Ed Herlihy
Ed Herlihy | |
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Station | WLOE, Boston |
Network | NBC |
Edward Joseph Herlihy (August 14, 1909 – January 30, 1999)[1] was an American newsreel narrator for Universal-International. He was also a long-time radio and television announcer for NBC, hosting The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour in the 1940s and 1950, and was briefly interim announcer on The Tonight Show in 1962.[2] He was also the voice of Kraft Foods radio and television commercials from the 1940s through the early 1980s. When he died in 1999, his obituary in The New York Times said he was "A Voice of Cheer and Cheese".[3]
Radio and television
Educated at
Kraft Foods
In 1947 Herlihy began his long association with Kraft Foods on radio, and continued it when the company sponsored the Richard Severo writes in his obituary of Herlihy that the show—and Herlihy's talent—suited Kraft well:
A dramatic offering, all of it done live, the show featured everything from Shakespeare to Rod Serling; it was at the center of what critics would come to call television's Golden Age. During commercials for Kraft products ("Good food and good food ideas," Mr. Herlihy would say), audiences heard only his voice, a voice he said he tried to make sound friendly. It was an avuncular, next-door-neighbor, deep, mellow kind of voice, a digestive guide through the preparation of all manner of souffles, dips, marshmallow salads and fondues. He was noted for his ability to ad lib through commercials when dramatic presentations ran too long or too short.[3]
Herlihy's role as Kraft spokesman lasted nearly 40 years, his voice becoming as familiar as a next-door neighbor's. From his obituary in The New York Times: "He liked to recall a summer day in
Newsreel narration
For
Films and stage
When he worked for Sid Caesar in the 1950s, Herlihy met Woody Allen, then a fledgling writer. Allen was so impressed with Herlihy's voice that he used him in several of his films in the 1980s, including Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, and Zelig;[3] his other film credits included The King of Comedy as the announcer for The Jerry Langford Show and Pee-wee's Big Adventure as Francis's father, Mr. Buxton.
He also appeared in road company stage productions outside New York City, including Camelot, Good News and Damn Yankees. He was in Watergate: The Musical, in Atlanta in 1982; Herlihy played Senator Sam Ervin, a role for which he spent $40 for a pair of bushy eyebrows, only to find that they would not move up and down.[3]
Later life
Herlihy made his last TV appearance on a PBS tribute N.Y. TV: By the People Who Made It in 1999.
Herlihy died of natural causes at his home in
The Herlihy family is one of the supporters of the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey; the foyer, with its oil portrait of Herlihy, is named in his memory.[10]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1973 | Ten from Your Show of Shows | The Narrator | |
1981 | The Chosen | Newsreel Announcer | |
1983 | The King of Comedy | Himself | (announcer for The Jerry Langford Show) |
1983 | Zelig | Newsreel Announcer | Voice |
1985 | Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment | Officer Dooley | |
Pee-wee's Big Adventure | Mr. Buxton | ||
1986 | A Fine Mess | TV Reporter | |
1988 | The Speeches of Winston Churchill | Voice (archive footage) | |
Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Newscaster | ||
1992 | Malcolm X | Joe Louis Announcer | |
1994 | Don't Drink the Water | Narrator | TV movie (final film role) |
References
- ISBN 978-0-7864-3848-8.
- ^ ISBN 1-57958-411-X. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Severo, Richard (February 2, 1999). "Ed Herlihy, 89, a Voice of Cheer and Cheese". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-7864-4318-5, retrieved August 17, 2010
- ^ "Recollections At 20". Old Time Radio Logs. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
- ^ "Radio:A Word from Our Sponsor". Time. June 16, 1952. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
- ^ History of Sputnik Archived 2010-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, motherboard.tv, October 8, 2010; accessed September 23, 2015.
- ^ "USS Skate, Nuclear Sub, Is First to Surface at North Pole". University of Phoenix. July 30, 1958. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
- ^ Severo, Richard (February 2, 1999). "Ed Herlihy, 89, a Voice of Cheer and Cheese". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ "The Lillian Booth Actors Home". Actors Fund. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
External links
- Ed Herlihy at IMDb
- Ed Herlihy at the Internet Broadway Database
- Ed Herlihy at Playbill Vault