Editing Thurl Ravenscroft

{{Short description|American actor (1914–2005)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2017}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Thurl Ravenscroft
| image         = Thurl+Ravenscroft.jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Ravenscroft in 1967
| birth_name    = Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1914|2|6}}
| birth_place   = [[Norfolk, Nebraska]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2005|5|22|1914|2|6}}
| death_place   = [[Fullerton, California]], U.S.
| resting_place = [[Crystal Cathedral]] Memorial Gardens, [[Garden Grove, California]]
| alma_mater    = [[Otis College of Art and Design]]
| occupation    = {{flatlist|
*Actor
*singer
}}
| years_active  = 1939–2005
| spouse        = {{marriage|June Seamans|1946|1999|reason=died}}
| children      = 2
}}
'''Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|θ|ɜr|l|_|ˈ|r|eɪ|v|ən|z|k|r|ɒ|f|t}}; February 6, 1914{{snds}}May 22, 2005) was an American actor and [[bass (voice type)|bass]] singer. He was well known as one of the booming voices behind [[Kellogg's]] [[Frosted Flakes]] animated spokesman [[Tony the Tiger]] for more than five decades. He was also the uncredited vocalist for the song "[[You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch]]" from the classic [[Christmas television special]] [[Dr. Seuss]]' ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas!]]''<ref name="Grinch">{{Cite news |first=Elizabeth |last=McCracken |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/magazine/our-cereal-hero.html |title=Our Cereal Hero |date=December 25, 2003 |access-date=December 4, 2019 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20191204184255/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/magazine/our-cereal-hero.html |archive-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref>

Ravenscroft did voice-over work and singing for [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] in various films and [[Disneyland]] attractions (which were later featured at [[Walt Disney World]]), the best known including [[The Haunted Mansion]], [[Country Bear Jamboree]], [[Mark Twain Riverboat]], [[Pirates of the Caribbean (attraction)|Pirates of the Caribbean]], [[Disneyland Railroad]], and [[Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room]].

His voice-acting career began in 1939 and lasted until his death in 2005 at age 91.<ref name="Death" />

==Early life and career==
Ravenscroft left his native [[Norfolk, Nebraska]], in 1933 for [[California]], where he studied at Otis Art Institute. In 1939, he joined a singing group formed by tenor Bill Days called The Sportsmen: Days, Johnny Rarig, Max Smith, and Ravenscroft. They served as backup singers to vocalist Marie Greene on the [[Okeh Records|Okeh]] record label (credited as "Marie Greene and Her Merry Men"). The quartet also contributed to a Disney feature, ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'' (1940), singing "Honest John". This was deleted from the film, but can still be heard in the supplements on the 2009 DVD. 

The group, billed as The Four Merry Men, appeared in three-minute musical films, produced in 1941 by the Featurettes company, for coin-operated jukeboxes.<ref> [[Scott MacGillivray]] and [[Ted Okuda]], ''The Soundies Book'', iUniverse, 2007, p. 380.</ref> That same year the Four Merry Men left Featurettes for the more successful [[Soundies]] company, and made more jukebox musicals; they were now billing themselves as "The Four Sportsmen".<ref> MacGillivray and Okuda, p. 95.</ref> They were also very popular on radio and in live nightclub appearances. 

In 1942, Thurl Ravenscroft left the Sportsmen quartet to serve in the armed forces. He served as a keeper [[flight officer|navigator]] contracted to the [[Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)|U.S. Air Transport Command]], spending five years flying [[courier]] missions across the north and south [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]]. Among the notables carried on board his flights were [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Bob Hope]]. As he told an interviewer: "I flew Winston Churchill to a conference in Algiers and flew Bob Hope to the troops a couple of times. So it was fun."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Heintjes |first1=Tom |url=http://cartoonician.com/hes-grrrrreat-the-thurl-ravenscroft-interview/ |title=He's Grrrrreat! The Thurl Ravenscroft Interview |website=Hogan's Alley |access-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405052421/http://cartoonician.com/hes-grrrrreat-the-thurl-ravenscroft-interview/ |archive-date=April 5, 2013 |date=November 14, 2012}}</ref>

