Arnold Stang (September 28, 1918 â€" December 20, 2009) was an
American comic actor, and voice actor, whose comic persona was a small
and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type.Stang once
claimed he gained his break in radio by sending a postcard to a New
York station requesting an audition, was accepted, and then bought his
own ticket to New York from Chelsea, Massachusetts, with the money set
aside for his mother's anniversary gift. True or not, Stang worked on
New Yorkâ€"based network radio shows as a boy, appearing on children's
programs such as The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour and Let's
Pretend. By 1940, he had graduated to teenaged roles, appearing as
Seymour on The Goldbergs. Director Don Bernard hired him in October
1941 to do the commercials on the CBS program Meet Mr. Meek but
decided his constantly cracking voice would hurt the commercial so he
ordered scriptwriters to come up with a role for him. He next appeared
on the summer replacement show The Remarkable Miss Tuttle with Edna
May Oliver in 1942 and replaced Eddie Firestone Jr. in the title role
of That Brewster Boy when Firestone joined the U.S. Marine Corps in
1943.Comedian Henry Morgan made him a sidekick on his program in fall
of 1946 and Stang appeared in similar roles the following year on
radio shows with Eddie Cantor and Milton Berle. He also did the voice
of Jughead for a short while on the Archie Andrews radio show when it
was broadcast by NBC.At this time Stang had appeared in a number of
movies, including Seven Days Leave, My Sister Eileen, So This Is New
York with Henry Morgan, and They Got Me Covered. He had also appeared
on the Broadway stage in Sailor Beware, All In Favor and Same Time
Next Week, where he first worked with Berle.
American comic actor, and voice actor, whose comic persona was a small
and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type.Stang once
claimed he gained his break in radio by sending a postcard to a New
York station requesting an audition, was accepted, and then bought his
own ticket to New York from Chelsea, Massachusetts, with the money set
aside for his mother's anniversary gift. True or not, Stang worked on
New Yorkâ€"based network radio shows as a boy, appearing on children's
programs such as The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour and Let's
Pretend. By 1940, he had graduated to teenaged roles, appearing as
Seymour on The Goldbergs. Director Don Bernard hired him in October
1941 to do the commercials on the CBS program Meet Mr. Meek but
decided his constantly cracking voice would hurt the commercial so he
ordered scriptwriters to come up with a role for him. He next appeared
on the summer replacement show The Remarkable Miss Tuttle with Edna
May Oliver in 1942 and replaced Eddie Firestone Jr. in the title role
of That Brewster Boy when Firestone joined the U.S. Marine Corps in
1943.Comedian Henry Morgan made him a sidekick on his program in fall
of 1946 and Stang appeared in similar roles the following year on
radio shows with Eddie Cantor and Milton Berle. He also did the voice
of Jughead for a short while on the Archie Andrews radio show when it
was broadcast by NBC.At this time Stang had appeared in a number of
movies, including Seven Days Leave, My Sister Eileen, So This Is New
York with Henry Morgan, and They Got Me Covered. He had also appeared
on the Broadway stage in Sailor Beware, All In Favor and Same Time
Next Week, where he first worked with Berle.
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