Arnold Stang


Stang in 1951

Born: September 28, 1918; New York City, U.S.
Died: December 20, 2009 (aged 91); Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.

Arnold Stang (September 28, 1918 – 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.

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Career

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Stang moved to television at the start of the Golden Age. He had a recurring role in the TV show The School House on the DuMont Television Network in 1949. He was a regular on Eddie Mayehoff's short-lived situation comedy Doc Corkle in fall of 1952 as well as comedy relief on Captain Video and His Video Rangers as Clumsy McGee. Then he made a guest appearance on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater on May 12, 1953 and joined him as a regular as Francis the Stagehand the following September, often berating or heckling the big-egoed star for big laughs. Stang also had guest roles on several variety shows of the day including The Colgate Comedy Hour. In early 1951, Stang appeared on Henry Morgan's Great Talent Hunt, a take-off of The Original Amateur Hour, as "Gerard", supposedly recruiting "talent" for Morgan.

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Stang worked often as a voice actor for animated cartoons, and voiced the title role in Top Cat. The show lasted one season in prime time, 1961–62, before going into reruns. Stang also provided the voice for Popeye's pal Shorty (a caricature of Stang), Herman the mouse in a number of Famous Studios cartoons, Tubby Tompkins in a few Little Lulu shorts, and Catfish on Misterjaw. He also voiced the character Nurtle the Twurtle in the 1965 animated feature Pinocchio in Outer Space.

On television he appeared in commercials for the Chunky candy bar, where he would list many of its ingredients, smile and say, "Chunky, what a chunk of chocolate!" He provided the voice of the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee in the 1980s and was also a spokesman for Vicks Vapo-Rub. As a pitchman for Alcoa aluminum window screens in the late 1960s, he was known for the tag line "Arnold Stang says don't get stung". Stang also appeared in "The Grave Robber," an episode of the popular horror anthology series Tales from the Darkside, playing Tapok, an ancient Egyptian mummy who encounters some unscrupulous archaeologists who lure him into a game of strip poker.

Stang once described himself as "a frightened chipmunk who's been out in the rain too long." As for his distinctive squawky, nasal Brooklyn voice, he said "I'm kind of attached to it ... [it's] a personal logo. It's like your Jell-O or Xerox.

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Death

Stang died of pneumonia in Newton, Massachusetts, on December 20, 2009. Although Stang was born in New York City in 1918, he often claimed Chelsea, Massachusetts, as his birthplace and 1925 as his birth year. His ashes were buried in Newton's cemetery. His wife, JoAnne Stang, died in September 2017, also at the age of 91.

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Nestlé - Chunky - Stang Get's A Partner - Vintage Commercial - 1955 - 1960
34,780 views • Sep 10, 2013

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Chunky Chocolate

Nestlé - Chunky - The Chunky Kidd - Vintage Commercial - 1955 - 1960
9,019 views • Sep 10, 2013

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7.15K subscribers

Chunky Chocolate