When he returned from the service, he found that his place in The Sportsmen had been taken by bass singer Gurney Bell, and Bell was unwilling to relinquish the job to Ravenscroft. Undaunted, Ravenscroft formed his own quartet, [[The Mellomen]].<ref> Thurl Ravenscroft to Mark Voger, ''Asbury Park Press'', Nov. 12, 2002, p. 153.</ref> The Mellomen contributed to other Disney films, such as ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|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 in another as a [[barbershop quartet]] that reminds [[Walt Disney]] of the name of the young newspaper reporter ''Gallagher''. Ravenscroft sang bass on [[Rosemary Clooney]]'s "[[This Ole House]]", which went to No.&nbsp;1 in both the United States and Britain in 1954, as well as [[Stuart Hamblen]]'s original version of that same song. He sang on the soundtrack for [[Ken Clark (actor)|Ken Clark]] as "Stewpot" in ''[[South Pacific (1958 film)|South Pacific]]'', one of the top-selling albums of the 1950s. He also backed [[The DeCastro Sisters]] on their 1955 top 20 hit, "Boom Boom Boomerang."<ref>{{Cite web |title=1955 HITS ARCHIVE: Boom Boom Boomerang - De Castro Sisters |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERA1G8jlGiI |website=[[YouTube]]| date=June 16, 2019 }}</ref> He sang "King of the River," as the character Mike Fink, on a Golden Record released in 1956.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://disneylandrecords.com/davy-crockett/440568-p/|title=King Of The River / Yaller Yaller Gold|website=Disneyland Records}}</ref> Singing with the [[Johnny Mann]] Singers,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bayarearadio.org/audio/ksfo/ksfo_sound-of-the-city.shtml |title=560 KSFO Radio - the Sound of the City |access-date=December 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117220824/http://bayarearadio.org/audio/ksfo/ksfo_sound-of-the-city.shtml |archive-date=January 17, 2014 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> his distinctive bass can also be heard as part of the chorus on 28 of their albums that were released during the 1960s and 1970s. He was also the bass singer on [[Bobby Vee]]'s 1960 Liberty hit record "[[Devil or Angel]]". [[Andy Williams]]' recording of "The 12 Days of Christmas" features him as well. His work with [[Spike Jones]] included singing "(I Was a) Teenage Brain Surgeon" for the 1959 album ''[[Spike Jones in Stereo]]''. 

He sang the opening songs for the two Disney serials used on ''The Mickey Mouse Club'', ''Boys of the Western Sea'' and ''The Hardy Boys: Mystery of the Applegate Treasure''.

He sang the "Twitterpatter Song" and "Thumper's Song" on the Disneyland record ''Peter Cottontail and other Funny Bunnies''.

On the Disneyland record ''All About Dragons'', he both provided the narration and sang the songs "The Reluctant Dragon" and "The Loch Ness Monster".<ref>Disneyland Record "All About Dragons", DQ-1301.</ref>

His voice was heard during the [[Pirates of the Caribbean (attraction)|Pirates of the Caribbean]] ride as well as [[The Haunted Mansion]] at [[Disneyland]] as Uncle Theodore, the lead vocalist of the singing busts in the cemetery near the end of the ride.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://365daysofmagic.com/history/listen-to-the-unmistakable-voice-of-thurl-ravenscroft |title=Listen to the Unmistakable Voice of Thurl Ravenscroft |website=365 Days of Magic |access-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104122100/http://365daysofmagic.com/history/listen-to-the-unmistakable-voice-of-thurl-ravenscroft |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |date=June 6, 2013}}</ref> He also played the Narrator in ''[[A Spooky Night in Disney's Haunted Mansion|The Story and Song From the Haunted Mansion]]''. Ravenscroft is also heard in the [[Enchanted Tiki Room]] as the voice of Fritz the [[Animatronics]] parrot, as well as the tree-like Tangaroa tiki god in the pre-show outside the attraction. He was also the voice of the Disneyland Railroad in the 1990s. Further roles include that of The First Mate on The Mark Twain Riverboat, a spokesalien for Tokyo Disneyland's Pan Galactic Pizza Port restaurant, and the American bison head named Buff at The Country Bear Jamboree.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://disney.go.com/disneyinsider/history/legends/thurl-ravenscroft|title=Insider - Oh My Disney|website=Oh My Disney}}</ref>

