The man, who voiced Tony the Tiger for over a decade, has passed away.
Lee Marshall, the iconic voice of Tony the Tiger, the overly enthusiastic Frosties mascot, has died at age 64. According to The LA Times, Marshall passed away last month at a Santa Monica hospital. He had esophageal cancer, his son Jason Marshall VanBorssum said for The Times. His voice work might be most recognizable from that infamous “They’re grrrreat!” but his unique bass has been booming in wrestling arenas and radio newsrooms for decades, long before he got the Tony the Tiger gig in 1999.
Thank you for making my Breakfast mornings GRRRRRRRREAT ! R.I.P. Lee Marshall aka "Tony the Tiger" pic.twitter.com/dzFxysPbeR
— LeeAnna LongWolf™© (@LeeLongWolf) May 8, 2014
But Lee hadn’t always been Tony and vice versa. The original Tony the Tiger was an actor named Thurl Ravenscroft, whose line "They're g-r-r-r-e-a-t" resonated across the airwaves from 1952 until months before his 2005 death at age 91. Marshall has said in a number of interviews that he started helping out when Ravenscroft was in his 80s and started struggling with some of the dialogue.
In the meantime, Marshall was building a name for himself as a deejay and sports broadcaster, a ring announcer and voiceover artist. He worked in practically any field that had room for his deep and melodic voice. Playing the goofy, gregarious tiger was an unusual gig for Marshall, whose timbre tended to land him roles as cartoon villains. "I would just once like to be the guy who saves Scooby-Doo," he complained to his agent.
That would never happen, he was told: "You'll always be the guy who tries to kill Scooby-Doo."
Decades later, Marshall’s Tony might be not only the most infamous, but the friendliest cartoon mascot ever created.
#LeeMarshall unannounced legend, longtime Voice of #TonyTheTiger Dead at 64.
http://t.co/PrSa8h74Vx pic.twitter.com/aAGjGf1s4L
— Fresh Independence (@FreshIndep) May 8, 2014
On the same day that Glastonbury welcomed back Margate's adopted sons, The Libertines, Margate itself put on it's very own Leisure Festival as it...
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...