Joe Alaskey

Joseph "Joe" Alaskey (born April 17, 1952, died February 3, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, and voice artist, credited as one of the successors (including Billy West) of Mel Blanc in impersonating the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons. He was born in Troy, New York.

Well-known roles
His most frequent recurring Warner Bros. character roles have been those of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Beaky Buzzard, Sylvester the Cat, and Tweety, but he has voiced many others. Some of his other Looney Tunes roles include Yosemite Sam (Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries), Foghorn Leghorn (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, KFC commercials and Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas), Speedy Gonzales and Marvin the Martian. His first performance as Bugs Bunny came in the 2003 feature film Looney Tunes: Back in Action, although he had tested performing the role in a few projects. Alaskey has also voiced various Looney Tunes characters in several television shows such as Tiny Toon Adventures (where he played the character Plucky Duck, Daffy Duck's preteen counterpart) and Duck Dodgers.

Other work
Alaskey has also done voices for people other than Warner Bros. He has voiced Grandpa Lou Pickles on Rugrats (inheriting the role after David Doyle's death in 1997). He voiced Lou again in the Rugrats spin-off series, All Grown Up!. He also created the voice of Thomas Timberwolf for the internet series TimberWolf created by animation legend, Chuck Jones', final projects. Alaskey was also heard briefly as the voice-over announcer for the Toon Disney channel (and sometimes Dcom extras on Disney Channel). He was also the voice of Curt Connors in the Spider-Man 2 video game and Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.

Alaskey has also been seen occasionally on screen impersonating Jackie Gleason, with whom he shares a physical resemblance. He also provided a vocal Gleason impersonation in the "Mighty's Wedlock Whimsy" episode of Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures in 1988, and a Cary Grant impersonation in "The Bride of Mighty Mouse" episode from the same season. Alaskey was also in the independent film The Legend of Sasquatch and voices Mermaid Man in the video games SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! and SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab. Alaskey also voiced Stinkie in Casper as well as that film's 1996 animated spin-off, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper.

Alaskey is known for playing the role of Beano Froelich in the television sitcom Out of This World. Alaskey left the show early in its final season but made appearances in a few episodes.

In 1989, Alaskey worked as the announcer on the short-lived game show Couch Potatoes, hosted by Marc Summers. Alaskey would make on-screen appearances, portraying the show's "next door neighbor."

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.

Death
Alaskey died in Green Island, New York, from cancer on February 3, 2016, at the age of 63. Five days later, his wake was held at St Patricks Cemetery in Watervillet. He is survived by his brother John Ned Alaskey.