Chuck McCann (b. September 2, 1934 in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) is a movie actor, TV actor, stage actor, and a voice actor.
Early career
McCann was a comedy giant to a generation of children who grew up watching his children's shows in the
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
metropolitan area during the 1960s, having worked his way up to regional star status by apprenticing on a number of other children's shows like
Captain KangarooCaptain Kangaroo is a children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS from 1955 until 1984...
and
Rootie KazootieRootie Kazootie was the principal character on the 1950s children's television show The Rootie Kazootie Club. The show was the creation of Steve Carlin and featured human actors along with hand puppets.- Characters :...
(the show on which he met his one-time
puppeteerA puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object—a puppet—in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or her own...
and
sidekickA sidekick is a stock character, a close companion who assists a partner in a superior position. Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, Batman's companion Robin, and Xena's partner, Gabrielle are some well-known sidekicks in fiction....
, Paul Ashley).
On Palm Sunday, 1965 Chuck McCann's cousins were telling their friends that their cousin was Chuck McCann. They didn't believe them so their mother called him and told him that people were calling her children mean things about 'lying'. Chuck McCann said immediately to come over. They did and were put on his show, showing McCann's good character and family relations.
To around 1967, the tall, portly, moon-faced McCann hosted comedy/variety TV puppet shows in the
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
area. McCann (with Ashley) did
The Puppet Hotel for
WNTA-TVWNET, channel 13 , is a non-commercial television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the three-state New York metropolitan area, WNET is a flagship station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...
, Channel 13; then
Laurel & Hardy & Chuck,
Let's Have Fun and
The Chuck McCann Show for
WPIXWPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of the CW Television Network...
, Channel 11; and finally,
The Chuck McCann Show,
The Great Bombo's Magic Cartoon Circus Lunchtime Show and
Chuck McCann's Laurel and HardyLaurel and Hardy were a popular comedy team composed of thin, English-born Stan Laurel and heavy, American-born Oliver Hardy . They became famous during the early half of the 20th century for their work in motion pictures and also appeared on stage throughout America and Europe.The two comedians...
Show for
WNEW-TVWNYW, channel 5, is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located on Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood...
, Channel 5. In addition, Chuck was the comedy sidekick on the
WPIXWPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of the CW Television Network...
long-running
Clay Cole ShowThe Clay Cole Show was a rock music television show based in New York City, hosted by Clay Cole.In 1959, New York City was the center of rock ‘n’ roll – The Brill Building songwriters, subway a cappella groups , mom-and-pop record labels, The Apollo Theater, and The Copa...
.
McCann's career was burgeoning by the time he left Channel 5, a victim of changing TV trends. By the end of the 1960s, he had appeared to critical acclaim in the 1968 film
The Heart Is a Lonely HunterThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a 1968 film adaptation of the novel of the same name. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller. It stars Alan Arkin, Sondra Locke, Laurinda Barrett, Stacy Keach, Percy Rodriguez, Chuck McCann and Cicely Tyson.-Plot summary:...
and performed regularly on
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
's
The Garry Moore ShowThe Garry Moore Show is the name for several separate American variety series on the CBS television network in the 1950s and 1960s. Hosted by experienced radio performer, Garry Moore, the series helped launch the careers of many comedic talents, such as Don Adams, George Gobel, Carol Burnett, Don...
and
Happy Days (not the later sitcom). He also began a successful
cartoonAn animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
voice career, doing everything from
Bob KaneBob Kane was an American comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the famous DC Comics superhero Batman.-Early life and career:...
's
Cool McCoolCool McCool was an animated series that ran on NBC from September 10, 1966 to August 30, 1969 with two episodes per show, running to 40 episodes in all...
to
Sonny the Cuckoo BirdSonny the Cuckoo Bird is the cartoon mascot for Cocoa Puffs, a General Mills-produced cereal. He often appears in its television commercials.-History:...
("I'm cuckoo for
Cocoa PuffsCocoa Puffs is a brand of chocolate-flavored puffed grain breakfast cereal, manufactured by General Mills. Introduced in 1958, the cereal consists of small spheres of corn, oats and rice that have been flavored with cocoa. Essentially, Cocoa Puffs are Kix cereal with added chocolate flavoring...
!") in commercials for
General MillsGeneral Mills is an American Fortune 500 corporation, mainly concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets several well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green Giant,...
. He had even been one of the stars of producer
George SchlatterGeorge Schlatter is an Emmy-winning American television producer and director, best known for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and founder of the American Comedy Awards....
's ill-fated offshoot of
Laugh-InRowan & Martin's Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968 to May 14, 1973. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast over NBC...
, the one-episode
Turn-OnTurn-On is an American television series from 1969. Only one episode was shown and it is considered one of the most infamous flops in TV history....
.
