Arnold Stang
Encyclopedia
Arnold Stang was an American comic
actor
who played a small and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type.
with the money set aside for his mother's anniversary gift. True or not, Stang worked on New York-based network radio shows as a boy, appearing on children's programs such as The Horn and Hardart Hour and Let's Pretend. By 1940, he had graduated to teenaged roles, appearing on The Goldbergs
. Director Don Bernard hired him in October 1941 to do the commercials on the CBS
program Meet Mr. Meek but decided his voice cracking between soprano and bass would hurt the commercial so he ordered scriptwriters to come up with a role for him. He next appeared on the summer replacement show The Remarkable Miss Tuttle with Edna May Oliver
in 1942 and replaced Eddie Firestone
Jr. in the title role of That Brewster Boy when Firestone joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943.
Comedian Henry Morgan
made him a sidekick on his program in fall of 1946 and Stang appeared in similar roles the following year on radio shows with Eddie Cantor
and Milton Berle
.
At this time Stang had appeared in a number of movies, including Seven Days Leave, My Sister Eileen
, So This Is New York with Henry Morgan, and They Got Me Covered
. He had also appeared on the Broadway
stage in Sailor Beware, All In Favor and Same Time Next Week where he first worked with Berle.
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. Then he made a guest appearance on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater
on May 12, 1953 and joined him as a regular 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 films, he played Sparrow in The Man with the Golden Arm
(1955) with Frank Sinatra
and Kim Novak
. In It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
(1963) he played Ray, who along with his partner Irwin (played by Marvin Kaplan
), owns a gas station that Jonathan Winters
destroys for defending Otto Meyer (Phil Silvers
). He appeared in Hello Down There
(1969). In one of the oddest movie pairings, he partnered with Arnold Schwarzenegger
(billed as "Arnold Strong") in the latter's first film, the camp
classic Hercules in New York
(1970).
Stang was often a voice actor for animated cartoons. He is perhaps best known in this field as the voice of "T.C.," the sly alley cat in the Hanna-Barbera series Top Cat
, (modeled explicitely on Sgt. Bilko in The Phil Silvers Show
. He 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 provided many extra voices for the Cartoon Network
series Courage the Cowardly Dog
.
On television he appeared in commercial
s 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 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
.
with guest star Sammy Davis Jr. In one TV advertisement he played Luther Burbank
, proudly showing off his newly-invented "square tomato
" to fit neatly in typical square slices of commercial bread, then being informed that the advertising bakery had beat him to it by producing round loaves of bread. He played the photographer in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace
with Walter Matthau
.
in Newton, Massachusetts
, on December 20, 2009. Stang was born in New York City in 1918, but often claimed Chelsea, Massachusetts
as his birthplace and 1925 as his birthdate.
and in his later years Greenwich, Connecticut
, moving toward the end of his life to Needham, Massachusetts
. The Stangs had two children, David and Deborah.
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who played a small and bespectacled, yet brash and knowing big-city type.
Career
Stang once claimed he got his break in radio by sending a postcard to a New York station requesting an audition, was accepted, and then bought his own ticket to New York from Chelsea, MassachusettsChelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is the smallest city in Massachusetts in land area, and the 26th most densely populated incorporated place in the country.-History:...
with the money set aside for his mother's anniversary gift. True or not, Stang worked on New York-based network radio shows as a boy, appearing on children's programs such as The Horn and Hardart Hour and Let's Pretend. By 1940, he had graduated to teenaged roles, appearing on The Goldbergs
The Goldbergs
The Goldbergs is a comedy-drama broadcast from 1929 to 1946 on American radio, and from 1949 to 1956 on American television. It was adapted into a 1948 play, Me and Molly, and a 1973 Broadway musical, Molly.-Radio:...
. Director Don Bernard hired him in October 1941 to do the commercials on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
program Meet Mr. Meek but decided his voice cracking between soprano and bass would hurt the commercial so he ordered scriptwriters to come up with a role for him. He next appeared on the summer replacement show The Remarkable Miss Tuttle with Edna May Oliver
Edna May Oliver
Edna May Oliver was an American stage and film actress. During the 1930s, she was one of the best-known character actresses in American films, often playing tart-tongued spinsters.-Early life:...
in 1942 and replaced Eddie Firestone
Eddie Firestone
Eddie Firestone was a United States radio, television, and film actor.An early success was in the title role of radio's That Brewster Boy, which he left in 1943, during World War II, to join the U.S. Marine Corps...
