Beloved Herring Maven, RIP

April 28, 2010 2:03 PM

Actor, Playwright, Artist, Comedian, Magician, "Man of A Thousand Voices" (including Mighty Mouse,) "Beloved Herring Maven"

Mr. Ira Stadlen (Stage name: "Captain" Allen Swift) has passed away at the age of 87. Throughout his career, Mr. Stadler voiced characters in more than 30,000 television and radio commercials, as well as cartoons such as Underdog, Tom and Jerry and Diver Dan, but some might remember him most as the man who saved Howdy Doody. His nephew has posted a remembrance on his blog, which includes a link to a "novelty 45" mp3 recording of Swift's "Are You Lonesome Tonight."

* Wikipedia
* IMDB
* Paid Death Notice (NYTimes)
* YouTube Video: Mighty Mouse "Open & Rare Bumpers with Colgate Closing"
* Mighty Mouse: "Wolf! Wolf!"

posted by zarq (13 comments total)

Mighty Mouse is the first cartoon I can remember watching as a child. I clearly remember wearing Mighty Mouse pajamas and sleeping on a Mighty Mouse sheet set. :)

I may also have played "Mighty Mouse to the Rescue!" with the cute girl next door.... :)

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posted by zarq at 2:10 PM on April 28, 2010

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posted by joelf at 2:22 PM on April 28, 2010

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posted by Splunge at 2:24 PM on April 28, 2010

Yowza, what a great voice.

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posted by snsranch at 2:25 PM on April 28, 2010

Diver Dan. Wow. The floodgates of memory open and spew forth a wave of nostalgia that nearly drowns me...
posted by Splunge at 2:25 PM on April 28, 2010

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posted by roll truck roll at 2:41 PM on April 28, 2010

YouTube Video: Mighty Mouse "Open & Rare Bumpers with Colgate Closing" link is borked.
posted by crunchland at 2:46 PM on April 28, 2010

YouTube Video: Mighty Mouse "Open & Rare Bumpers with Colgate Closing" link is borked.

Crap. Thanks. This is the correct link.
posted by zarq at 2:48 PM on April 28, 2010

HERE I AM TO SAVE THE DAY!
posted by bukvich at 4:19 PM on April 28, 2010

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posted by Smart Dalek at 4:40 PM on April 28, 2010

Tooter Turtle
posted by evilcolonel at 5:45 PM on April 28, 2010

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he was awesome as Simon Bar Sinister and that was probably one of the first voices i attempted to imitate as a child
posted by kuppajava at 5:54 PM on April 28, 2010

Don't forget "Mad Monster Party?" where Swift did celebrity impersonations of most of the celebrity monsters (except the Baron, for which the got ol' Boris Karloff himself).

I was 6 when "Diver Dan" hit the TV, and more than most of the strange kiddie shows of the era, it was the stuff of nightmares for me. One observation: Baron Baracuda's henchman Trigger the tiger-striped triggerfish is obviously a bad fish, he has a cigarette in his mouth... underwater. (That was about the time my parents had to quit smoking after I developed childhood asthma... like I said, stuff of nightmares).
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:44 PM on April 28, 2010 [1 favorite]