Tony the Tiger dies
May 24th, 2005 -- by Augie De Blieck Jr.
Thurl Ravenscroft, best known as the voice of Tony the Tiger in the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes commercials, has died at the age of 91, the cause being reported as prostate cancer. His rich, bass voice was also known to audiences from his many years as a singer, plus you could hear him all over Disneyland. (That’s Thurl singing, “Grim, Grinning Ghosts” in the Haunted Mansion, and one of the busts along that ride was fashioned to look like him.) He also sang “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” on the animated TV special, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and appeared on hundreds of records and radio shows and other cartoons over the years.
May 24th, 2005 at 7:27 pm
Thurl was a native of my hometown (same as Johnny Carson) and we had our flags at half mast.
It’s insane to think that… even though probably few people could recognize him by name, he’s been a part of SO MANY American’s lives through his voice work.
May 25th, 2005 at 3:29 am
I’ve got both the DVD AND CD recording of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” I’ve got that piece of Thurl Ravenscroft to last me for a lifetime.
Amazing how sad people get with the deaths of older people who’ve had long careers. Remember, Mr. Ravenscroft WAS 91 years old! Not many people live that long OR have the kind of impact and notoriety he had so anonymously.
There’s nothing sad about that at all!
On the other hand, when you have someone young die who HASN’T had a chance to live to their potential, that’s sad.