Lorenzo Music
Encyclopedia
Lorenzo Music was an American
actor
, voice actor, writer
, television producer
and musician
. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon
cat Garfield
, and Carlton the doorman on the CBS
sitcom Rhoda
. He is also known for his work as Tummi Gummi in Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
, the original voice of Peter Venkman
in DIC's The Real Ghostbusters
, and Larry the Crash Test Dummy in a series of United States Department of Transportation
public service announcement
s that promoted the use of seat belt
s which ran from 1985 to 1998.
, where he was educated at Denfeld High School
and the University of Minnesota Duluth
. He met his wife Henrietta at the latter, and together they formed a comedy duo named "Gerald and His Hen." They performed successfully together for eight years. He changed his first name to Lorenzo for spiritual reasons after he became a member of the international spiritual association Subud
.
during 1968 and 1969. His work as a writer on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
in 1970 would lead him to his big break.
He was the creator of The Bob Newhart Show
which went on the air in 1972 and ran for six years; he also co-wrote the theme song to the show with his wife Henrietta. Music continued writing for the Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Rhoda
. While casting Rhoda, the producers were looking for a voice actor to play the part of a character that would be heard but never seen
: Carlton the doorman. When they heard Music's sleepy, husky voice, they offered him that role, which made his voice recognizable to a worldwide television audience. Music co-produced and co-wrote a 1980 animated special Carlton Your Doorman
which won an Emmy Award
.
In 1976, he and Henrietta were given the opportunity to host a syndicated television variety show of their own. The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show was produced at a time when there was a glut of television variety shows, and it did not last.
's comic strip
Garfield
was the most popular strip in America
. Compilation books of the strip were topping best seller lists, and Davis was negotiating to make an animated television special. Producers needed someone to voice the main character in the strip: Garfield, a lazy, oafish and demanding cat. After one audition, Music was cast as the voice of Garfield (in Davis's words, "I looked at the room full of (voice) actors, and then in the corner I saw Lorenzo, quietly licking himself").
On a 1988 television special celebrating the 10th anniversary of Garfield, Jim Davis remarked, facetiously, that Lorenzo Music was a man "whose face I've never seen." This may have been a tongue-in-cheek joke referring to the fact that Music avoided being photographed, or possibly was in reference to Music's positioning in the voice recording studio, where only the back of his head was visible from the studio's sound engineering booth. (There is, however, a photograph of Music at the end credits for the 1983 animated film Twice Upon a Time, in which Music supplied the voice of Ralph, the All-Purpose Animal. Music's photo is shown alongside photos of the other voice actors in the cast.)
More than 12 Garfield television specials were produced and the Garfield and Friends
animated television series ran for seven years. Music voiced characters for shows such as TaleSpin
, The Real Ghostbusters
, Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
, Pac-Man (TV series)
, and Darkwing Duck
. In the mid-1990s, after both Garfield and Friends and Darkwing Duck went off the air, Music retired from cartoon voice acting.
's Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume Two album, released as a CD by Rhino Records
. Music appears on the album as James Madison
and Robert E. Lee
.
In the early 1990s, he served as the voice-over for commercials for Ore Ida Potatoes and Fruit and Cream Strawberry Twinkies. He later served as the pitchman for Ruggles Ice Cream
(a local brand from Orrville, Ohio
). He voiced Conga in the Nintendo 64
videogame Banjo-Kazooie
.
Music continued his role of Garfield for several PC games, such as Garfield's Mad About Cats
, through the late-1990s.
He died from complications related to lung
and bone cancer
on August 4, 2001. His ashes were scattered at sea. He is survived by his wife, Henrietta; his daughters Roz, a prominent Hollywood make-up artist (Adaptation
, The Virgin Suicides
), and Leilani; his sons Fernando and Sam; and his nephews Ryan, Todd and Scott. A month before his death Lorenzo returned to voice Garfield
one last time for an automobile commercial.
has often replaced him as the voice of Garfield the Cat in recent productions of the Garfield franchise. Also, Bill Murray
voiced Garfield in the live-action films Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
. Music voiced Murray's character of Doctor Peter Venkman
in The Real Ghostbusters
. Meanwhile, Frank Welker also provided the voice of Ray Stantz on The Real Ghostbusters, and Music lost his role as Peter Venkman
and was replaced by Dave Coulier
when Murray complained to the studio that his character sounded too much like Garfield.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
, voice actor, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. His best-known roles include voicing the animated cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
cat Garfield
Garfield (character)
Garfield is a fictional character and the title protagonist from the comic strip Garfield created by Jim Davis.-Personality:Garfield is an anthropomorphic ginger cat. He loves eating , and sleeping. He is teased about being overweight. He is also selfish...
