Dallas McKennon

Dallas McKennon
Born Dallas Raymond McKennon
(1919-07-19)July 19, 1919
La Grande, Oregon
Died July 14, 2009(2009-07-14) (aged 89)
Raymond, Washington
Other names Dal McKennon
Charles Farrington
Occupation Actor, voice actor
Years active 1942–1995
Spouse(s)
Betty Warner
(m. 1942; his death 2009)
Children 8

Dallas Raymond McKennon (July 19, 1919 – July 14, 2009), sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American actor and voice actor, in a career lasting over 50 years.[1]

Career

Born near La Grande, Oregon, McKennon's best-known voice roles were that of Gumby for Art Clokey, Archie Andrews in several different Archie series for Filmation, and the primary voice of Buzz Buzzard in the Woody Woodpecker cartoons. In the early 1950s, McKennon created and hosted his own daily kids TV wraparound show, Space Funnies/Capt. Jet, which was seen weekday mornings on KNXT (KCBS) TV Ch. 2 in Hollywood, California. Space Funnies was the first Los Angeles-based kids show to air reruns of The Little Rascals and Laurel & Hardy shorts. He was also the primary voice actor for the 1960 cartoon series Q.T. Hush. McKennon was also the voice of Hardy Boys sidekick Chet Morton in the 1969 animated mystery series.

McKennon also sang, and provided many character voices for Disney. His distinctive voice can be heard in movies such as Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. He also provided the voices for many Disney Attractions such as the famous Big Thunder Mountain Railroad safety spiel, a pair of laughing hyenas in the Africa Room portion of It's a Small World, Benjamin Franklin's voice in Epcot's The American Adventure and the voice of Zeke in the Country Bear Jamboree.[2]

McKennon's best-known live action role is that of the innkeeper, Cincinnatus, in the Daniel Boone TV series starring Fess Parker. He also had a bit part as a chef in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds and a gas station attendant in the Elvis Presley film Clambake. His last movie was Gumby: The Movie, under the pseudonym of Charles Farrington, voicing Gumby, Fatbuckle, Lucky Claybert and Professor Kapp.

McKennon was an avid Oregon Trail historian. He worked at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center giving instructional speeches and put together songs, stories and informational documents leading up the Oregon Trail's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary).

He also worked with OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) creating "The Pappenheimers", an instructional video series to help teach children German. His character lived in a Volkswagen Bus and would tell stories about relatives in Germany. Many of the episodes had clips of Germany as well as cartoons.

He is also known for his recording of a crazy laugh, used for the Hyena in Lady and the Tramp, and later in a horror film called Tourist Trap. His laugh was also used in three Crash Bandicoot games Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back and Crash Team Racing as a sound effect for a boss in the game called Ripper Roo, and then in the Christmas film Elf.

Personal life and death

McKennon married his childhood sweetheart, Betty Warner, in Portland, Oregon in 1942. The marriage lasted until he died of natural causes on July 14, 2009, five days before his 90th birthday, at the Willapa Harbor Care Center in Raymond, Washington.[1] The couple had six daughters and two sons. They lived in California until 1968, when they moved to Cannon Beach, Oregon, from where Dallas commuted for acting and voiceover roles.[1]

Filmography

Live-action

Animation

Video games

Theme park attractions

Albums

  • Donald Duck and his Friends - Scrooge McDuck

References

  1. 1 2 3 Noland, Claire (July 18, 2009). "Dallas McKennon dies at 89; actor gave voice to many animated characters". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  2. ↑ startedbyamouse.com (Archive)
  3. ↑ www.veoh.com
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