In the 1970s, McCann's life and career shifted west, and he relocated to
Los AngelesLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
. He made frequent appearances on network television in everything from
BonanzaBonanza is an American television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons, it is among the longest running Western television series and continues to air in syndication....
to
Columbo to
The Bob Newhart ShowThe Bob Newhart Show is the name of two different television series, both starring comedian Bob Newhart. The better-known is a situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired on CBS from September 16, to April 1,...
. He had a steadier job as a regular on
Norman LearNorman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such '70s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude.-Early life:...
's
All That Glitters. In addition, he co-starred with
Bob DenverRobert Osbourne "Bob" Denver was an American comedic actor best known for his role as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan's Island. Prior to Gilligan's Island, he played beatnik Maynard G...
in CBS's Saturday-morning sitcom
Far Out Space NutsFar Out Space Nuts is a Sid and Marty Krofft children's television series starring Bob Denver as Junior, a seemingly dim-witted but uniquely clever maintenance worker employed by NASA, and Chuck McCann as Barney, his grumpy, short-tempered co-worker. Patty Maloney played Honk, their furry friend...
, which he co-created. The 1970s also brought him fame in a long-running series of commercials for
Right GuardRight Guard is a brand of deodorant for men.The Gillette Company introduced Right Guard as the first aerosol antiperspirant in the early 1960s....
anti-perspirant: he was the enthusiastic neighbor with the catch phrase "Hi guy!" who appeared on the other side of a shared medicine cabinet. McCann also impersonated
Oliver HardyOliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted over 31 years, from 1926 to 1957...
in commercials for various products (teaming with Jim MacGeorge as
Stan LaurelStan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer and director, famous as the first half of the comedy double-act Laurel and Hardy, whose career stretched from the silent films of the early 20th century until post-World War II.-Early life:Stan Laurel was born in his grandparents' house on 16 June...
), and for a few years he played the holiday-season recurring role of Kris Kringle on the NBC soap opera
Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara is an American decade-long and award-winning television soap opera, first broadcast in United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show covered the exciting, eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...
.
McCann continued voice work for cartoons, playing Jollo, Bookworm, Bump-On-A-Log, and Woof in 1992's
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone TomorrowKing's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is the sixth installment in the King's Quest series of adventure games produced by Sierra Entertainment...
and speaking as
The ThingThe Thing is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1...
on the
The Fantastic FourFantastic Four is the third animated television series based on Marvel's comic book series of the same name. Airing began in September 24, 1994, until ending on February 24, 1996...
and
Hulk animated cartoon series. Throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium, he has been in commercials—at
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
he has played
Santa ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
for one product or another—and TV/movie gigs (
Sabrina, the Teenage WitchSabrina the Teenage Witch is an American sitcom based on the Archie comic book series of the same name. Its first four seasons aired on ABC from September 27, 1996 to May 5, 2000; the final three seasons ran on The WB Television Network from September 22, 2000 to April 24, 2003.-History and...
).
Motion pictures
After
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, McCann's motion picture career took a turn back into comedy with many supporting roles and a co-starring turn (with
Tim ConwayThomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television...
) in
They went That-a-Way and That-a-Way. His most notable post-
Hunter films were
The Projectionist,
The Comeback Trail, and
Herbie Rides AgainHerbie Rides Again is the second in a series of movies made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie the Love Bug, a white Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own...
, where he played Loostgarten, president of Loostgarten Wrecking Company. He had a supporting role in the
1988-Top grossing films :source: http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1988&p=.htm- Awards :Academy Awards:* Alice * Alien Nation, starring James Caan and Mandy Patinkin* Amsterdamned...
horror filmHorror films are movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of death, the supernatural or mental illness...
Cameron's ClosetCameron's Closet, also known as Cameron's Terror, is a 1988 American horror film. The film was directed by Armand Mastroianni and stars Scott Curtis, Cotter Smith, Mel Harris, Tab Hunter, Kim Lankford, Gary Hudson and William Lustig....
.
Return to roots
In 1980, McCann and Paul Ashley were to reunite for a pair of TV show pilots:
- Tiny TV (a satirical/variety puppet series aimed at adults for the cable market)
- LBS
Lexington Broadcast Services Company was a television production and syndication company founded in 1976 by advertising pioneer Henry Siegel. Advertising Age magazine wrote of Siegel as "the man who built Lexington Broadcast Services into the nation's largest barter syndicator, and thus defined...
Children's Theater (a children film anthology show where McCann and The Paul Ashley Puppets were to introduce reruns of prime time animated TV specials and theatrical cartoons from Europe). However, Paul Ashley was forced to leave the projects when it was discovered that he was suffering from Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease , also called Alzheimer disease, Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type or simply Alzheimer's, is the most common form of dementia. This incurable, degenerative, and terminal disease was first described by German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and was...
.
Tiny TV never reached fruition but
LBS Children's Theater was picked up for national syndication in 1983. McCann
emceeA master of ceremonies, microphone controller or MC , sometimes called a compère or an MJ for "microphone jockey," is the host of an official public or private staged event or other performance. The MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving...
d the series alone because Ashley never lived long enough to see the show, having died on September 3, 1984.