==Later career==
One of Ravenscroft's best-known works is as the vocalist for the song "[[You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch]]". He was accidentally uncredited, leading the song to be misattributed to [[Boris Karloff]] and [[Tennessee Ernie Ford]].<ref name="Grinch" /> The song, now credited to Ravenscroft, peaked on the U.S. [[Billboard Hot 100]] chart at number 32 for the week ending January 2, 2021.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2021-01-02|title=The Hot 100 Chart|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]}}</ref>

Ravenscroft sang "No Dogs Allowed" in the ''[[Peanuts]]'' animated motion picture ''[[Snoopy Come Home]]''.

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 g-r-r-r-eat!!!!".<ref>{{cite news|title= He's 'G-r-r-r-eat!!!' : Tony the Tiger Voices Pleasure  |work= [[Los Angeles Times]]|date=May 3, 1987|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-03-me-8443-story.html|access-date=March 23, 2012|first=Marcos|last=Breton}}</ref>

Various record companies, such as Abbott, Coral, Brunswick, and "X" (a division of [[RCA]]) 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. He was also teamed up with [[the Andrews Sisters]] (on the [[Dot Records]] album ''The Andrews Sisters Present'') on the cover of [[Johnny Cymbal]]'s "[[Mr. Bass Man]]". 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]].

A devoted Christian, he appeared on many religious television shows such as ''[[The Hour of Power]]''.  In 1970, he recorded an album called ''Great Hymns in Story and Song'', which featured him singing 10 hymns, each prefaced with the stories of how each hymn came to be, with the background vocals and instrumentals arranged and conducted by [[Ralph Carmichael]].

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.

==Later life and death==
Ravenscroft married June Seamans in 1946 and they had two children. June died in 1999. 

Ravenscroft died at his home on May 22, 2005, from [[prostate cancer]], at the age of 91. He was buried at the Memorial Gardens at the [[Crystal Cathedral]] in [[Garden Grove, California]].<ref name="Death">{{cite news |date=May 25, 2005 |title=Thurl Ravenscroft, Voice of Tony the Tiger, Dies at 91 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/25/arts/television/25ravenscroft.html |access-date=March 23, 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

In the June 6, 2005, issue of the advertising industry journal ''[[Advertising Age]]'', Kellogg's ran an advertisement commemorating Ravenscroft, the [[headline]] reading: "Behind every great character is an even greater man."

==Filmography==

=== Film ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1940 || ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'' || [[The Terrible Dogfish#Disney version|Monstro the Whale]] || Voice<ref name="btva">{{cite web |title=Thurl Ravenscroft (visual voices guide) |url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Thurl-Ravenscroft/ |access-date=December 9, 2024 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors}} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
|-
| ''[[Isle of Destiny]]'' || Sportsman Quartet Member ||
|-
| ''[[Little Blabbermouse]]'' || Bad Tobacco Face || rowspan="6" | Voice
|-
| ''[[Prehistoric Porky]]'' || Bass Lizard 
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1941 || ''[[Dumbo]]'' || Singer of  "Look Out For Mr. Stork" and "[[Pink Elephants on Parade]]" 
|-
| ''[[The Nifty Nineties]]'' || Singer 
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1942 || ''[[Wacky Blackout]]'' || Carrier Pigeon singing 
|-
| ''[[Saludos Amigos]]'' || Singer of the main title theme 
|-
| | 1944 || ''[[Springtime for Pluto]]'' || Singing Caterpillar || Short, Voice
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1948 || ''[[Melody Time]]'' || Singer || rowspan="3" | Voice
|-
| ''[[So Dear to My Heart]]'' || Bull / Robert Bruce
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1951 || ''[[Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)|Alice in Wonderland]]'' || Card Painter  
|-
| ''[[Rooty Toot Toot]]'' || Jonathan Bailey a.k.a. "Honest John the Crook"
|-
| 1952 || ''[[Jack and the Beanstalk (1952 film)|Jack and the Beanstalk]]'' || Singing voices of two villagers ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1953 || ''[[Peter Pan (1953 film)|Peter Pan]]'' || Singer / Pirates || Voice
|-
| ''[[Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom]]'' || Singer ||
|-
| 1954 || ''[[Rose Marie (1954 film)|Rose Marie]]'' || Medicine Man ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1955 || ''[[Daddy Long Legs (1955 film)|Daddy Long Legs]]'' || Daydream Sequence Song ||Short, Voice
|-
| ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]'' || Al the Alligator / Singing Pound Dogs || rowspan="3" | Voice
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1956 || ''[[Design for Dreaming]]'' || (singer) 
|-
| ''[[Hardy Boys (Mickey Mouse Club serial)|Hardy Boys]]'' || Theme Song 
|-
| 1958 || ''[[Paul Bunyan (film)|Paul Bunyan]]'' || Paul Bunyan || Short, Voice
|-
| 1959 || ''[[Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'' || Singer ||
|-
| 1961 || ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'' || Captain the Horse || rowspan="5" | Voice
|-
| 1962 || ''[[Gay Purr-ee]]'' || Hench Cat 
|-
| 1963 || ''[[The Sword in the Stone (1963 film)|The Sword in the Stone]]'' || Sir Bart 
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1964 || ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'' || Banker / Pig
|-
| ''[[Hey There, It's Yogi Bear]]'' || Black-haired Policeman
|-
| 1965 || ''[[The Man from Button Willow]]'' || Singer / Reverend / Saloon Man 
|-
| 1966 || ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'' || Singer of "[[You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch]]" ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1967 || ''[[The Jungle Book (1967 film)|The Jungle Book]]'' || Colonel Hathi's crew / Shere Khan singing ||
|-
| ''[[The War Wagon]]'' || Backup singer on main theme ||
|-
| 1968 || ''[[Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day]]'' || Singer <br/> Black Honeypot ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1969 || ''[[Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid]]'' || Singing Voice || performed "South American Getaway"
|-
| ''[[The Trouble with Girls (film)|The Trouble with Girls]]'' || Bass Singer || with the Bible Singers Quartet (The Mellomen)
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1970 || ''[[Horton Hears a Who! (TV special)|Horton Hears a Who!]]'' || Wickersham Brother ||
|-
| ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth (film)|The Phantom Tollbooth]]'' || Lethargians ||
|-
| ''[[The Aristocats]]'' || Billy Bass || Voice<ref name="btva" />
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1971 || ''[[The Cat in the Hat (TV special)|The Cat in the Hat]]'' || Thing One || Voice
|-
| ''[[Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]'' || Singing voice of Russian vendor / Various cartoon animal voices ||
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1972 || ''[[Snoopy Come Home]]'' || Singer of "No Dogs Allowed" || Voice
|-
| ''[[The Lorax (TV special)|The Lorax]]'' || Singer || Voice
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1977 || ''[[The Hobbit (1977 film)|The Hobbit]]'' || Goblins/Chorus || Voice
|-
| ''[[Halloween Is Grinch Night]]'' || Singer / Monsters || Voice
|-
| ''[[Donny & Marie (1976 TV series)|Donny & Marie]]'' || [[Darth Vader]] / Narrator || ''[[Star Wars]]'' Segment
|-
| ''[[The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'' || Singer <br/> Black Honeypot || Archive Footage
|-
|1978
|''[[The Small One]]''
|Potter
|Voice
|-
|1979
| ''[[Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July]]'' || The Genie of the Ice Scepter || Voice
|-
| 1987 || ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'' || Kirby || Voice
|-
| 1990 || ''[[Disney Sing-Along Songs|Disney Sing Along Songs: Disneyland Fun – It's a Small World]]'' || Singer of "[[Grim Grinning Ghosts]]" ||
|-
| 1996 || ''Superior Duck'' || The Narrator || Voice
|-
| 1997 || ''[[The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue]]'' || rowspan="2" | Kirby || rowspan="2" | Voice<ref name="btva" />
|-
| 1998 || ''[[The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars]]''
|}