, and Carlton the doorman 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...
sitcom Rhoda
Rhoda
Rhoda is an American television sitcom, starring Valerie Harper, which ran for five seasons, from 1974 to 1978 airing in 109 episodes. The show was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which Harper between the years 1970 and 1974 had played the role of Rhoda Morgenstern, a spunky,...
. He is also known for his work as Tummi Gummi in Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that aired in the United States in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s...
, the original voice of Peter Venkman
Peter Venkman
Peter Venkman, Ph.D. is a fictional character from the Ghostbusters franchise. He is a parapsychologist and member of the Ghostbusters, appearing in the films Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II and in the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters...
in DIC's The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with...
, and Larry the Crash Test Dummy in a series of United States Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
s that promoted the use of seat belt
Seat belt
A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
s which ran from 1985 to 1998.
Early life
Music was born Gerald David Music in Brooklyn, New York City, and was raised in Duluth, MinnesotaDuluth, Minnesota
Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...
, where he was educated at Denfeld High School
Denfeld High School
Denfeld High School is one of two high schools in Duluth, Minnesota, along with East as of 2011. Denfeld and Central merged together during the 2010-2011 school year and are called Denfeld in the newly renovated building. Serving over 1000 students from grades nine to twelve, Denfeld High School...
and the University of Minnesota Duluth
University of Minnesota Duluth
The University of Minnesota Duluth is a regional branch of the University of Minnesota system located in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. As Duluth's public research university, UMD offers 13 bachelor's degrees in 74 majors, graduate programs in 24 different fields, a two-year program at the School of...
. He met his wife Henrietta at the latter, and together they formed a comedy duo named "Gerald and His Hen." They performed successfully together for eight years. He changed his first name to Lorenzo for spiritual reasons after he became a member of the international spiritual association Subud
Subud
Subud is an international spiritual movement that began in Indonesia in the 1920s as a movement founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo. The basis of Subud is a spiritual exercise commonly referred to as the latihan kejiwaan, which was said by Muhammad Subuh to represent guidance from...
.
Early work (1962–1981)
Music became a writer and a regular performer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy HourThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.-History:...
during 1968 and 1969. His work as a writer on The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977...
in 1970 would lead him to his big break.
He was the creator of The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart portrayed a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers...
which went on the air in 1972 and ran for six years; he also co-wrote the theme song to the show with his wife Henrietta. Music continued writing for the Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off Rhoda
Rhoda
Rhoda is an American television sitcom, starring Valerie Harper, which ran for five seasons, from 1974 to 1978 airing in 109 episodes. The show was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which Harper between the years 1970 and 1974 had played the role of Rhoda Morgenstern, a spunky,...
. While casting Rhoda, the producers were looking for a voice actor to play the part of a character that would be heard but never seen
Unseen character
In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...
: Carlton the doorman. When they heard Music's sleepy, husky voice, they offered him that role, which made his voice recognizable to a worldwide television audience. Music co-produced and co-wrote a 1980 animated special Carlton Your Doorman
Carlton Your Doorman
Carlton Your Doorman was an animated television special starring the unseen doorman Carlton from the sitcom Rhoda. As on Rhoda, Carlton's voice was provided by Lorenzo Music...
which won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
In 1976, he and Henrietta were given the opportunity to host a syndicated television variety show of their own. The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show was produced at a time when there was a glut of television variety shows, and it did not last.
Garfield (1982–1994)
In 1982, Jim DavisJim Davis (cartoonist)
James Robert Davis is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic strip Garfield, which he signs as Jim Davis. He has also worked on other strips: Tumbleweeds, Gnorm Gnat, U.S. Acres and a strip about Mr...
's comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
Garfield
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
was the most popular strip in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Compilation books of the strip were topping best seller lists, and Davis was negotiating to make an animated television special. Producers needed someone to voice the main character in the strip: Garfield, a lazy, oafish and demanding cat. After one audition, Music was cast as the voice of Garfield (in Davis's words, "I looked at the room full of (voice) actors, and then in the corner I saw Lorenzo, quietly licking himself").
On a 1988 television special celebrating the 10th anniversary of Garfield, Jim Davis remarked, facetiously, that Lorenzo Music was a man "whose face I've never seen." This may have been a tongue-in-cheek joke referring to the fact that Music avoided being photographed, or possibly was in reference to Music's positioning in the voice recording studio, where only the back of his head was visible from the studio's sound engineering booth. (There is, however, a photograph of Music at the end credits for the 1983 animated film Twice Upon a Time, in which Music supplied the voice of Ralph, the All-Purpose Animal. Music's photo is shown alongside photos of the other voice actors in the cast.)
