Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Top Cat, Herman the Mouse, Gerard, R. I. P.

Arnold Stang, the bespectacled, owl-faced actor best remembered for playing nerdy, milquetoast characters on radio, television, and motion pictures, passed away on Sunday at Newton, Massachusetts from pneumonia at age 91.

Mr. Stang is remembered for providing the voice of Herman the Mouse in 1940s and 1950s cartoons from Famous/Paramount Studios and Top Cat in the Hanna-Barbera-produced Top Cat, which aired on ABC in prime time in the 1961-62 season.

As for Herman the Mouse, he began co-starring in his own official Famous/Paramount series with Katnip the Cat (voiced by Sid Raymond) in 1952. The series ended in 1959.

Arnold also played the role of nerdy New Yorker Gerard on Henry Morgan's radio shows (ABC 1946-48, NBC 1949-50), making life at times miserable for the acerbic Mr. Morgan.

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