hardware/Condor/Flashback


Shorts

*1966 – Haunted Housecleaning – Oscar *1966– The Defiant Giant – George the Giant *1966 – Scuba Duba Do – Fennimore *1966 – Va-Room Service – Additional Voices *1966 – Mighty Heroes – Oscar/Gadmouse *1967 – The Squawk Peg – Geronimo/Say-Ah the Medicine Man/Foback/Big Yawn *1967 – Clean Sweep – Policeman/Repairman *1967 – Mouse Trek – Cat *1967 – The Fuz – The Cat *1967 – Judos Kudos – Sad Cat/Fennimore/Lenimore *1968 – Grand Prix Winner – Sad Cat/Fennimore/Lenimore/Super Ego/Announcer *1968 – All Teed Off – Fennimore *1968 – The Abominable Mountaineers – Fennimore *1968 – Loops and Swoops – Sad Cat/Fennimore/Lenimore *1969 – Scientific Sideshow – Oscar *1969 – Balloon Snatcher – Oscar *1970 – The Proton Pulsator – Oscar/Gadmouse *1971 – Oscar's Birthday Present – Oscar *1974 – 'Twas the Night Before Christmas – Substation Operator, Councilmen, Handyman *1976 – The Little Drummer Boy Book II – Additional Voices *1977 – The Four Kings – Beaver *1981 – The Leprechaun Christmas Gold – Additional Voices


Later life

McFadden continued to work until the late 1980s, when he was forced to retire due to failing health. On January 7, 2000, he died in
Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles ...
, at the age of 76.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McFadden, Bob 1923 births 2000 deaths Beat Generation people American male voice actors People from Leonia, New Jersey Deaths from motor neuron disease Neurological disease deaths in Florida People from East Liverpool, Ohio 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American male singers United States Navy personnel of World War II