Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and
bass singer. He was known as one of the booming voices behind
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
Frosted Flakes or Frosties is a breakfast cereal, produced by the Kellogg Company and consisting of sugar-coated corn flakes. It was introduced in the United States, in 1952, as "Sugar Frosted Flakes". The word "sugar" was dropped from the name ...
animated spokesman
Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (also known as Frosties) breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. Tony has also been the mascot for related cereals such as Tony's Cinnamon K ...
for more than five decades. He was also the uncredited vocalist for the song "
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 animated special '' Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''.
History
The lyrics were written by
Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music ...
" from the classic
Christmas television special
Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...
,
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel (;["Seuss"](_blank)
'' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a Christmas children's story by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who tries to cancel Christmas by st ...
''
Ravenscroft did some voice-over work and singing for
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in both the films and the attractions at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
(which were later featured at
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...
). The best known of these attractions are
Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. The haunted house attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies", and a walk-through show is displa ...
as a singing bust,
Country Bear Jamboree
The Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction in the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort and at Tokyo Disneyland in the Tokyo Disney Resort. The attraction also existed at Disneyland Park. All versions of the attraction are simi ...
,
Mark Twain Riverboat
The Disney riverboats are paddle steamer watercraft attraction ride vehicles operating on a track on a series of attractions located at Disney theme parks around the world.
The first was the ''Mark Twain'' Riverboat, located at the Disneyland t ...
,
Pirates of the Caribbean,
Disneyland Railroad
The Disneyland Railroad (DRR), formerly known as the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a 3-foot () narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction in the Disneyland theme park of the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, in the United St ...
, and
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort and in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and previously in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. First opened on June 23, 1963 at the Disneyl ...
as "Fritz".
His voice acting career began in 1940 and lasted until his death in 2005 at age 91.
Early life and career
Ravenscroft left his native
Norfolk, Nebraska
Norfolk ( or ) is a city in Madison County, Nebraska, United States, 113 miles northwest of Omaha and 83 miles west of Sioux City at the intersection of U.S. Routes 81 and 275. The population was 24,210 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth ...
, in 1933 for
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, where he studied at Otis Art Institute. He achieved early success as part of a singing group called
The Mellomen The Mellomen were a popular singing quartet active from the late 1940s through the mid-1970s. The group was founded by Thurl Ravenscroft and Max Smith in 1948. They recorded under a variety of names, including Big John and the Buzzards, the Crackerj ...
. The Mellomen can be heard on many popular recordings of the
Big Band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
Era, including backup for
Bing Crosby,
Frankie Laine,
Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
,
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford (November 12, 1917July 16, 2008) was an American traditional pop music singer, whose career spanned five decades from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. Admired for the purity of her voice, she originally underwent classi ...
, and
Rosemary Clooney. Their earliest contribution to a Disney film was for ''
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...
'' (1940), to which they contributed the song "Honest John". This was deleted from the film, but can still be heard in the supplements on the 2009 DVD. Ravenscroft also voiced
Monstro the Whale in ''Pinocchio''. The Mellomen contributed to other Disney films, such as ''
Alice in Wonderland'' and ''
Lady and the Tramp
''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and ...
''. The group appeared on camera in a few episodes of the
Disney anthology television series
The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...
; in one instance recording a canine chorus for ''Lady and the Tramp'' and in another as a
barbershop quartet that reminds
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
of the name of the young newspaper reporter ''Gallegher''.
Ravenscroft is also heard with the quartet on some of the ''
Merrie Melodies'' and ''
Looney Tunes'' with
Mel Blanc at
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
as well as on radio "driving
Jack Benny
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century wit ...
crazy" on
The Jack Benny Program
''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...
as part of The Sportsmen Quartet.
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 ...
, Ravenscroft served as a civilian
navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...
contracted to the
U.S. Air Transport Command, spending five years flying
courier
A courier is a person or organisation that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
missions across the north and south
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
. Among the notables carried on board his flights were
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
and
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
. As he told an interviewer: "I flew Winston Churchill to a conference in Algiers and flew Bob Hope to the troops a couple of times. So it was fun."
