Thurl Ravenscroft
Encyclopedia
Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (ˈθɜrl ˈreɪvənzkrɒft; February 6, 1914 – May 22, 2005) was an American
voice actor and singer best known as the deep voice behind Tony the Tiger
's "They're grrreat!" in Frosted Flakes
television commercials for more than five decades. Ravenscroft was also known, however uncredited, as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
" from the classic Christmas television special, Dr. Seuss
' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
.
His voice acting career began in 1940 and lasted until his death in 2005 at age 91.
, for California
in 1933. He achieved early success as part of a singing group called The Mellomen
. The Mellomen can be heard on many popular recordings of the Big Band
Era, including backup for Bing Crosby
, Frankie Laine
, Spike Jones
, Jo Stafford
and Rosemary Clooney
. Their earliest contribution to a Disney film was for Pinocchio
(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. They also contributed to other Disney films, such as Alice in Wonderland
and Lady and the Tramp
. The group appeared on camera in a few episodes of the Disney anthology television series
, in one instance recording a canine chorus for Lady and the Tramp, and on another occasion playing a barbershop quartet that reminds Walt Disney
of the name of the young newspaper reporter Gallegher.
During World War II
, Ravenscroft served as a civilian navigator
contracted to the U.S. Air Transport Command, spending five years flying courier
missions across the north and south Atlantic
. Among the notables carried on board his flights were Winston Churchill
and Bob Hope
.
Ravenscroft sang bass on Rosemary Clooney's "This Ole House
" which went to #1 in both the U.S. and Britain in 1954. He sang on the soundtrack for Ken Clark
as "Stewpot" in South Pacific, one of the top-selling albums of the 1950s. His distinctive bass can also be heard as part of the chorus on 28 albums of The Johnny Mann
Singers that were released during the 1960s and 1970s. 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
art show at the Laguna Beach, California
Festival of the Arts.
His voice is heard during the Pirates of the Caribbean
ride as well as the Haunted Mansion
at Disneyland as one of the singing disembodied busts in the cemetery near the end of the ride. Ravenscroft is also heard in the Enchanted Tiki Room as the voice of Fritz the Animatronics
parrot and at all stations of the Disneyland Railroad
bellowing, "All aboard!"
One of Ravenscroft's best known uncredited works is as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." His name was accidentally left out of the credits, leading many to believe (erroneously) that the cartoon's narrator, Boris Karloff
, sang the song while others cited Tennessee Ernie Ford
as the song's signature voice.
Ravenscroft also sang "No Dogs Allowed" in the Peanuts
animated motion picture Snoopy, Come Home
and I Was a Teenaged Brain Surgeon for Spike Jones
.
For more than 50 years, he was the uncredited voice of Tony the Tiger
for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. His booming bass gave the cereal's tiger mascot a voice with the catchphrase, "They're grrrreat!"
Various record companies 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. 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
.
. He was buried at the Memorial Gardens at the Crystal Cathedral
in Garden Grove, California
.
In the June 6, 2005, issue of the ad-industry journal Advertising Age
, Kellogg's ran an ad commemorating Ravenscroft. The headline
read: "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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
voice actor and singer best known as the deep voice behind Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. More recently, Tony has also become the mascot for Tony's Cinnamon Krunchers and Tiger Power...
's "They're grrreat!" in Frosted Flakes
Frosted Flakes
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes is a breakfast cereal first introduced by the Kellogg Company. It consists of corn flakes "frosted" or coated with sugar. The "Frosted Flakes" name is used by Kellogg's in United States and Canada. The cereal was first introduced in 1951 as Sugar Frosted Flakes...
television commercials for more than five decades. Ravenscroft was also known, however uncredited, as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
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 cartoon special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The lyrics were written by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, the music was composed by Albert Hague, and the song was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft...
" from the classic Christmas television special, Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. It is based on the homonymous children's book by Dr. Seuss, the story of The Grinch trying to take away Christmas from the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway...
.
His voice acting career began in 1940 and lasted until his death in 2005 at age 91.
Biography and career
Ravenscroft left his native Norfolk, NebraskaNorfolk, Nebraska
Norfolk 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-largest city in Nebraska. It is the principal city of the...
, for California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1933. He achieved early success as part of a singing group called The Mellomen
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. The Mellomen recorded under a variety of names, including Big John & The Buzzards, The Crackerjacks, The Lee Brothers, and The Ravenscroft...
. The Mellomen can be heard on many popular recordings of the Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
Era, including backup for Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...
, Spike Jones
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
and Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
. Their earliest contribution to a Disney film was for Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
(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. They also contributed to other Disney films, such as Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
and Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
. The group appeared on camera in a few episodes of the Disney anthology television series
Disney anthology television series
The Walt Disney anthology television series refers to a television series which has been produced by the Walt Disney Company under several different titles from 1955 to 2008...
