Arthur Anderson (voice actor)
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| Arthur Anderson | |
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Arthur Anderson with others in the cast of Let's Pretend
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| Born | Arthur Anderson August 29, 1922 Staten Island, New York |
| Residence | Manhattan |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1930s-present |
Arthur Anderson (born August 29, 1922) is an American actor of films, television and the stage. His career began on radio during the early 1930s.
Contents
Early years
Anderson was born August 29, 1922, in Staten Island, New York. "He first came to radio through a children's community playhouse and started appearing regularly in 1934 on Uncle Nick Kenny's Radio Kindergarten at WMCA."[1]
Let's Pretend
As a child, he was heard on NBC in the role of the orphan Buddy on the radio network's musical serial drama, Tony and Gus (1935). The following year he joined the cast of Nila Mack's Let's Pretend and continued on that children's program until it came to an end in 1954. In 2004, he wrote a history of the show, Let's Pretend and the Golden Age of Radio (BearManor Media), which includes a foreword by Norman Corwin and a complete broadcast log by Derek Tague and Martin Grams, Jr.[2]
Anderson appeared in Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre production of Caesar on Broadway, as portrayed as the character Richard Samuels in the 2008 film Me and Orson Welles. Anderson acted in Welles's The Mercury Theatre on the Air, his CBS Radio series as characters in "Treasure Island", " Julius Caesar" and "Sherlock Holmes". Additional radio credits include the juvenile quiz show, March of Games (1938–1941), produced by Nila Mack and featuring many of the young actors from Let's Pretend.
From serials to cereals
Beginning in 1963 he was the voice of the General Mills Lucky Charms mascot Lucky the Leprechaun, continuing the character for 29 years even though he is not Irish. In 2005, he recalled:
- People have expectations. I just have an Irish-sounding name. I have reason to celebrate. I had the luck of the Irish to get that part. I never got free cereal, but they gave me lots of green money. And it was a fun character to play. Hardly a day goes by when somebody doesn't ask me to sing the Lucky Charms jingle, and I'm proud of that.[3]
Television
Anderson succeeded Lionel G. Wilson as the voice of Eustace Bagge in Courage the Cowardly Dog. His film credits include Green Card and I'm Not Rappaport and three appearances on the television series Law & Order.
In recent years, Anderson has been active in Friends of Old Time Radio, a group that recreated broadcasts using the original scripts and he was a regular participant in their conventions. He appeared at the convention 30 times, the most of any actor. He appeared at the very last convention on October 23, 2011. In 2012, he took on the role of honorary chairman for the successor event to Friends of Old Time Radio, NY OTR, which took place on October 12–13, 2012.
Autobiography
An Actor's Odyssey: Orson Welles to Lucky the Leprechaun, by Arthur Anderson. Albany, 2010. BearManor Media. ISBN 1-59393-522-6.
References
- ↑ DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-2834-2. Pp. 11-12.
- ↑ Anderson, Arthur. Let's Pretend and the Golden Age of Radio. BearManor Media, 2004. ISBN 1-59393-019-4
- ↑ Wolf, Buck. ABC News: "Lucky Charms Leprechaun: 'I'm Not Irish'," March 15. 2005.
