Post #160382 by freddiefreelance on Fri, May 20, 2005 12:58 PM

Henry Corden, voice of Fred Flintstone, dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Henry Corden, the voice of leopard-suited caveman Fred Flintstone's "Yabba Dabba Doo!" for more than two decades, has died. He was 85.
Corden died of emphysema Thursday night at AMI Encino Hospital, his longtime agent Don Pitts said Friday. Corden's wife of nine years, Angelina, was with him at the time.

Born in Montreal, Canada, Corden moved to New York as a child and came to Hollywood in the 1940s. His first acting role was in the 1947 Boris Karloff film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Known for playing villains, he found small parts in movies, including 1952's "The Black Castle" and "The Ten Commandments" in 1956.

"As Henry said, he always played the cold-blooded creeps," Pitts said.

Corden moved into voice acting in the 1960s, and deployed his dialect skills in bit parts for Hanna-Barbera cartoons including "Jonny Quest," "Josey and the Pussycats" and "The New Tom & Jerry Show."

He took over as the lovable loudmouth Fred Flintstone when original voice Allen Reed died in 1977. Reed had been doing Flintstone since the character was created around 1960.

The cartoon's marriage themes echoed those of "The Honeymooners," and Corden tweaked his role to approximate Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden character, Pitts said.

Corden, who lived in Encino, had been working until his health suffered about three months ago. He can most recently be heard on ubiquitous cereal commercials yelling "Barney, my Pebbles!"

In addition to his wife, Corden is survived by five children and five grandchildren. A private memorial "party" is planned, Pitts said.