Stan Freberg

Did You Know?

• Freberg auditioned for the voice of C-3PO in the 1977 film Star Wars and suggested George Lucas use mime actor Anthony Daniels instead.
• He served in the US Army from 1945 to 1947 in Special Services attached to the Medical Corps at McCornack General Hospital in Pasadena, California.
• Freberg was cast to sing the part of the Jabberwock in a song for Disney's Alice in Wonderland, but the song was not included in the final film.

Animation

Freberg began his entertainment career in 1943 doing impersonations on Cliffie Stone's radio show. After graduating from Alhambra High School, he sought work in animation by taking a bus to Hollywood and walking into a talent agency, which arranged an audition at Warner Bros. Cartoons; he was hired promptly. His first notable cartoon voice work was for a Warner Bros. cartoon titled For He's a Jolly Good Fala, which was recorded but never filmed because the dog's owner, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, died.

He then voiced Bertie in Roughly Squeaking (1946). In 1947 he was heard in It's a Grand Old Nag (Charlie Horse), produced by Bob Clampett for Republic Pictures; Goofy Gophers (Tosh); and One Meat Brawl (Grover Groundhog and Walter Winchell). Freberg took over the role of Junyer Bear after actor Kent Rogers was killed in World War II, first performing the character in Chuck Jones' What's Brewin', Bruin? (1948). At Warner Bros. he frequently worked with Mel Blanc, voicing pairs such as Hubie and Bertie, the Goofy Gophers Mac and Tosh, and Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier.

In 1952 he voiced Friz Freleng's "Dumb Dog" in Foxy by Proxy and provided the voice of Pete Puma in Rabbit's Kin, doing an impression of an early Frank Fontaine characterization.

Capitol Records

Freberg was recruited by Capitol Records when it launched its spoken-word division, beginning on February 10, 1951. He produced satirical recordings about popular culture, including "John and Marsha," a soap opera parody in which he played both title characters repeating each other's names. Some radio stations refused to play it, thinking it was an actual romantic conversation. In 1954 he released a follow-up, "A Dear John and Marsha Letter," using pedal steel guitarist Speedy West, who had played on the original Ferlin Husky hit.

His 1955 seasonal recording "The Night Before Christmas"/"Nuttin' for Christmas" became a cult classic. Freberg parodied Johnnie Ray's "Cry" as "Try," exaggerating Ray's vocal style; Ray was initially furious but later realized the parody increased sales of his own record. Freberg reported receiving more angry feedback for this parody than any other. With Daws Butler and June Foray, he produced the 1953 Dragnet parody "St. George and the Dragonet," which was a No. 1 hit for four weeks in October 1953, sold over one million copies, and earned a gold disc.

He followed with musical satires such as "Sh-Boom" (1954), which ended with him yelling "STELLA!" imitating Marlon Brando, and a parody of Eartha Kitt's "C'est si bon" broadcast on Sam and Friends in 1955. Other songs included "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (1955), "Rock Around Stephen Foster," "Rock Island Line" with interruptions by Peter Leeds, and a spoof of The Platters' "The Great Pretender" (1956).

Radio

Freberg’s hit records earned him a CBS radio sitcom, That’s Rich, which ran from January to September 1954. He starred as Richard E. Wilt, a cynical but clumsy paper-company employee in the town of Hope Springs. To work in his popular Capitol satire records, Freberg added dream sequences performed live in front of a studio audience. In 1957, his own Stan Freberg Show took over Jack Benny’s old CBS time slot.

Producer Pete Barnum helped mount elaborate episodes, bringing back Freberg’s regular Capitol crew—June Foray, Peter Leeds, and Daws Butler—along with arranger Billy May, the Jud Conlon Singers, and singer Peggy Taylor. (Taylor later appeared on Freberg’s “Wun’erful, Wun’erful!” single, which capitalized on the show’s response.) The program never landed a sponsor because Freberg refused to endorse tobacco companies, the previous backers of Benny’s show.

Instead of real ads, he parodied commercials, pitching absurd products like “Puffed Grass,” “Food,” and a spoof of the Ajax cleanser jingle that touted “Stan Freberg—the foaming comedian!”

Television

Broadcast live on KTLA in Los Angeles and distributed nationwide by the Paramount Television Network, the show had fans including Albert Einstein, who reportedly interrupted a conference saying, "You will have to excuse me, gentlemen. It is time for Beany. Freberg made television guest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and other variety shows, often with his puppet Orville the Moon Man, controlling the puppet from below and turning away from the camera when delivering Orville's lines.

He had his own ABC special, Stan Freberg Presents the Chun King Chow Mein Hour: Salute to the Chinese New Year (February 4, 1962). On-screen television roles included The Monkees (1966), The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1967), and a continuing character on Roseanne (1996). He and his son appeared on the short-lived Weird Al Show in 1997. Freberg founded the advertising agency Freberg Limited, which produced radio and television commercials for clients including General Motors and Mellon Bank.

He introduced satire to advertising, influencing staid agencies to adopt his style. He stated that radio is a special medium capable of stretching the imagination more than television.