, in one instance recording a canine chorus for Lady and the Tramp, and on another occasion playing a barbershop quartet that reminds Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
of the name of the young newspaper reporter Gallegher.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Ravenscroft served as a civilian navigator
Flight officer
The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces where it was an air force warrant officer rank. It was also an air force rank in several Commonwealth nations where it was used for female officers and was equivalent to the rank of flight lieutenant...
contracted to the U.S. Air Transport Command, spending five years flying courier
Courier
A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...
missions across the north and south Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. Among the notables carried on board his flights were Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
.
Ravenscroft sang bass on Rosemary Clooney's "This Ole House
This Ole House
"This Ole House" is a popular song written by Stuart Hamblen, and published in 1954.-Background:Hamblen was supposedly out on a hunting expedition when he and his fellow hunter, actor John Wayne, came across a tumbledown hut in the mountains, many miles from civilization...
" which went to #1 in both the U.S. and Britain in 1954. He sang on the soundtrack for Ken Clark
Ken Clark (actor)
Kenneth Donovan "Ken" Clark was an American B-movie actor. He appeared in movies in America and Europe, including the Secret Agent 077 trilogy....
as "Stewpot" in South Pacific, one of the top-selling albums of the 1950s. His distinctive bass can also be heard as part of the chorus on 28 albums of The Johnny Mann
Johnny Mann
Johnny Mann is an American arranger, composer, conductor, entertainer, and recording artist.-Career:...
Singers that were released during the 1960s and 1970s. Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
' 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
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 vivant or "living pictures" in which classical and contemporary works of art are recreated by real people who are made to look nearly identical to the...
art show at the Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach is a seaside resort city and artist community located in southern Orange County, California, United States, approximately southwest of the county seat of Santa Ana...
Festival of the Arts.
His voice is heard during the Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a series of films, a theme park ride, and spinoff novels as well as numerous video games and other publications. The franchise originates with the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, which opened at Disneyland in...
ride as well as the Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion
The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride located at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland. A significantly re-imagined incarnation of the ride, known as Phantom Manor, is located in Disneyland Paris...
at Disneyland as one of the singing disembodied busts in the cemetery near the end of the ride. Ravenscroft is also heard in the Enchanted Tiki Room as the voice of Fritz the Animatronics
Animatronics
Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include animals , plants and even mythical creatures...
parrot and at all stations of the Disneyland Railroad
Disneyland Railroad
The Disneyland Railroad , originally the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, is a narrow gauge railroad at Disneyland, Anaheim, California, United States, that was inaugurated on the park's live television preview on July 17, 1955. This live steam railway was constructed for $240,000; each of the...
bellowing, "All aboard!"
One of Ravenscroft's best known uncredited works is as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." His name was accidentally left out of the credits, leading many to believe (erroneously) that the cartoon's narrator, Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
, sang the song while others cited Tennessee Ernie Ford
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
as the song's signature voice.
Ravenscroft also sang "No Dogs Allowed" in the Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
animated motion picture Snoopy, Come Home
Snoopy, Come Home
Snoopy, Come Home! is a 1972 animated musical film, produced by Cinema Center Films, National General Pictures and Lee Mendelson Films, directed by Bill Meléndez, and based on the Peanuts comic strip. The songs are by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman...
and I Was a Teenaged Brain Surgeon for Spike Jones
Spike Jones
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink"...
.
For more than 50 years, he was the uncredited voice of Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger
Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising. More recently, Tony has also become the mascot for Tony's Cinnamon Krunchers and Tiger Power...
for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. His booming bass gave the cereal's tiger mascot a voice with the catchphrase, "They're grrrreat!"
Various record companies 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. 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
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William "Mitch" Miller was an American musician, singer, conductor, record producer, A&R man and record company executive...
.
Death
Ravenscroft died in his home on May 22, 2005 from prostate cancerProstate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
. He was buried at the Memorial Gardens at the Crystal Cathedral
Crystal Cathedral
The Crystal Cathedral is a Protestant Christian church building in the city of Garden Grove, in Orange County, California, United States. It is the headquarters and principal place of worship for Crystal Cathedral Ministries, a church founded in 1955 by Robert H. Schuller and affiliated with the...
in Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove is a city located in northern Orange County, California. The population was 170,883 at the 2010 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city running east-west. The city is known outside the Southern California area for being the home of Robert H...
.
In the June 6, 2005, issue of the ad-industry journal Advertising Age
Advertising Age
Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
, Kellogg's ran an ad commemorating Ravenscroft. The headline
Headline
The headline is the text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.It is sometimes termed a news hed, a deliberate misspelling that dates from production flow during hot type days, to notify the composing room that a written note from an editor concerned a...
read: "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.
External links
- All Things Thurl (an authorized fan site, to which Ravenscroft contributed)
- THURL'S GRRRRRRR-EAT! A Conversation With Thurl Ravenscroft