Lennie Weinrib

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Lennie Weinrib
Born
Leonard Weinrib

(1935-04-29)April 29, 1935
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedJune 28, 2006(2006-06-28) (aged 71)
Santiago, Chile
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • writer
Years active1958–1992
Known forOriginal Voice actor for Scrappy-Doo in the Scooby-Doo Franchise
Children3

Leonard Weinrib (April 29, 1935 – June 28, 2006) was an American actor, comedian and writer.[1] He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R. Pufnstuf, Grimace in McDonaldland commercials, the title role in Inch High, Private Eye, the original voice of Scrappy-Doo on Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Hunk and Prince Lotor on Voltron, and Bigmouth on The Smurfs. He also was the voice for Timer in the "Time for Timer" ABC public service announcements in the early 1970s.

Life and career

A native of the Bronx, Weinrib got his start in show business working with Spike Jones, then later in The Billy Barnes Revue. He made guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Burke's Law, The Munsters, Happy Days and Adam-12. He charted nationally (Music Vendor, #132) with the comedy single "Prez Conference" in 1962. He also guest starred in an Emergency! episode called "Firehouse Four" as Fred Gibson, an overweight, accident-prone man. Woody Allen's character in his 1995 film Mighty Aphrodite was named "Lenny Weinrib".

Voice actor

He was most notable for his voice acting work. Starting with

NBC series Kissyfur
.

He also lent his voice to Superman in 1970 for a Sesame Street sketch of a lecture about words beginning with "S" which happened to be the character's favorite letter of the alphabet. Weinrib again voiced the Man of Steel, and his alter-ego Clark Kent, for a 1972 episode of The Brady Kids, "Cindy's Super Friend".

Weinrib voiced Davey Jones' Uncle Sedgwick, Hotel Desk Clerk and Shaggy's Great-Uncle Nathaniel on The New Scooby-Doo Movies. He voiced Cap'n Noah Smitty in Yogi's Ark Lark. He also was the original voice of Scrappy-Doo on the Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo TV series before Don Messick took over the role.

He voiced the title role in

Magic Mongo
.

He did the voices for Moonrock and Sergeant Boulder on

The Flintstone Comedy Show. in 1977, he voiced the title character on the CB Bears segment "Heyyy. it's the King". In 1986, he was the original voice of Freddy Flintstone on The Flintstone Kids, before Scott Menville replaced him the following season. In 1991, he voiced Max the Mole on the all-star Hanna-Barbera animated series Yo Yogi!
.

Live action

Weinrib appeared on The Dick Van Dyke Show three times, each time playing a similar character, a loud, over-the-top, insult-type comedian. This character was named "Jackie Brewster" ("Buddy Can You Spare a Job", 1961), "Danny Brewster" ("The Sam Pomerantz Scandals", 1963), and "Phil Franklin" ("The Impractical Joke", 1965). He also appeared in Miniature, a Twilight Zone episode in 1963.

He also appeared on single episodes of

Happy Days ("Duke" in "Ritchie's Cup Runneth Over", 1974), and on two episodes of Adam-12 in 1973 and 1974 as Tony the police garage mechanic. He also guest starred in the 1974 Emergency!
episode called "Firehouse Four" as Fred Gibson.

Directing

Weinrib's directing career consists of three feature films, all in the

Beach Ball for Paramount in 1965, and Wild Wild Winter and Out of Sight, both for Universal
in 1966. Weinrib also co-wrote the 1963 joke book The Elephant Book.

Retirement and death

Weinrib retired from acting in the 1990s and moved to

Santiago, Chile.[3]

For the Family Guy episode "Petarded", Seth MacFarlane explained on the Season 4 DVD commentary he wanted to use Weinrib to voice Timer for a cutaway gag, but Weinrib was suffering from failing health when "Petarded" was being produced, and as MacFarlane explained, he "didn't remember doing it" after the recorded audio was played back for him later. In the end, Timer was voiced by Seth himself.

Weinrib died in a hospital near his home on June 28, 2006, after suffering a stroke.[4]

Filmography

Voices

Live-action Television

  • The Dick Van Dyke Show - 3 episodes (1961, 1963, 1965)
  • Don't Call Me Charlie! - 1 episode ("Who Stole My Boots?") as a shoemaker (1962)
  • My Favorite Martian - 1 episode as Dentist Dr. Herbie Little (1964)
  • The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
     - 1 episode as Winky Blintz (1966) "The Off-Broadway Affair"
  • Happy Days
     - "Duke", 1 episode (1974)
  • The Krofft Supershow - as the title character in the "Magic Mongo" segment (1977–78)
  • Laredo - episode - The Sweet Gang - Bud Sweet
  • Adam-12 - 2 episodes as a Police garage mechanic
  • Emergency! - episode - Firehouse Four - Fred Gibson
  • The Munsters - episode - "The Midnight Ride of Herman Munster" - Freddie (1964)
  • The Twilight Zone - 1 episode - "Miniature" - Buddy Russell (1963)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960-1962)
    • (Season 5 Episode 31: "I Can Take Care of Myself") (1960) as Amos
    • (Season 6 Episode 12: "The Baby-Blue Expression") (1960) as Harry
    • (Season 7 Episode 25: "The Last Remains") (1962) as Stanley
  • The Red Skelton Show - 1 episode as Ronnie (1959)
  • The Waltons - episode - The Marathon S3E10 - as Spanky (1974)

Films

Commercials

See also

References

  1. ^ "Obituary: Lennie Weinrib / Voice of 'H.R. Pufnstuf,' 'Scrappy Doo'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  2. OCLC 1330888409
    .
  3. ^ "Voice Actor Lennie "Pufnstuf" Weinrib Dies at 71". Animation World Network.
  4. ^ McLellan, Dennis (2 July 2006). "Lennie Weinrib, 71; Actor Voiced H.R. Pufnstuf". Los Angeles Times.

External links

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