Jr. in the title role of That Brewster Boy when Firestone joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943.
Comedian Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan (comedian)
Henry Morgan was an American humorist. He is remembered best in two modern media: radio, on which he first became familiar as a barbed but often self-deprecating satirist, and on television, where he was a regular and cantankerous panelist for the game show I've Got a Secret...
made him a sidekick on his program in fall of 1946 and Stang appeared in similar roles the following year on radio shows with Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
and Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
.
At this time Stang had appeared in a number of movies, including Seven Days Leave, My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen
My Sister Eileen originated as a series of short stories by Ruth McKenney that eventually evolved into a book, a play, a musical, a radio play , two films, and a CBS television series in the 1960-1961 season....
, So This Is New York with Henry Morgan, and They Got Me Covered
They Got Me Covered
They Got Me Covered is a 1943 film starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour. The comedy movie was directed by David Butler. Otto Preminger appears in a supporting role.-Cast:*Bob Hope as Robert Kittredge*Dorothy Lamour as Christina Hill...
. He had also appeared on the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage in Sailor Beware, All In Favor and Same Time Next Week where he first worked with Berle.
Stang moved to television at the start of the Golden Age. He had a recurring role in the TV show The School House
The School House
The School House was an early American television program broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network.-Broadcast history:The series ran from January 18 to April 19, 1949. It was a Vaudeville-inspired variety show/comedy starring Kenny Delmar, who portrayed the teacher...
on the DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
in 1949. He was a regular on Eddie Mayehoff
Eddie Mayehoff
Eddie Mayehoff was an American actor.Probably his best known role was as Harold Lampson, the henpecked husband and incompetent lawyer in the 1965 comedy movie How to Murder Your Wife....
's short-lived situation comedy Doc Corkle
Doc Corkle
Doc Corkle is an American Television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC on Sunday nights for three weeks from October 5 to October 19, 1952. The show's sponsor, Reynolds Metals, was so disappointed with the program that it was canceled and replaced by Mr...
in fall of 1952. Then he made a guest appearance on Milton Berle's Texaco Star Theater
Texaco Star Theater
Texaco Star Theater is an American comedy-variety show, broadcast on radio from 1938 to 1949 and telecast from 1948 to 1956. It was one of the first successful examples of American television broadcasting, remembered as the show that gave Milton Berle the nickname "Mr...
on May 12, 1953 and joined him as a regular 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
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show stars many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou...
.
In films, he played Sparrow in The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm
The Man with the Golden Arm is a 1955 American drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Nelson Algren, which tells the story of a heroin addict who gets clean while in prison, but struggles to stay that way in the outside world. It stars Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold...
(1955) with Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Kim Novak
Kim Novak
Kim Novak is an American film and television actress. She began her career with her roles in Pushover and Phffft! but achieved greater prominence in the 1955 film Picnic...
. In It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers...
(1963) he played Ray, who along with his partner Irwin (played by Marvin Kaplan
Marvin Kaplan
Marvin Kaplan is an American character actor and voice artist. Kaplan is probably best known for his recurring role on the sitcom Alice where he portrayed a phone company employee named Henry Beesmeyer who frequented Mel's diner. He was a part of the cast from 1977 to the series end in 1985...
), owns a gas station that Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Winters
-Early life:Winters was born in Bellbrook, Ohio, the son of Alice Kilgore , a radio personality, and Jonathan Harshman Winters II, an investment broker. He is a descendant of Valentine Winters, founder of the Winters National Bank in Dayton, Ohio...
destroys for defending Otto Meyer (Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
). He appeared in Hello Down There
Hello Down There
Hello Down There is a 1969 musical comedy film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Jack Arnold and Ricou Browning and produced by George Sherman and Ivan Tors from a screenplay by John McGreevey and Frank Telford. It starred Tony Randall and Janet Leigh...
(1969). In one of the oddest movie pairings, he partnered with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
(billed as "Arnold Strong") in the latter's first film, the camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
classic Hercules in New York
Hercules in New York
Hercules in New York is a 1969 fantasy adventure film. It is known for being the first feature film to star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was about 22 years old when the film was produced...
(1970).
Stang was often a voice actor for animated cartoons. He is perhaps best known in this field as the voice of "T.C.," the sly alley cat in the Hanna-Barbera series Top Cat
Top Cat
Top Cat is a Hanna-Barbera prime time animated television series which ran from September 27, 1961 to April 18, 1962 for a run of 30 episodes on the ABC network. Reruns are played on Cartoon Network's classic animation network Boomerang.-History:...