=== Television ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1995 || ''[[The Baby Huey Show]]'' || General Does-Little || Voice; ep. "Target...Huey!"
|}

=== Theme Parks ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1955 || ''[[Mark Twain Riverboat]]'' || Bosun || rowspan="4" | Voice
|-
|1963-
|''[[Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room|The Enchanted Tiki Room]]''
|Fritz the Parrot, [[Tangaroa]] 
|-
|1967-
|''[[Pirates of the Caribbean (attraction)|Pirates of the Caribbean]]''
|Pirates/Chorus, Singing Dog
|-
|1967-1987
|''[[Adventure Thru Inner Space|Adventures Thru Inner Space]]''
|Chorus
|-
|1969-
|''[[The Haunted Mansion]]''
|Uncle Theodore
|
|-
|1971-
|''Country Bear Jamboree''
| rowspan="3" |Buff the Buffalo
| rowspan="5" |Voice
|-
|1984-
|''[[Country Bear Jamboree|Country Bear Christmas Special]]''
|-
|1986
|''[[Country Bear Jamboree|Country Bear Vacation Hoedown]]''
|-
|1989-2023
|''[[Splash Mountain]]''
|Brer Frog
|-
|1988-2002
|''[[Disneyland Railroad]]''
|Announcer
|}

=== Commercials ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
|-
| late 1970s-early 1980s || ''[[Toys R Us]]'' || Geoffrey the Giraffe
|-
| 1953–2005 ||''[[Kellogg's Frosted Flakes]]'' || [[Tony the Tiger]]
|}

==Partial solo discography==
{{div col|colwidth=26em}}
*''Mad, Baby, Mad'' – 1955 (Fabor)
*''I Ain't Afraid'' – 1956 (Bally)
*''You Wanna Talk About Texas'' – 1956
*''Wing Ding Ding'' – 1956
*''Big Paul Bunyan'' – 1962 (Globe)
*''Gold Dubloons and Pieces of Eight'' – 1962 (The Hardy Boys: Mystery of the Applegate Treasure)
*''The Headless Horseman'' – 1965 (Disney)
*''Great Hymns In Story And Song'' – 1970 (Light)
*''Rubber Duckie and Other Songs From Sesame Street'' - 1970
*''Nathaniel the Grublet'' (In Direwood) – 1979 (Birdwing)
*''Psalms and Selahs'' – 2002
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography|Music}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090116052753/http://allthingsthurl.com/ All Things Thurl] (an authorized fan site, to which Ravenscroft contributed; includes discography)
* {{IMDb name|id=0712391|name=Thurl Ravenscroft}}
* {{TCMDb name|158334{{!}}146859}}
* {{Find a Grave|11015444}}
* [https://www.hoganmag.com/blog/hes-grrrrreat-the-thurl-ravenscroft-interview He’s GRRRRRRR-EAT! The Thurl Ravenscroft Interview]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGJRJmXiF4w All About Dragons - Part 1] (the first side of the LP)
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZWmA9Vc5Ng All About Dragons - Part 2] (the second side of the LP)

{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Thurl Ravenscroft
|list =
{{Disney Legends Awards 1990s}}
{{Winsor McCay Award 2000s}}
}}
{{Grinch}}
{{Kellogg's}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravenscroft, Thurl}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:American basses]]
[[Category:American male voice actors]]
[[Category:American performers of Christian music]]
[[Category:Animal impersonators]]
[[Category:Audiobook narrators]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in California]]
[[Category:Disney Legends]]
[[Category:Kellogg's people]]
[[Category:Male actors from Nebraska]]
[[Category:People from Norfolk, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Singers from Nebraska]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. people]]