“Forgotten Hollywood”- Remembering Voice of Dick Beals…

Posted on June 3, 2012 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

   A prolific voiceover actor has passed away. Dick Beals was best known for delivering the words of Speedy (the Alka-Seltzer kid) for over forty years; and as the initial voice of Gumby. The diminutive performer specialized in bringing to life stop-motion animated tots, such as Davey in Davey and Goliath.

   He began his career at Detroit’s iconic WXYZ, contributing script reads to famous Midwest  radio productions, including The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, and Challenge of the Yukon. After Beals moved to Los Angeles, he was hired to voice characters in commercials. His clients included Oscar MayerCampbell Soup, and Bob’s Big Boy.

   Cartoon programs on his resume: The Flinstones, The Jetsons, Richie Rich, and Roger Ramjet (among countless others). He was memorable as the singing voice of child star Bobby Riha as Jack in the 1967 NBC special Jack and the Beanstalk, which starred Gene Kelly.

   Dick Beals was 85.

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   Sad to report that Richard Dawson has died. Best known as the Emmy-winning host of Family Feud; and as Corporal Newkirk on  Hogan’s Heroes. The television series was based on the 1950s classic Stalag 17. Dawson also had regular stints on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Match Game ’73, and Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.

   World War II was fabulous to the British actor. His screen career included small roles in The Longest Day, King Rat, and The Devil’s Brigade. He was always a reliable Allied soldier in cinema.

   His quasi-randy approach led to a tradition on The Feud. He kissed each female contestant. It’s estimated he smooched over ten thousand women. Dawson also created the iconic term: Survey Says! After his success on Family Feud, Dawson was cast as an evil game show host in The Running Man. For a time, Richard was seriously considered a possible replacement on The Tonight Show, when Johnny Carson first threatened retirement in the early 1980s.

   Richard Dawson (above left) was 79.

Until next time>                               “never forget

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 at 2:11 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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