http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050521/ap_en_tv/obit_corden_5
By RYAN PEARSON, Associated Press Writer Fri May 20, 9:59 PM ET
LOS ANGELES - Henry Corden, the voice of cartoon caveman Fred Flintstone's "Yabba-dabba-doo!" for more than two decades, has died. He was 85.
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Corden died of emphysema Thursday night at AMI Encino Hospital, his longtime agent Don Pitts said Friday. Corden's wife of nine years, Angelina, was with him at the time.
He took over as the lovable loudmouth Fred Flintstone when original voice Alan Reed died in 1977. Reed had been doing Flintstone since the character debuted in 1960.
Born in Montreal, Corden moved to New York as a child and arrived in Hollywood in the 1940s. His first acting role was in the 1947 film "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Known for playing villains, he found small parts in movies, including 1952's "The Black Castle" and "The Ten Commandments" in 1956.
"As Henry said, he always played the cold-blooded creeps," Pitts said.
Corden moved into voice acting in the 1960s, and deployed his dialect skills in bit parts for Hanna-Barbera, including "Jonny Quest," "Josey and the Pussycats" and "The New Tom & Jerry Show."
Since "The Flintstones" echoed "The Honeymooners," Corden tweaked his role to approximate
Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden character, Pitts said.
Corden also contributed to "The Jetsons," "Scooby-Doo" and "The Smurfs."
Corden, who lived in Encino, had been working until his health suffered about three months ago. He can most recently be heard on ubiquitous cereal commercials yelling "Barney, my Pebbles!"
Besides his wife, Corden is survived by five children and five grandchildren. A private memorial "party" is planned, Pitts said.
Wow. One of my favorite cartoon character's VA. Yabba Dabba Doo cracked me up everytime. He's brought joy to millions, he lived a long life. Sleep well.
My condolences to anyone who is affected by this. However the article did hype up his Fred Flintstone role.
As it stated, he only took up the role after Alan Reed's death in 1977.
Henry Corden only provided Fred's voice in spinoffs and specials (and not even all of those).
www.topthat.net/webrock/fspin.htm
www.topthat.net/webrock/fspecials.htm
He was a good replacement, but he had nothing on Reed and unfortunately most of the material he had to work with was dire.
Quote:
Yabba Dabba Doo cracked me up everytime.
Alan Reed created the phrase himself: www.topthat.net/webrock/faq/faq17.htm
That's kinda sad. I never really thought that much about the Flinstones until now.
R.I.P
