Shepard Menken (November 2, 1921 – January 2, 1999) was an American character and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

Early life

Menken began his career at the age of 11, when he started appearing on children's radio programs. After high school, Menken attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and later studied performing arts at the Neighborhood Playhouse Theatre and the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named afte ...

Career

Menken made his film debut in 1949 with a supporting role in '' The Red Menace'', and eventually appeared onscreen in 17 movies. Menken worked steadily as a television actor, appearing on such series as ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

'', '' I Spy'', and ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western (genre), Western, spy film, spy, and science fiction on television, science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 19 ...

''. He was also in demand as a voice talent, working on animated cartoons for

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

, UPA, and

Marvel Productions Marvel Productions Ltd., later known as New World Animation, was an American production company owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of News Corporation which was founded in 1981 as the television and film studio subsidiary of the Mar ...

, as well as advertising spots for StarKist Tuna and Mattel Toys; his was the voice intoning, "The only way to fly!" in

Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mex ...

' spots in the 1960s. Menken voiced Clyde Crashcup in '' The Alvin Show'', as well as the character

Tonto Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native Americans in the United States, Native American (either Tonto Apache, Comanche, or Potawatomi) Friendship, companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western (genre), Western character crea ...

in the 1966-69 animated series ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

''. He also voiced the Spelling Bee and Chroma the Great in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

live-action/animated film ''

The Phantom Tollbooth ''The Phantom Tollbooth'' is a children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961 in literature, 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly recei ...

'', and provided the voice for the title character in ''

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is a short story in the 1894 short story collection ''The Jungle Book'' by Rudyard Kipling about adventures of a valiant young Indian grey mongoose. It has often been anthologized and published several times as a short book. Bo ...

''. In 1963, Menken formed his own company, Malibu Films, which specialized in educational and industrial films.

Death

Shepard Menken died in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

neighborhood of Woodland Hills in 1999 at the age of 77. He is interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

.Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Selected filmography

* ''

The Great Caruso ''The Great Caruso'' is a 1951 biographical film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as famous operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. The movie was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as ass ...

'' (1951) as Fucito * '' I Love Lucy, Season 1 Episode 12, 'The Adagio''' (1951) as Jean Val Jean Raymond * '' David and Bathsheba'' (1951) as Police Guard (uncredited) * '' Tangier Incident'' (1953) * '' Captain John Smith and Pocahontas'' (1953) as Natanquas * '' Killers From Space'' (1953) as Major Clift * '' I Love Lucy, Episode 77, 'Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined''', billed as "Shep Menken" (1953) as the optometrist * ''

King Richard and the Crusaders ''King Richard and the Crusaders'' is a 1954 American historical drama based on Sir Walter Scott's '' The Talisman'' made by Warner Bros. The film stars Rex Harrison, Virginia Mayo, George Sanders and Laurence Harvey, with Robert Douglas, Mich ...

'' (1954) as Muezzin (uncredited) * '' Bengal Brigade'' (1954) as Bulbir * The Alvin Show

References

External links

*
Shepard Menken
at the American Film Institute Catalog
Shepard Menken
at

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, television series, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menken, Shepard 1921 births 1999 deaths American male voice actors American male radio actors American male film actors Male actors from New York City 20th-century American male actors Juilliard School alumni Columbia University alumni Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery