Thursday, February 12, 2004

Tony Pope, R.I.P.

Voice artist Tony Pope died yesterday due to complications during leg surgery. Tony, who was born in 1947, was one of the many students of the late Daws Butler to go on to a successful career doing animation voices and voiceovers. His cartoon career included The Transformers, Zorro, Spider-Man, Tale Spin, S.W.A.T. Kats and The Adventures of Teddi Ruxpin, to name just a few of many, and he did several voices (including Goofy) in the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Most of his work was narration gigs, radio commercials, announcing and especially looping, meaning that he was brought in to add voices and redub other actors in live-action movies.

You heard him many, many times and it's sad that you won't be hearing new work from him. The voiceover community is in mourning tonight.

• Posted at 11:51 PM · LINK

Julie and Eleanor

My pal Larry Steller inexplicably calls himself "Mr. Grooism" and operates his own weblog. Reading the Julius Schwartz obit I linked to in the Telegraph, Larry noticed something that went right by me. It was this line...

Julius Schwartz was born in the Bronx, New York, on June 19 1915, and educated at Hebrew school where he was awarded a gold watch presented by the then Governor of New York, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Eleanor Roosevelt was the Governor of New York? No, she wasn't. Her hubby was. And I just looked it up and noted a tiny flaw in Julie's tale of receiving a watch from the wife of the then-governor in 1928. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York in 1928 but didn't take office until 1929. So maybe Roosevelt wasn't yet Governor or he was Governor-elect when Julie got the watch. Or maybe Julie got it the following year. But I'll bet you the part about him getting a watch from Eleanor Roosevelt was true...even if she wasn't the Governor.

• Posted at 1:30 AM · LINK

Another New Book

Well, I haven't plugged a new book I have coming out for at least nine hours...so I might as well mention that my third collection of POV columns will be available in the middle of May from the fine folks at TwoMorrows Publishing. This one includes pieces on bad convention panels, cheap comic fans, my infamous "unfinanced entrepreneurs" essays, stupid mistakes in comics, obits on Pat Boyette and Curt Swan, and more. It also includes (and this was planned some time ago) a very long essay on Julius Schwartz...who alas, is now the late Julius Schwartz. Some of the book's new, some is reprinted from the column I did for years for Comics Buyer's Guide and a lot of it is old columns which I've gone back and fiddled with, taking out some of the dumber things I said and inserting all-new dumb things in their place.

And of course, it features a cover and loads of interior illustrations by Sergio Aragonés. You can advance order your copy here and be assured of getting your copy fresh from the printer. (And to answer a question I get a lot: No, at the moment, no one has any plans for a book of my essays about TV and show business. I'd like to do one and have actually been approached by real publishers...but every time, the deal falls through. Maybe one of these days...)

• Posted at 1:03 AM · LINK