THE HAT SQUAD: ALLEN SWIFT

Cartoon voice actor Allen Swift has passed away at the age of 86. With just the first paragraph of their tribute to him, Cartoon Brew amassed an amazing body of work credited to Mr. Swift:

Gene Deitch just informed us of the passing of his long-time personal friend Allen Swift. Swift (born Ira Stadlen) was best known for voicing numerous cartoon characters including Simon Bar Sinister (in 'Underdog'), Odie on 'King Leonardo' and most of the voices for the 1960’s underwater puppet show 'Diver Dan'. Swift was also well-known for hosting the 'Popeye' cartoon show (September 10, 1956 to September 23, 1960) on WPIX in New York City. Swift did the majority of the voices in Rankin/Bass’s 'Mad Monster Party', and supplied character voices for the NBC 'Howdy Doody Show'. He was Tooter Turtle and Clint Clobber. He did voices in Richard Williams’ 'Raggedy Ann and Andy' and John Dilworth’s 'Courage The Cowardly Dog', as well as in Gene Deitch’s 1960-61 group of 'Tom and Jerry' cartoons (especially memorable in "Dickie Moe").

Odie Colognie was always a favorite of mine with that Ronald Colman accent.....

Allen Swift was also the voice of Simon Bar Sinister on 'Underdog'.

You can read more of the Cartoon Brew tribute and check out some video here.

Good night and may God bless.

BCnU.....