posted 05-24-2005 11:06 PM                    

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Man Who Was Voice of Tony the Tiger Dies

The Associated Press
Tuesday, May 24, 2005; 11:37 PM

FULLERTON, Calif. -- Thurl Ravenscroft, who provided the rumbling "They're Grrrrreeeat!" for Tony the Tiger in countless Kellogg's ads and voiced a host of Disney characters, has died. He was 91. Ravenscroft was born in Norfork, Neb.

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

Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Kellogg's Tony the Tiger, is shown in this undated photo with the cereal cartoon character. Ravenscroft, who provided the rumbling "They're Grrrrreeeat!" for Kellogg's Tony the Tiger ads and voiced a host of Disney characters, died Sunday, May 22, 2005. He was 91. (AP Photo/The Enquirer) (AP)

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

He also narrated the summertime Pageant of the Masters at Laguna Beach 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.

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

Ravenscroft left Nebraska for 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.

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