Tuesday, May 24, 2005
No more roar from Tony the Tiger
Thurl Ravenscroft, who voiced Disney characters and narrated Laguna's Pageant of the Masters, dies at 91.
By RICHARD CHANG
The Orange County Register
A ROARING GOOD TIME: Voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft, one of the voices of Disney, greets friends at his surprise 90th birthday party in Fullerton in February 2004.
The deep, sonorous voice known worldwide as Tony the Tiger, a host of Disney characters and the narrator of Laguna Beach's Pageant of the Masters was silenced Sunday.
Thurl Ravenscroft of Fullerton, whose distinctive, warm vocals can still be heard throughout Disneyland, died from prostate cancer at age 91.
Ravenscroft may be best recognized for his signature roar, "They're grrrrreeeat!" for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, which he did for more than half a century. But Southern California art fans cherish his 20 years of thoughtful, nuanced narration for the summertime Pageant of the Masters. And those who frequent the Happiest Place on Earth can hear his animated tones in Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Haunted Mansion.
"Disneyland wouldn't have been, and wouldn't be, the same without him," said former park President Jack Lindquist. "It's all part of the experience. You can't go home with a ride, but you can go home with a memory, and part of that is the audio - the sound part of it. His voice was one of the things that made it all come alive."
For years, Ravenscroft provided narration for Disneyland's steam-powered railroad that circles the park. Today, he can be seen and heard as one of the singing busts in the Haunted Mansion's graveyard scene. Those "yo-ho, yo-ho's" in Pirates of the Caribbean are his, too.
Ravenscroft's relationship with Disney extended into movies. He did voices for four decades, contributing to "Cinderella,""The Jungle Book," "Mary Poppins," "Alice in Wonderland," "Lady and the Tramp" and many others.
"To me, he was one of the true voices of Disney that were recognizably Disney, and there weren't many of them," said Kevin Rafferty, a senior show writer and director for Disney Imagineering. "He was a very gentle, gentle man, a wonderful guy, a pleasure to know, and a pleasure to work with."
Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft was born Feb. 6, 1914, in Norfolk, Neb. He moved to California in 1933 to study art, but soon got swept into show business.
By the mid-1930s he was appearing regularly on radio, first on a show called "Goose Creek Parson." In the late 1930s he moved on to the "The Kraft Music Hall" with Bing Crosby, on which he sang backup in a group called the Paul Taylor Choristers. That group eventually became the Sportsmen Quartette.
After military service during World War II, he returned to Hollywood, later becoming involved in a singing group called the Mellomen, and much work in radio, movies, television and commercials ensued. The group performed with a list of stars including Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Elvis Presley.
In 1952, Ravenscroft achieved a measure of immortality, thanks to a TV commercial.
"I'm the only man in the world that has made a career with one word: Grrrrreeeat!" Ravenscroft roared in a 1996 interview with the Register. "When Kellogg's brought up the idea of the tiger, they sent me a caricature of Tony to see if I could create something for them. After messing around for some time I came up with the 'Grrrrreeeat!' roar, and that's how it's been since then," he said.
Ravenscroft's involvement with Disneyland goes back to opening day in 1955, when he was the announcer for many of the ceremonies and events.
He played a part in the 1966 animated feature for CBS "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," singing the signature tune "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" (Boris Karloff voiced the Grinch). Ravenscroft often liked to say, "That was my chance to prove I could really sing." The success of the Grinch led to other projects with Dr. Seuss, including "Horton Hears a Who" and "The Cat in the Hat."
His singing career continued into the 1970s. As a member of the Johnny Mann Singers, he crooned on 28 albums and appeared on television for three seasons.
One of Ravenscroft's biggest local claims to fame undeniably was his narration of the Pageant of the Masters, a job that began in 1974 and lasted for two decades. He told the Register upon his retirement in 1993 that it was his favorite gig of all time.
"I've learned more about art doing the pageant than I ever did in art school," he said.
Ravenscroft possessed, said pageant scriptwriter Dan Duling, "one of the great basso voices, so distinctive. For me, it was like writing music for an instrument that has a few tones that are absolutely unmistakable. It was so distinctive that you had to play to its strengths. He could bring a kind of deep, resonant reverence to something that deserved proper respect."
Pageant director Diane Challis Davy worked with him for 13 years and considered him family.
"It was really obvious that Thurl was greatly loved and respected," she said. "For us, he was a good friend, the best kind of grandfather you could have."
Ravenscroft is survived by two children, Ron and Nancy, and four grandchildren. June, his wife of 53 years, died in 1999 at age 80.
Plans for a memorial service are pending.
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., D.F.S