, (modeled explicitely on Sgt. Bilko in The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G...
. He also provided the voice for Popeye
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor is a cartoon fictional character created by Elzie Crisler Segar, who has appeared in comic strips and animated cartoons in the cinema as well as on television. He first appeared in the daily King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on January 17, 1929...
's pal Shorty (a caricature of Stang), Herman
Herman and Katnip
Herman and Katnip are a duo of cartoon characters . From 1944 to September 1950, Herman appeared without Katnip, who made his first appearance in November 1950 with Mice Meeting You. The two characters continued to star in animated cartoons by Famous Studios until 1959...
the mouse in a number of Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
cartoons, Tubby Tompkins in a few Little Lulu
Little Lulu
"Little Lulu" is the nickname for Lulu Moppett, a comic strip character created in the mid-1930s by Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character debuted in The Saturday Evening Post on February 23, 1935 in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding and strewing the aisle with banana peels...
shorts, and Catfish on Misterjaw
Misterjaw
Misterjaw is a 34-episode made-for-television cartoon series, produced at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises in 1976 for The Pink Panther and Friends television series on NBC.-Plot:...
. He also provided many extra voices for the Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
series Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog is an American animated television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network. Its central plot revolves around a somewhat anthropomorphic dog named Courage who lives with his owners, Muriel and Eustace Bagge, an elderly, married farming couple in the "Middle of...
.
On television he appeared in commercial
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
s for the Chunky
Nestlé Chunky
Nestlé Chunky is a candy bar known for its trapezoidal shape and consists of milk chocolate, California raisins and roasted peanuts. It is produced by Nestlé....
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
Honey Nut Cheerios
Honey Nut Cheerios is a variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal, introduced in 1979 by the General Mills cereal company. This is the second variation from Original Cheerios, it is sweeter than the original, with a honey and almond flavor...
Bee in the 1980s and was also a spokesman for Vicks Vapo-Rub
Vicks
Vicks is a line of over-the-counter medications owned by the American company Procter & Gamble. Vicks manufactures NyQuil and its sister medication, DayQuil. The Vicks brand also produces Formula 44 cough medicines, cough drops, VapoRub, and a number of inhaled breathing treatments...
. As a pitchman for Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
aluminum window screens in the late 1960s, he was known for the tag line "Arnold Stang says don't get stung".
Stang once described himself as "a frightened chipmunk who's been out in the rain too long." As for his distinctive squawky, nasal Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
voice, he said "I'm kind of attached to it...[it's] a personal logo. It's like your Jell-O
Jell-O
Jell-O is a brand name belonging to U.S.-based Kraft Foods for a number of gelatin desserts, including fruit gels, puddings and no-bake cream pies. The brand's popularity has led to it being used as a generic term for gelatin dessert across the U.S. and Canada....
or Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
.
Later career
Stang appeared on an episode of The Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
with guest star Sammy Davis Jr. In one TV advertisement he played Luther Burbank
Luther Burbank
Luther Burbank was an American botanist, horticulturist and a pioneer in agricultural science.He developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 54-year career. Burbank's varied creations included fruits, flowers, grains, grasses, and vegetables...
, proudly showing off his newly-invented "square tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
" to fit neatly in typical square slices of commercial bread, then being informed that the advertising bakery had beat him to it by producing round loaves of bread. He played the photographer in the 1993 film Dennis the Menace
Dennis the Menace (film)
Dennis the Menace is a 1993 live-action American family film based on the Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name....
with Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
.
Death
Stang died of pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
, on December 20, 2009. Stang was born in New York City in 1918, but often claimed Chelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is the smallest city in Massachusetts in land area, and the 26th most densely populated incorporated place in the country.-History:...
as his birthplace and 1925 as his birthdate.
Personal life
Stang and his wife, the former JoAnne Taggart, lived in New Rochelle, New YorkNew Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
and in his later years Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
, moving toward the end of his life to Needham, Massachusetts
Needham, Massachusetts
Needham is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 28,886 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. The Stangs had two children, David and Deborah.
External links
- Kliph Nesteroff Salutes Arnold Stang
- Arnold Stang biography and radio interview (June 1974 on WTIC, Hartford, Connecticut)
- Arnold Stang radiography at Radio Gold Index
- Links to "The Henry Morgan Show" episodes (featuring Arnold Stang performances) available in mp3 format for free download at Archive.org