Lorenzo Music

Infobox Actor
name = Lorenzo Music


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birthdate = 2 May 1937
location = Brooklyn, New York U.S.
deathdate = 4 August 2001 (age 64)
deathplace = Los Angeles, California U.S.
birthname = Gerald David Music
occupation = actor, voice artist, writer, producer, musician
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homepage =
yearsactive = 1962–1996

Gerald David Music, better known as Lorenzo Music, (2 May 1937–4 August 2001), was an American actor, voice actor, writer, television producer and musician. He was perhaps best known to audiences for providing the voice of the animated cartoon cat Garfield and Carlton the doorman ("Hello, this is Carlton, your doorman") on the TV series "Rhoda". He is also known for his roles as Tummi Gummi in Disney's "Adventures of the Gummi Bears", the original voice of Peter Venkman in DIC's "The Real Ghostbusters", and Larry the Crash Test Dummy in a series of 1980s public service announcements about wearing seat belts in vehicles.

Early life

Music was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and was raised in Duluth, Minnesota, where he was educated at the Central High School and the University of Minnesota Duluth. There he met his wife, Henrietta, and they formed a comedy duo "Gerald and His Hen". They performed successfully together for eight years. He changed his first name to Lorenzo for spiritual reasons after he became a member of the international spiritual association Subud.

Career

Early career

Music got his first professional job providing various voices to the cartoon "The Jetsons" in 1962. He became a writer and a regular performer on "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" during 1968 and 1969. His work as a writer on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in 1970 would lead him to his big break.

He was the creator of "The Bob Newhart Show" which went on the air in 1972 and ran for six years; he also co-wrote the theme song to the show with his wife Henrietta. Music continued writing for the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" spin-off "Rhoda". While casting "Rhoda", the producers were looking for a voice actor to play the part of a character that would be heard but never seen: Carlton the doorman. When they heard Music's sleepy, husky voice, they offered him that role, which made his voice recognizable to a worldwide television audience. Music co-produced and co-wrote a 1980 animated special "Carlton Your Doorman" which won an Emmy Award.

In 1976, he and Henrietta were given the opportunity to host a television variety show of their own. "The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show" was produced at a time when there was a glut of television variety shows, and it did not last.

Garfield

In 1982, Jim Davis's comic strip "Garfield" was the most popular strip in America. Compilation books of the strip were topping best seller lists, and Davis was negotiating to make an animated television special. Producers needed someone to voice the main character in the strip: Garfield, a lazy, oafish and demanding cat. After one audition, Music was cast as the voice of Garfield (in Davis's words, "I looked at the room full of (voice) actors, and then in the corner I saw Lorenzo, quietly licking himself").

On a 1988 television special celebrating the 10th anniversary of "Garfield", Jim Davis remarked, apparently facetiously, that Lorenzo Music was a man "whose face I've never seen." This may have been a tongue-in-cheek joke referring to the fact that Music avoided being photographed, or possibly was in reference to Music's positioning in the voice recording studio, where only the back of his head was visible from the studio's sound engineering booth. (There is, however, a photograph of Music at the end credits for the 1983 animated film Twice Upon a Time, in which Music supplied the voice of Ralph, the All-Purpose Animal. Music's photo is shown alongside photos of the other voice actors in the cast.)

Music's voice became an American staple: no fewer than 12 "Garfield" television specials were produced and the "Garfield and Friends" animated television series ran for seven years. Music was called upon to help write and produce the shows as well. Music became a favorite in the animation community voicing characters for shows such as "TaleSpin", "The Real Ghostbusters", "Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears", and "Darkwing Duck". In the mid-1990s, after both "Garfield and Friends" and "Darkwing Duck" went off the air, Music retired from cartoon voice over work.

Since his death, Frank Welker generally replaces Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield the Cat in recent productions based on the "Garfield" franchise. Also, Bill Murray voiced Garfield in the live-action films ' and '. Coincidently, Music voiced Murray's character of Doctor Peter Venkman in "The Real Ghostbusters". Meanwhile, Frank Welker also provided the voice of Ray Stanz on "The Real Ghostbusters".

Later career

In 1996, Music's voice could be heard on Stan Freberg's "Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume Two" album, released as a CD by Rhino Records. Music appears on the album as James Madison and Robert E. Lee. He was also rumored to appear on the final album of the series, "Volume Three," but the album has not been released.

In the early 1990s, he served as the voice-over for commercials for Ore Ida Potatoes. He later served as the pitchman for Ruggles Ice Cream (a local brand from Orrville, Ohio.)

Death

In 2001, Music died from complications related to lung and bone cancer. He is survived by his wife, Henrietta; his daughters Roz, a prominent Hollywood make-up artist ("Adaptation.", "The Virgin Suicides"), and Leilani and his sons Fernando and Sam.

Notes

External links

*imdb|name=Lorenzo Music|id=0615718