Ravenscroft sang bass on Rosemary Clooney's "
This Ole House
"This Ole House" (sometimes written "This Old House") is an American popular song written by Stuart Hamblen, and published in 1954. Rosemary Clooney's version reached the top of the popular music charts in both the US and the UK in 1954. The so ...
", which went to No. 1 in both the United States and Britain in 1954, as well as Stuart Hamblen's original version of that same song. He sang on the soundtrack for
Ken Clark as "Stewpot" in ''
South Pacific'', one of the top-selling albums of the 1950s. He also backed
The DeCastro Sisters
The DeCastro Sisters were an American singing group. They originally consisted of Peggy DeCastro (1921–2004), Cherie DeCastro (1922–2010) and Babette DeCastro (1925–1992). When Babette retired in 1958, a cousin, Olgita DeCastro Marino (1931 ...
on their 1955 top 20 hit, "Boom Boom Boomerang." Singing with the
Johnny Mann
John Russell Mann (August 30, 1928June 18, 2014) was an American arranger, composer, conductor, entertainer, singer, and recording artist.
Career
Johnny Mann's began his music career in the late 1940s in his hometown of Baltimore before serving ...
Singers, his distinctive bass can also be heard as part of the chorus on 28 of their albums that were released during the 1960s and 1970s. He was also the bass singer on
Bobby Vee
Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to ''Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-ei ...
's 1960 Liberty hit record "
Devil or Angel".
Andy Williams' recording of "The 12 Days of Christmas" features him as well. In the 1980s and 1990s, Ravenscroft was narrator for the annual
Pageant of the Masters The Pageant of the Masters is an annual festival held by the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, California.
The event is known for its ''tableaux vivants'' or " living pictures" in which classical and contemporary works of art are recreated by real ...
art show at the
Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and a ...
, Festival of the Arts.
He sang the opening songs for the two Disney serials used on ''The Mickey Mouse Club'', ''Boys of the Western Sea'' and ''The Hardy Boys: Mystery of the Applegate Treasure''.
He sang the "Twitterpatter Song" and "Thumper's Song" on the Disneyland record ''Peter Cottontail and other Funny Bunnies''.
On the Disneyland record ''All About Dragons'', he both provided the narration and sang the songs "The Reluctant Dragon" and "The Loch Ness Monster".
His voice was heard during the
Pirates of the Caribbean ride as well as the
Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. The haunted house attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies", and a walk-through show is displa ...
at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
as Uncle Theodore, the lead vocalist of the singing busts in the cemetery near the end of the ride. He also played the Narrator in ''
The Story and Song From the Haunted Mansion''. Ravenscroft is also heard in the
Enchanted Tiki Room
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort and in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and previously in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. First opened on June 23, 1963 at the Disneyl ...
as the voice of Fritz the
Animatronics parrot, as well as the tree-like Tangaroa tiki god in the pre-show outside the attraction. He was also the voice of the Disneyland Railroad in the 1990s. Further roles include that of The First Mate on The Mark Twain Riverboat and of the American bison head named Buff at The Country Bear Jamboree.
Later career
One of Ravenscroft's best-known uncredited works is as the vocalist for the song "
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 animated special '' Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''.
History
The lyrics were written by
Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music ...
." His name was accidentally omitted from the credits, leading many to believe that the cartoon's narrator,
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
, sang the song, while others cited
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for h ...
as the song's signature voice.
The song, now credited to Ravenscroft, peaked on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
chart at number 32 for the week ending January 2, 2021. Thanks to
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
"You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" is a Christmas song that was originally written and composed for the 1966 animated special '' Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!''.
History
The lyrics were written by
Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music ...
, Thurl Ravenscroft has officially hit the Top 40 as a solo artist.
Ravenscroft also sang "
No Dogs Allowed" in the ''
Peanuts
''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...
'' animated motion picture ''
Snoopy, Come Home
''Snoopy, Come Home!'' is a 1972 American animated musical comedy-drama film directed by Bill Melendez and written by Charles M. Schulz based on the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. The film marks the on-screen debut of Woodstock, who had first appeared ...
'' and ''I Was a Teenaged Brain Surgeon'' for
Spike Jones
Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
.
For more than 50 years, he was the uncredited voice of
Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (also known as Frosties) breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. Tony has also been the mascot for related cereals such as Tony's Cinnamon K ...
for
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. His booming bass gave the cereal's tiger mascot a voice with the catchphrase "They're g-r-r-r-eat!!!!".