More than 12 Garfield television specials were produced and the Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. The show was produced by Film Roman, in association with United Feature Syndicate and Paws, Inc., and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from September 17, 1988 to December 10, 1994, with...
animated television series ran for seven years. Music voiced characters for shows such as TaleSpin
TaleSpin
TaleSpin is a half-hour American animated television series based in the fictional city of Cape Suzette, that first aired in 1990 as part of The Disney Afternoon, with characters adapted from Disney's 1967 animated feature The Jungle Book. The name of the show is a play on "tailspin", the rapid,...
, The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with...
, Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears is an American animated television series that aired in the United States in the mid-1980s through the early 1990s...
, Pac-Man (TV series)
Pac-Man (TV series)
Pac-Man is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera based on the video game Pac-Man by Namco, which premiered on ABC and ran from 1982 to 1983. During the first airing of the show, the large number of advertisers sponsoring it caused commercial breaks to be double their normal length...
, and Darkwing Duck
Darkwing Duck
DarkWing Duck is an American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991–1992 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured the eponymous anthropomorphic duck superhero whose alter ego is mild-mannered...
. In the mid-1990s, after both Garfield and Friends and Darkwing Duck went off the air, Music retired from cartoon voice acting.
Later years and death (1995–2001)
In 1996, Music's voice could be heard on Stan FrebergStan Freberg
Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
's Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume Two album, released as a CD by Rhino Records
Rhino Entertainment
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company. It is owned by Warner Music Group.-History:Rhino was originally a novelty song and reissue company during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing compilation albums of pop, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues successes...
. Music appears on the album as James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
and Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
.
In the early 1990s, he served as the voice-over for commercials for Ore Ida Potatoes and Fruit and Cream Strawberry Twinkies. He later served as the pitchman for Ruggles Ice Cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
(a local brand from Orrville, Ohio
Orrville, Ohio
Orrville is a city in Wayne County, Ohio, United States. The population was 8,551 at the 2000 census.The J.M. Smucker Co., owner of the Smucker's brand, is headquartered in Orrville.-Geography:Orrville is located at ....
). He voiced Conga in the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
videogame Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
.
Music continued his role of Garfield for several PC games, such as Garfield's Mad About Cats
Garfield's Mad About Cats
Garfield's Mad About Cats is a 1999 computer game based on Jim Davis' Garfield. The main plot used here is "to build the world's most perfect cat".-Plot:...
, through the late-1990s.
He died from complications related to lung
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
and bone cancer
Osteosarcoma
Osteosarcoma is an aggressive cancerous neoplasm arising from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin that exhibit osteoblastic differentiation and produce malignant osteoid...
on August 4, 2001. His ashes were scattered at sea. He is survived by his wife, Henrietta; his daughters Roz, a prominent Hollywood make-up artist (Adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
, The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides (film)
The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola, produced by her father Francis Ford Coppola, starring James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, and A.J...
), and Leilani; his sons Fernando and Sam; and his nephews Ryan, Todd and Scott. A month before his death Lorenzo returned to voice Garfield
Garfield
Garfield is a comic strip created by Jim Davis. Published since June 19, 1978, it chronicles the life of the title character, the cat Garfield ; his owner, Jon Arbuckle; and Arbuckle's dog, Odie...
one last time for an automobile commercial.
Legacy
Since Music's death, Frank WelkerFrank Welker
Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:...
has often replaced him as the voice of Garfield the Cat in recent productions of the Garfield franchise. Also, Bill Murray
Bill Murray
William James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
voiced Garfield in the live-action films Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties is the 2006 sequel to 2004's live-action feature film Garfield: The Movie...
. Music voiced Murray's character of Doctor Peter Venkman
Peter Venkman
Peter Venkman, Ph.D. is a fictional character from the Ghostbusters franchise. He is a parapsychologist and member of the Ghostbusters, appearing in the films Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II and in the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters...
in The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with...
. Meanwhile, Frank Welker also provided the voice of Ray Stantz on The Real Ghostbusters, and Music lost his role as Peter Venkman
Peter Venkman
Peter Venkman, Ph.D. is a fictional character from the Ghostbusters franchise. He is a parapsychologist and member of the Ghostbusters, appearing in the films Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II and in the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters...
and was replaced by Dave Coulier
Dave Coulier
David Alan "Dave" Coulier is an American stand-up comedian, impressionist, television and voice actor, and television host. He is well-known for his role as Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom Full House, which ran from 1987 to 1995....
when Murray complained to the studio that his character sounded too much like Garfield.