James Andrew Boyd (November 11, 1933 – January 2, 2013) was an American actor, born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Life and career

Boyd spent four years in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

and studied at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts. He did voice work (along with

Wayland Flowers Wayland Parrott Flowers Jr. (November 26, 1939 – October 11, 1988) was an American actor, comedian and puppeteer. Flowers was best known for the comedy act he created with his puppet Madame. His performances as "Wayland Flowers and Madam ...

and

Cleavon Little Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of '' Purlie'', for which he earned both ...

) for puppets on ''The Surprise Show'', a children's program that aired locally in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

area in the late 1960s. The puppets used on the show, called Aniforms, had been developed by puppeteer

Morey Bunin Morey () is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Geography Morey is located in the hills surrounding the Dheune river and the Canal Du Centre. In addition to the main village, ...

. In 1971, the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) contacted Boyd because it wanted to use Aniforms in a television show that became known as ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

''. During the first season, Boyd's voice was used extensively, especially for the character J. Arthur Crank, who was just an angry voice on the telephone at the time. Boyd was unseen until season two, when he became a regular cast member, appearing on-camera until the show stopped production in 1977. Other characters he played included Andy, Wolfman, Blue Beetle, Paul the Gorilla, Fred Baxter, Steve Awesome, and Lorelei Loverly. Boyd also appeared in the 1974 TV movie '' Out to Lunch'', a Children's Television Workshop production in which the Muppets and casts of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

'' and ''

'' take over the

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

when the newsroom staff takes a lunch break. In 1993, Boyd played the role of Howard Turner in the TV series '' Law & Order''. In 2006, he appeared in the TV documentary ''The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits'', talking about his experience on ''

'' in an interview. Boyd was the on-camera talent or voiceover talent for a number of industrial videos for a large body of corporate training and communication videos during the 1990s.

Death

Boyd died on January 2, 2013, following a short illness."James A. Boyd Obituary, ''The New York Times'', January 6, 2013, https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?pid=162177684

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* * 1933 births 2013 deaths American male voice actors American sketch comedians United States Air Force airmen Male actors from Philadelphia {{US-voice-actor-1930s-stub