Satirist, voice actor, and general wiseass Stan Freberg has passed away at the age of 88.
If you’re a certain age, you probably know Freberg’s voice even if you don’t know the name - he was heard in all kinds of cartoons and ads. (For example as Loony Tunes character Pete Puma.)
But he did much more than voice acting, generally subverting American popular culture through a stream of radio, records, and TV commercials during 50s and 60s. He was part of the wave of self-aware, referential, mocking humor that included Mad magazine and Rocky and Bullwinkle that simmered under the bland facade of 50s conformism. Somewhat amazingly, he was able to turn his gift for parody into a successful career as an adman, creating ads that lampooned his client’s products (check out the Sunsweet prune commercials in the link.)
He influenced all sorts of things, from Weird Al Yankovic to Spinal Tap to the Simpsons. And he’s still funny today … again, check out what’s in the links.