Various record companies, such as Abbott, Coral, Brunswick, and "X" (a division of
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
) also released singles by Ravenscroft, often in duets with little-known female vocalists, in an attempt to turn the bass-voiced veteran into a pop singer. These efforts were commercially unsuccessful, if often quite interesting. He was also teamed up with
the Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...
(on the
Dot Records
Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...
album ''The Andrews Sisters Present'') on the cover of
Johnny Cymbal
Johnny Cymbal (born John Hendry Blair; February 3, 1945 – March 16, 1993) was a Scottish-born American songwriter, singer and record producer who had numerous hit records, including his signature song, "Mr. Bass Man".
Overview
During a 33-ye ...
's "
Mr. Bass Man". The Mellomen released some
doo-wop records under the name Big John & the Buzzards, a name apparently given to them by the rock-and-roll-hating
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...
.
A devoted Christian, he appeared on many religious television shows such as ''
The Hour of Power''. In 1970, he recorded an album called ''Great Hymns in Story and Song'', which featured him singing 10 hymns, each prefaced with the stories of how each hymn came to be, with the background vocals and instrumentals arranged and conducted by
Ralph Carmichael
Ralph Carmichael (May 27, 1927 – October 18, 2021) was an American composer and arranger of both secular pop music and contemporary Christian music. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music.
Early Life and Career
...
.
He said his lifelong dream was to record the entire
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
on tape, but
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...
"beat him out". On an episode of the TV variety series ''
Donny & Marie'' featuring guest stars from the first ''
Star Wars'' movie, Ravenscroft provided the voice for
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...
, voiced in the movie by Jones.
Later life and death
Ravenscroft married June Seamans in 1946 and they had two children. June died in 1999 from unknown causes. Ravenscroft semi-retired and did not work at any other studio, but continued to voice Tony the Tiger through 2004 (with limo transportation provided by Kellogg's) and was also interviewed that year by the Disney "Extinct Attractions Club" website. He died in his home on May 22, 2005, from
prostate cancer, and was buried at the Memorial Gardens at the
Crystal Cathedral
Christ Cathedral (Latin: ''Cathedralis Christi''; Spanish: ''Catedral de Cristo''; Vietnamese: ''Nhà Thờ Chính Tòa Chúa Kitô''), formerly and informally known as the Crystal Cathedral, is an American church building of the Diocese of Or ...
in
Garden Grove, California.
In the June 6, 2005, issue of the advertising industry journal ''
Advertising Age
''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in m ...
'', Kellogg's ran an advertisement commemorating Ravenscroft, the
headline
The headline or heading is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents.
The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th centur ...
reading: "Behind every great character is an even greater man." After his death,
Lee Marshall replaced him as the voice of Tony the Tiger in the Kellogg's commercials, but some commercials still recycle clips of Ravenscroft.
Filmography
Commercials
Television series
Partial solo discography
*''Mad, Baby, Mad'' – 1955 (Fabor)
*''I Ain't Afraid'' – 1956 (Bally)
*''You Wanna Talk About Texas'' – 1956
*''Wing Ding Ding'' – 1956
*''Big Paul Bunyan'' – 1962 (Globe)
*''Gold Dubloons and Pieces of Eight'' – 1962 (The Hardy Boys: Mystery of the Applegate Treasure)
*''The Headless Horseman'' – 1965 (Disney)
*''Great Hymns In Story And Song'' – 1970 (Light)
*''Nathaniel the Grublet'' (In Direwood) – 1979 (Birdwing)
*''Psalms and Selahs'' – 2002
References
External links
All Things Thurl(an authorized fan site, to which Ravenscroft contributed; includes discography)
*
*
*
THURL'S GRRRRRRR-EAT! A Conversation With Thurl RavenscroftAll About Dragons - Part 1(the first side of the LP)
All About Dragons - Part 2(the second side of the LP)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravenscroft, Thurl
1914 births
2005 deaths
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
American basses
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
Audiobook narrators
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from prostate cancer
Disney people
Kellogg's people
Male actors from Nebraska
People from Norfolk, Nebraska
Singers from Nebraska
United States Army Air Forces officers
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II