Questions and Answers with Henry Corden

We all know Alan Reed as the original Fred Flintstone, voicing the character from the series debut in 1960 all the way until he died in 1977. His passing left a huge hole in the world of Hanna-Barbera, so who could take his place? That man ended up being Henry Corden. Born in 1920, Corden was, like many of the earlier Hanna-Barbera voice actors, no stranger to live-action TV and film. He made appearances in works like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Perry Mason, among many others. His agent, Don Pitts, once remarked that he was always a perfect pick for villains. When the sixties began, he slowly but surely became one of the mainstay voices of Hanna-Barbera. At first, he did a few minor roles in shows like Jonny Quest and The Flintstones, but as the decade progressed, he found himself as the voice of Fred Flintstone. Or, his singing voice, that is, as Alan Reed had trouble singing on pitch.

Corden continued to voice Fred on and off in minor appearances until Alan Reed's tragic death in 1977. After that, Corden seemed to be the no-brainer to take over the role, although he did audition for the part once again. For the next three decades, Corden was the primary voice of Mr. Flintstone, surpassing Reed's seventeen-year run as the character. He passed away from emphysema in 2005, and since then, the role has been filled by both Jeff Bergman and James Arnold Taylor.

Although I unfortunately never had the chance to meet Mr. Corden, from what I've heard from friends and acquaintances who knew him, he was nothing but sweet, and always credited Alan Reed for originating the character of Fred. To celebrate what would've been his 104th birthday (January 6th, to be exact), here's a fun Q&A session he did with the folks at Newsday. This originally appeared in the September 29th, 1991 edition of the paper.

HENRY CORDEN

By Kevin Kretz, Jimmy Guarini, and Elizabeth Messman 

    We interviewed Henry Corden, who has been providing the voice for the famous cartoon character, Fred Flintstone, since 1977.

    Q. Are you similar to Fred Flintstone?

    A. Yes, my wife never lets me go bowling.

    Q. Why does he always wear the same clothes?

    A. When you work at the quarry in Bedrock, you can't afford to buy many clothes because all you are is a caveman. Your father killed a dinosaur or some kind of a furry beast, stripped the skin off him, created a garment and then passed it on to you. I'd like to think they wash it occasionally.

    Q. How are the sound effects made?

    A. That's a collection of tapes they've had since radio days. Some of those laugh tracks go all the way back to a radio show that Fred Allen started. He was one of the great comedians of his time.

    Q. Do you have a favorite episode?

    A. I've truly enjoyed everyone with the exception of my first one because it was nerve-wracking for me. A man by the name of Alan Reed was the first Fred Flintstone. Unfortunately, he died in 1977. He was the one who created the character so a lot of the credit goes to him. I am merely an imitator.

    Q. How long did it take to learn Fred's voice?

    A. It took some time because I had to imitate Alan Reed and listen to tapes of him. Eventually, I got pretty close to him but as the years progressed I decided to make Fred more my own so I don't have to imitate Alan so much.

    Q. Have you done any other voices?

    A. A number of voices in cartoons. I did a series in 1961 called "Jonny Quest" for Hanna-Barbera. It was a wonderful adventure story. I have a good ability with dialects and I would be a different villain each week.

    Q. How much do you get paid each time a cartoon airs?

    A. You're given a fee to do the original recording. After it plays one time, we get residuals. Each time it's shown, we get a small portion of the original amount. Not a lot of it. Like the other day, I got a residual check from Columbia Studios for having done an old series, it was for 16 cents. Nineteen cents was for the payment and 3 cents was taken off for tax.

    Q. Who is your favorite Flintstone?

    A. Pebbles. I have 17 grandchildren. I love and relate to young children because they have a great need for people.

   Q. Do you have any hobbies?

    A. I used to. One of them was coin collecting, another was music. I have a large collection of records, most of them are jazz and music of the early '30s and '40s. Reading is terribly important to me. My biggest hobby is the family.

    Q. Do you have any tips for kids who'd like to be a voice of a cartoon character?

    A. Educate yourself. I'm not just saying that because everyone else does. My education has allowed me to speak grammatically correctly and to relate to words on a page so that I can get on a microphone and read my lines with no trouble. I've seen it happen where guys don't quite get the printed word.