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R.I.P. Chuck McCann, children's television host and the voice of "I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs"
The 'Far Out Space Nuts' and 'Captain Kangaroo' actor was 83.
In a 2007 interview with TVParty.com, Chuck McCann looked back on his career as not really a career. "I did everything," he said. "I never closed doors. If you look at my career — if I had one — I never think of it as a career, I just look at it as things I love to do. I have just as much fun doing a 30-second commercial as I do making a movie."
Indeed, McCann's body of work included everything from beloved children's television shows to General Mills ads to Oliver Hardy impressions.
He was the voice of Sonny the Cuckoo Bird in Cocoa Puffs commercials, delightfully declaring, "I'm cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!" McCann also starred in a series of memorable spots for Right Guard deodorant in the 1970s and 1980s, in which he spouted another catchphrase: "Hi, guy!"
McCann was born into a family of entertainers. His grandfather performed in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. A generation later, McCann's father was arranging music at the Roxy Theatre in New York, which gave young McCann the opportunity to meet Lou Costello.
Starting on local stations in the New York City area, McCann began his own career in children's television in the 1950s. He worked on series such as The Puppet Hotel and Let's Have Fun. He also had a hand in creating the regional favorite Wonderama. In 1963, he earned his own title, The Chuck McCann Show, which lead, a few years later, to Chuck McCann's Laurel & Hardy TV Show. Chuck was no dilettante when it came to Laurel & Hardy. He was a co-founding member of the Sons of the Desert, an international fan club devoted to the classic comedy duo.
Elsewhere, McCann continued to craft quirky characters for kids on shows like Far Out Space Nuts, a Sid and Marty Krofft sci-fi show co-starring Bob Denver of Gilligan's Island fame, and Captain Kangaroo, on which he portrayed Sailor Clyde.
On MeTV, you can spot McCann's smiling face on a variety of shows — he popped up on Bonanza, The Bob Newhart Show, Columbo, Diff'rent Strokes and far more. Or perhaps you heard his voice on Saturday mornings, if you grew up in the 1980s, as McCann voiced characters on cartoons like Pac-Man, G.I. Joe, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and DuckTales. He was even the voice behind the Thing in the Fantastic Four cartoon.
On Sunday, April 8, McCann died of heart failure at the age of 83, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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