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February 13, 2015: Voice Actor Gary Owens Passes Away at Age 80
Posted by Neil Cole
Former American disc jockey and voice actor Gary Owens has passed away at the age of 80 from complications due to type 1 diabetes.
While best known for his roles as the voice of the superhero "Space Ghost" and the announcer on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," Owens was also the narrator of the 1975 ABC TV version of the "It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman!" musical.
The following year, Owens became the voice of a new cartoon character, the Blue Falcon, a character who fought crime in fictional Big City with the "help" of his clumsy sidekick, Dynomutt, also known as Dynomutt, Dog Wonder. The series was a parody of Batman, specifically the live-action version starring Adam West.
Throughout his career, Owens would lend his baritone voice to more than 10,000 radio shows as well as more than 30,000 commercials and promotional spots.
Owens also appeared on hundreds of television shows including "Roseanne," "The Gong Show," "The Jack Benny Show," "Night Court," "Batman," and "Barnaby Jones."
From 1995 - 1997, Owens was the announcer for "America's Funniest Home Videos" and, in recent years, he was the promotional announcing voice for Antenna TV, an over-the-air digital network dedicated to classic shows of the past, like "Three's Company," "The Monkees," "Adam-12," and "Gidget."
Owens is survived by his wife of 57 years, Arleta, and sons Scott and Chris. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the children’s Diabetes Foundation at www.childrensdiabetesfoundation.org.