Also during the 1980s, Chuck reprised a number of his best sketches from his New York television days as interstitial material for a two-hour presentation of cartoons on
KCOP-TVKCOP-TV, channel 13, is a television station in Los Angeles, California. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, KCOP is a sister station to Fox network outlet KTTV , and is affiliated with the of the co-owned MyNetworkTV programming service...
, Channel 13 in Los Angeles. (He was assisted by Bob Ridgely.)
And in 1989, Chuck returned to daily children's television one more time with
Chuck McCann's Funstuff (produced by fellow New York kid show legend
Sonny FoxSonny Fox is an American television host, executive and broadcasting consultant, remembered best as the fourth full-time host of the children's television program, Wonderama.-Biography:...
).
Chuck McCann's Funstuff was seen weekday mornings on
KHJ (KCAL)KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Early...
from Monday, September 18, 1989 until Friday, October 13, 1989.
Notable associations
McCann is a close friend of
Hugh HefnerHugh Marston Hefner , sometimes known simply as Hef, is an American magazine publisher, founder and chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises...
and a regular at the
Playboy MansionThe Playboy Mansion , is in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles, California and is the home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner. The address is 10236 Charing Cross Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90024...
. During the 1980s, McCann appeared as an announcer in various
PlayboyPlayboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
videos, including
Playboy Playmate Playoffs.
In the 1990s, McCann co-founded and participated in Yarmy's Army, a group of
comedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s and
character actorA character actor is one who predominantly plays a particular type of role rather than leading ones. Character actor roles can range from bit parts to secondary leads...
s of his generation who gathered regularly to cheer up
Don AdamsDon Adams was an American actor, comedian, game show panelist and occasional director, who in his five decades of television was best known for his role as Maxwell Smart in the TV situation comedy Get Smart , for which he also directed and wrote...
' brother Dick Yarmy, who was dying of
cancerCancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
. A group with a massive array of comic talent, its members included
Harvey KormanHarvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
,
Shelley BermanSheldon Leonard "Shelley" Berman is an American comedian, writer, teacher, and actor.-Biography:Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irene and Nathan Berman. His early years were filled with dreams of the stage...
,
Tim ConwayThomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television...
, and many others.
After Yarmy's death, the group stayed together to cheer themselves up since increasing age and health problems made it steadily more difficult for them to get steady work. In addition to having monthly dinners, they performed in various group-directed shows in select venues around the country.
New millennium
In the new millennium, Chuck McCann has appeared in
They Call Him SasquatchThey Call Him Sasquatch is a 2003 straight to DVD movie starring Neal McDonough and Garry Marshall.-Cast:...
(2003) and
Dorf da Bingo King (with his old pal,
Tim ConwayThomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television...
). He's supplied voices for
The Powerpuff GirlsThe Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series about three kindergarten-aged girls who have superpowers. Created by animator Craig McCracken, the program was produced by Hanna-Barbera until 2001 when Cartoon Network Studios took over production for Cartoon Network...
and
Mickey's Twice Upon a ChristmasMickey's Twice Upon a Christmas is a computer-animated direct-to-video movie on VHS and DVD made by The Walt Disney Company in 2004. It is the sequel to Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas from 1999. The segments in this video feature Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Max, Donald Duck, Daisy...
. And he's moved into the field of video games, supplying his talents to
True Crime: New York CityTrue Crime: New York City is an urban adventure video game published by Activision and developed by Luxoflux for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube consoles. It was released to Windows-based computers on March 24, 2006. It is a sequel to True Crime: Streets of LA...
.
He makes an important appearance in
The AristocratsThe Aristocrats is a 2005 documentary film about the obscure dirty joke of the same name. It was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, edited by Emery Emery, and released to theaters by THINKFilm...
(2005), with an animated rendition of a "clean" version of the "dirty" joke that serves as the movie's subject
In 2006 & 2007 Chuck made appearances on
The Radio Adventures of Dr. FloydThe Radio Adventures Of Dr. Floyd is a short audio and video series distributed via podcasting. Created by Grant Baciocco and Doug Price, it is a family friendly show in the style of old-time radio. The show also draws much inspiration from The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. The show first began in April...
as Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Floyd's father. He has also made multiple appearances as a judge on
Boston LegalBoston Legal is an American legal drama-comedy created by David E. Kelley, which originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2004 to December 8, 2008. A spin-off of the long-running series The Practice, Boston Legal followed the personal and professional exploits of a group of attorneys working at the...
, including the two hour series finale in December 2008.
In 2007, Chuck voiced villain Dalton Kern on the radio drama
Adventures in OdysseyAdventures in Odyssey , or simply Odyssey, is an Evangelical Christian-themed radio drama/comedy series created by Focus on the Family in 1987. The series centers on the fictional town of Odyssey, and in particular, an ice-cream emporium named 'Whit's End,' and its proprietor, John Avery Whittaker...
.
External links