Gary Owens Remembered

He was a voice actor, a radio DJ, a writer, a comedian, and a surprisingly good basketball player. This is Gary Owens, friend of those who want no friends, going places and losing things.

Born in South Dakota on May 10th, 1934, Owens was a man of many talents. He's best known for his various disk jockey gigs and as the announcer of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, but for us here at The Exposure Sheet, we will remember him best as one of the most underrated cartoon voice actors of the 1960s. Gary Owens's cartoon history actually goes back to before he ever voiced any characters. His radio career saw him cross paths with legends like June Foray and Paul Frees, and he wrote for Jay Ward cartoons like Rocky and Bullwinkle. But his booming voice and deadpan sense of humor were a perfect fit for cartoons, and in 1965, he played his first cartoon character when he took on the title role of Roger Ramjet. Just a year later, Hanna-Barbera got ahold of him, and he began voicing his most enduring character, Space Ghost.

Over the next forty years, Gary Owens was heard in an impressive catalog of cartoons. You could hear him in The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, Ren and Stimpy, Batman: The Animated Series, SWAT Kats, and Dynomutt. Many of these shows had him taking on the role of narrator, making him the go-to voice in animation when you needed someone to set the stage for your show. Owens even had a small cameo appearance in Space Ghost's late-night series, Coast to Coast, and would reprise the role in a 2011 episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Tragically, that would be his final voice-acting role.

On February 12th, 2015, Gary Owens died of complications from diabetes. He had been dealing with the condition since childhood, and it sadly claimed his life. In memory of him on what would've been his 90th birthday, below is a piece dedicated to him from UPI writer Vernon Scott, relatively early in his animation career. 

Regular 'Laugh-In' Show Opener Is Busy Radio Announcer, Writer
By Vernon Scott

   

     HOLLYWOOD (UPI): Gary Owens is the nut on "The Rowan and Martin Laugh-In" who stands in front of a microphone, holding a cupped hand to his ear and opens the show by announcing "Morgul as the friendly drelb."
    There is no Morgul. A drelb is a furry, sick-looking abominable snowman. But Owens is real enough and even shows flashes of sanity.
    In addition to his playing straight man to the resident dingalings on the show, Owens is a disk jockey for radio station KMPC in Hollywood from 3-6 p.m. daily.
    When he isn't taping the "Laugh-In" or spinning records, the South Dakota native is doing commercials. Last year his voice was heard in no fewer than 350 commercial pitches in addition to providing the vocal cords for cartoon characters "Space Ghost" and "Roger Ramjet."
    Owens is married to a pretty girl named Arieta whom he met on the campus of Dakota Wesleyan University. They exchanged vows in 1956. They are the parents of Scott, 9, and Christopher, 5.
    Their Encino estate in the San Fernando Valley is complete with a swimming pool, a full-time maid, and three dogs: Two dachshunds, Julie and Rosebud, and a terrier who answers to Skoshi.
    Owens is proud of the fact that he began bread-castings in the Dakotas when he was only 16. He did his first announcing job with another Dakotan, Lawrence Welk.
    The many-faceted Owens has three offices, one at home, another at KMPE, and a third in a Hollywood office building which is filled with filing cabinets of gags, trivia, and information for his radio show.
    At the moment he is completing his first book, "Gary Owens Looks at Radio," a tome on humor scheduled for publication in September.
    Owens manages to juggle his busy schedule because the producers of the NBC TV comedy sensation allow him to "wild-track" his "Laugh-In" bit on tape Tuesday mornings. He returns Wednesday evenings—after his radio show—to tape scenes with other members of the wacky staff.
    To relieve the tensions of his fast-paced life, Owens plays basketball on a regulation outdoor court flanking his home.