Voice of Tony the Tiger Dead at Age 91

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The Associated Press

Published: May 24, 2005

FULLERTON—Thurl Ravenscroft, who provided the rumbling “They’re Grrrrreeeat!” for Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger and voiced a host of Disney characters, has died. He was 91.

Ravenscroft died Sunday of prostate cancer, said Diane Challis Davy, director of Laguna Beach’s Pageant of the Masters.

For more than 50 years, Ravenscroft was the affable voice behind Tony the Tiger, TV’s popular cartoon pitchman for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes.

“I’m the only man in the world that has made a career with one word: Grrrrreeeat!” Ravenscroft told the Orange County Register in 1996. “When Kellogg’s brought up the idea of the tiger, they sent me a caricature of Tony to see if I could create something for them. After messing around for some time I came up with the `Grrrrreeeat!’ roar, and that’s how it’s been since then.”

He also narrated the summertime Pageant of the Masters for 20 years and lent his voice to characters on thrill rides at Disneyland, including the Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Haunted Mansion.

“Disneyland wouldn’t have been, and wouldn’t be, the same without him,” the park’s former president, Jack Lindquist, told the Register. “It’s all part of the experience. You can’t go home with a ride, but you can go home with a memory, and part of that is the audio—the sound part of it. His voice was one of the things that made it all come alive.”

Ravenscroft also did voices for the films “Cinderella,” “The Jungle Book,” “Mary Poppins,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Lady and the Tramp” and many others.

“To me, he was one of the true voices of Disney that were recognizably Disney, and there weren’t many of them,” said Kevin Rafferty, a senior show writer and director for Disney Imagineering.

Born Feb. 6, 1914, in Norfolk, Neb., Ravenscroft moved to California in 1933 to study art.

By the mid-1930s he was appearing regularly on radio, and by the late-1930s he was singing backup for Bing Crosby.

After military service during World War II, he returned to Hollywood, where he sang with the Mellomen, a group that performed with Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Elvis Presley.

In 1952, Ravenscroft’s voice appeared in the first Frosted Flakes commercial.

Ravenscroft is survived by two children and four grandchildren. June, his wife of 53 years, died in 1999 at age 80.

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"When I was in third grade, I lived on the same street as Thurl in San Juan Capistrano. My brother and I used to talk to him in his driveway, and he would do different voices for us including Tony the Tiger. Back then I didn't know it was actually the realy guy! I thought it was just an impersonator. If only I knew..."
-> Posted by Anonymous / Jun 03, 2008

"I being the film buff that I am called Thurl when I was an early teen after finding his name in the white pages. He was probably one of the most down-to-earth and open people you could have talked to. He answered a few questions of mine, and actually told me a gentleman named Tony Marvin made up a lie that he was the first Tony the Tiger; his wife believed him, and when he died, had it published in the obituary. Thurl, a pleasure talking with you. You're ...grrreeeaaattt!"
-> Posted by Aaron Shore / Feb 04, 2007

"I met Thurl when I was about 18 or 19 at the funeral for his wife's mother in Herndon, Virginia. His mother in law was my godmother and I cannot remember her visiting and not saying wonderful things about Thurl. She gave me records that he made and always let us know when he was going to be the voice in another movie. My deepest sympathy to his two children and his grandchildren."
-> Posted by Stuart R. Loughborough / May 26, 2005