This is the next-to-last entry to Mark Evanier's list of the twenty top voice actors in American animated cartoons between 1928 and 1968. For more on this list, read this. To see all the listings posted to date, click here.
Most Famous Role: Yogi Bear.
Other Notable Roles: Huckleberry Hound, Dixie the Mouse, Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Quick Draw McGraw, Baba Looie, Super Snooper, Blabber Mouse, Augie Doggie, Snagglepuss, Wally Gator, Elroy Jetson, Lippy Lion, Captain Crunch and hundreds of others.
What He Did Besides Cartoon Voices: Not very much. Daws co-starred with Stan Freberg on Time for Beany, the groundbreaking puppet show on early TV. Later, he was heard on Freberg's radio show and many of his records, some of which Daws co-wrote. Daws was also heard on hundreds of commercials, many of which he also wrote.
Why He's On This List: A lot of voice actors would tell you Daws was the best practitioner of their craft. The Hanna-Barbera empire was largely built on his ability to make a character funny and expressive even when the script and animation didn't.
Fun Fact: Daws was one of the most beloved figures in the animation business and a very fine teacher of his profession. Don Messick was once asked how he learned to do cartoon voices and he gave a very simple answer: "I worked with Daws Butler." Daws gave lessons for years in a little workshop out back behind his home. Many of today's top voice actors studied with him and the ones who never had that opportunity envy the ones who did.