Joseph Francis "Joe" Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor and impressionist who voiced Mermaid Man in two video games (filling in for Ernest Borgnine).
Biography[]
After moving to New York City, Alaskey began his show business career as a stand-up comedian and broadcaster. He was occasionally seen onscreen impersonating Jackie Gleason, with whom he shared a physical resemblance. 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. After Gleason died in 1987, the project was shelved. 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. 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.
Although best known for his ability to successfully impersonate Looney Tunes characters, Alaskey did voice work for non-Warner Bros. characters as well. He has voiced Grandpa Lou Pickles on Rugrats (1991 TV series) (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 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. Alaskey was in the independent film The Legend of Sasquatch. He voiced Stinkie in Casper as well as that film's 1996 animated spin-off, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper. In 2007, he and Tom Kenny voiced Santa Claus and his evil brother Dingle and several other characters in the critically panned CGI holiday film Elf Bowling the Movie: The Great North Pole Elf Strike. 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. 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.
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. In 2003, he took over the roles of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action. He also, at times, provided the voices for Sylvester, Tweety, and other Looney Tunes characters. Alaskey was the primary voice for Plucky Duck on Tiny Toon Adventures. In 2014, Alaskey started narrating the television documentary series Murder Comes to Town, which airs on the Investigation Discovery Network.
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.
Trivia[]
- In the console version of Lights, Camera, Pants!, Joe Alaskey is misspelled as Jow Alaskey.
External links[]
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