Joe Alaskey

Joe Alaskey
Born	Joseph Francis Alaskey III (1952-04-17)April 17, 1952 Troy, New York, U.S.
Died	February 3, 2016(2016-02-03) (aged 63) Green Island, New York, U.S.[1]
Cause of death	Cancer
Nationality	American
Other names	Joseph Francis Alaskey Joseph Alaskey III Joseph Alaskey Joe Francis Alaskey III Joe Francis Alaskey Joseph F. Alaskey III Joseph F. Alaskey Joe F. Alaskey III Joe F. Alaskey
Occupation	Stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, impressionist
Years active	1983–2016
Website	http://www.joealaskey.com/

Joseph Francis "Joe" Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, and impressionist.^[2]

Alaskey was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his death on February 3, 2016. He alternated with Jeff Bergman and Greg Burson in voicing Warner Bros. cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, and Taz, among many others. He also voiced Plucky Duck on the Steven Spielberg-produced Tiny Toon Adventures from 1990–95. Alaskey was the second actor to voice Grandpa Lou Pickles on the widely popular and highly-acclaimed Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats (inheriting the role after David Doyle's death in 1997). He voiced Lou again in the Rugrats spin-off series All Grown Up!, as well as the Rugrats film trilogy. He also voiced Stinkie in Casper, as well as the film's 1996 animated spin-off The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper.

Early life

Alaskey was born in Troy, New York on April 17, 1952.^[3] At age 3, he was looking for a pair of sunglasses or people's cigar butts so that he could portray different characters.^[4] Alaskey was interested in archeology at the age of ten.^[4] After archeology, he was interested in becoming a priest and an English teacher.^[4] Alaskey moved to New York City in the 1970s. While initially in New York City, he worked in insurance while the acting was getting started.^[4]

Career

Alaskey was occasionally seen onscreen impersonating Jackie Gleason, with whom he shared a physical resemblance.^[4] In the 1980s, Gleason personally chose Alaskey to re-record selected dialogue from the "lost episodes" of The Honeymooners found in Gleason's private collection.^[5] After Gleason died, he watched the project get shelved.^[4] In 1985, Alaskey provided various voices for Galtar and the Golden Lance. Alaskey was in several television shows including Night Court, Head of the Class, Back to the Future, and Spitting Image: The 1987 Movie Awards. His first major film was Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Yosemite Sam.^[6] Alaskey provided a vocal Gleason impersonation in the "Mighty's Wedlock Whimsy" episode of Bakshi-Hyde Ventures' Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures in 1988, and a Cary Grant impersonation in "The Bride of Mighty Mouse" episode from the same season.

Alaskey did voice work for non-Warner Bros. characters. He has voiced Grandpa Lou Pickles on Rugrats (inheriting the role after David Doyle's death in 1997).^[3][7] He voiced Lou again in the Rugrats spin-off series, All Grown Up!, as well as the Rugrats film trilogy. He also created the voice of Thomas Timberwolf for the internet series TimberWolf, created by animation legend Chuck Jones. He was heard briefly as a voice-over announcer for the Toon Disney channel (and sometimes Dcom extras on Disney Channel). He was the voice of Curt Connors in the Spider-Man 2 video game and Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.^[8] Alaskey was in the independent film The Legend of Sasquatch and voiced Mermaid Man in the video games SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! and SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab. He voiced Stinkie in Casper as well as that film's 1996 animated spin-off, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper.^[8] Alaskey played Beano Froelich in Out of This World but left the show early in its final season, making only infrequent appearances in a few episodes. In the 1980s, he worked as the original announcer on the short-lived game show Couch Potatoes, hosted by Marc Summers.^[8] Alaskey made several onscreen appearances, portraying the show's "next door neighbor". For the show's final weeks, he was replaced by Jim McKrell and the "next door neighbor" concept was dropped. During this time, he was also a panelist on The New Hollywood Squares, hosted by John Davidson.^[8]

In 2008, Alaskey participated in a unique interview conducted by Logan Leistikow and released by TheYellowMic.com. He answered questions and told his story, then went out onto Hollywood Boulevard and talked to people on the street who wanted to hear his famous voices. This was the first time Alaskey had performed in public in this manner.^[8] In 2003, he took over the roles of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action.^[6] He also, at times, provided the voices for Sylvester, Tweety, and other Looney Tunes characters.^[6] Alaskey was the primary voice for Plucky Duck on Tiny Toon Adventures.^[6] In 2014, Alaskey started narrating the television documentary series Murder Comes to Town, which airs on the Investigation Discovery Network.^[8]

Alaskey's only live-action leading role in a film was as lovelorn Ron Douglas in the black comedy Lucky Stiff, directed by Anthony Perkins and co-starring Donna Dixon and Jeff Kober.

Death

Alaskey died in Green Island, New York, from cancer on February 3, 2016, aged 63.^[9] He was survived by his brother, John, and his nieces and nephews.^[10][11]

Filmography

Films

Television

• Night Court - Thomas Dobbs
• Head of the Class - Jack
• Out of this World - (1987–1990) as Beano Froelich
• Tiny Toon Adventures – Plucky Duck, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, Wile E. Coyote, Speedy Gonzales, Hugo the Abominable Snowman, Pete Puma
• Bonkers – Flaps the Elephant
• Nurses - Trekker #1
• The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries – Sylvester, Tweety, Marvin the Martian
• The Golden Palace - Mr. Smith #3
• Duck Dodgers – Captain Duck Edgar Dumas Aloysius Dodgers, Martian Commander X-2
• Rugrats – Grandpa Lou Pickles (1998–2004)
• All Grown Up! – Grandpa Lou Pickles (2003–2008)
• The Little Mermaid – Lobster Mobster
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Broadsword Man, Dealer, additional voices

Video games

• Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf – Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Gossamer, Phantom
• Looney Tunes: Back in Action – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Mr. ACME Chairman, Sylvester, Marvin the Martian
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! – Mermaid Man
• SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab – Mermaid Man
• Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Sylvester
• Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck – Daffy Duck
• Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham – Green Loontern
• The Sopranos: Road to Respect – Additional Voices
• Rugrats: Search for Reptar – Grandpa Lou Pickles
• Rugrats: Studio Tour – Grandpa Lou Pickles
• Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Barnyard Dawg, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester^[12]
• Looney Tunes Click 'N READ Phonics – Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, Tweety, Tasmanian Devil, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner

References

External links

• Joe Alaskey at the Internet Movie Database
• Joe Alaskey at TV.com