One of the "most-heard" voices in the world, Jackson Beck, passed away this morning, five days after his 92nd birthday. Beck's list of credits was staggering. In the Golden Age of Radio, he was heard on dozens of shows including Easy Aces, The March of Time, Mark Trail, Grand Central Station and dozens more, but he was most identified in the title roles on The Cisco Kid and Philo Vance and as the narrator on The Adventures of Superman. In the world of animation, he was not the first voice of Popeye's arch-nemesis Bluto but he voiced more cartoons in that role than anyone else, continuing on through the years when Bluto morphed into Brutus (as explained here).
He was also the voice of Buzzy the Crow and of King Leonardo and his arch-nemesis, Biggy Rat among many other animation jobs and he appeared in many non-animated films. Woody Allen, for instance, used him as the narrator of his first feature, Take the Money and Run, and in key roles in other films. (In Radio Days, he dubbed the voice of the radio newsman reporting on the little girl who'd fallen down a well.) Mostly though, he did commercials — thousands of them, including long associations with Brawny paper towels, Thompson's Water Seal and Little Caesar's Pizza — in one of the longest, most prolific careers any announcer has ever had. Many who met him at Old Time Radio conventions (where he often participated in re-creations of classic shows) knew him as a friendly, affable gentleman. Many more just knew the sound of him. Want to hear that sound? Here's an audio sample of Mr. Beck doing the opening for a 1966 Saturday morning series. It's a voice we'll all miss.
