Joe Alaskey

Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, and impressionist.[3]

Joe Alaskey
Birth name	Joseph Francis Alaskey III
Born	April 17, 1952 Troy, New York, U.S.
Died	February 3, 2016 (aged 63)[1] Green Island, New York, U.S.[2]
Medium	Stand-up film television
Years active	1983–2016
Genres	Sketch comedy improvisational comedy clean comedy impressions observational comedy
Website	www.joealaskey.com/

Alaskey was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his death. He alternated with Jeff Bergman and Greg Burson (and occasionally Billy West) in voicing Warner Bros. cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote and Taz, among many others. He also voiced Plucky Duck on Tiny Toon Adventures from 1990 to 1995. Alaskey was the second actor to voice Grandpa Lou Pickles on the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats (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 voiced Uncle Stinkie in Casper, as well as the film's 1996 animated spin-off The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper.

Early life

Alaskey was born in Troy, New York on April 17, 1952 to Joseph Francis Alaskey Jr. and Domenica "Dorothy" De Sorrento De Luca Alaskey.[4][2] At age 3, he was looking for a pair of sunglasses or people's cigar butts so that he could portray different characters.[5] Alaskey was interested in archeology at the age of ten.[5] After archeology, he was interested in becoming a priest and an English teacher.[5] Alaskey moved to New York City in the 1970s. While initially in New York City, he worked in insurance while the acting was getting started.[5]

Career

Alaskey was occasionally seen onscreen impersonating Jackie Gleason, with whom he shared a physical resemblance.[5] 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.[6] After Gleason died in 1987, the project was shelved.[5] 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.[7] 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 (inheriting the role after David Doyle's death in 1997).[4][8] 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 and voiced Mermaid Man in the video games SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! and SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab. He voiced Stinkie in Casper as well as that film's 1996 animated spin-off, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper. 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.[9] In 2003, he took over the roles of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action.[7] He also, at times, provided the voices for Sylvester, Tweety, and other Looney Tunes characters.[7] Alaskey was the primary voice for Plucky Duck on Tiny Toon Adventures.[7] 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.

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. [2][10][11]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Who Framed Roger Rabbit	Yosemite Sam [12]	Voice, Film debut
	Lucky Stiff	Ron Douglas
1990	Spaced Invaders	Dr. Ziplock	Voice
	The Jungle Book	Kaa	Voice
1991	Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes	Daffy Duck / Marvin the Martian	Voice, Direct-to-video
	A Wish for Wings That Work	Truffles, The Ducks
1992	Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation	Plucky Duck / Elmer Fudd / Tupelo Toad / Johnny Carson / Ed McMahon [12]	Voice, Direct-to-video
1993	Super Mario Bros.	Goombas	Uncredited
	Bank Robber	Night Clerk #2
	The Waiter	Producer	Short
1994	Forrest Gump	President Richard Nixon [12]	Voice
1995	Casper	Stinkie [12]	Voice
	Carrotblanca	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat	Voice, Short
	Another Froggy Evening	Marvin the Martian	Voice, Short
1996	Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension	Duck Dodgers / K-9 / Martian Commander	Voice, Short
1997	Father of the Bird	Sylvester the Cat	Voice, Short
1998	Bugs Bunny's Silly Seals	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Henery Hawk / Sylvester Junior / Wile E. Coyote / Slowpoke Rodriguez [12]	Voice, Direct-to-video
	Quest for Camelot Sing-Alongs	Daffy Duck / Tweety Bird
	Looney Tunes Sing-Alongs	Daffy Duck / Tweety Bird
	The Rugrats Movie	Grandpa Lou Pickles [12]	Voice
2000	Tweety's High Flying Adventure	Tweety Bird / Sylvester the Cat / Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck / Pepé Le Pew Marvin the Martian / Henery Hawk / Colonel Rimfire	Voice, Direct-to-video
	Rugrats in Paris: The Movie	Grandpa Lou Pickles [12]	Voice
2001	Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase	Officer Wembly [12]	Voice, Direct-to-video
	Timber Wolf	Thomas Timber Wolf
2002	Balto II: Wolf Quest	Hunter / Nuk [12]
2003	Rugrats Go Wild	Grandpa Lou Pickles [12]	Voice
	Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Sylvester Jr. / Tweety Bird / Marvin the Martian	Voice, Direct-to-video
	Looney Tunes: Reality Check	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Tweety Bird / Cecil Turtle / Beaky Buzzard
	Looney Tunes: Back in Action	Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Beaky Buzzard / Mama Bear [12]	Voice, Nominated - Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
2004	Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas	Bugs Bunny	Voice, Short
	Daffy Duck for President	Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck
2006	The Legend of Sasquatch	Dave	Voice
	Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Marvin the Martian / Foghorn Leghorn / Pepé Le Pew [12]	Voice, Direct-to-video
2007	Elf Bowling the Movie: The Great North Pole Elf Strike	Santa Claus / Bagger / Chief Manamana [12]	Voice
2007	Tom and Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale	Brown Cat
2008	Justice League: The New Frontier	Bugs Bunny [12]	Voice, Direct-to-video
2009	The Haunted World of El Superbeasto	Erik the Newscaster / Van Sloan [12]
2011	Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz	The Wizard of Oz / Butch / Droopy Dog [12]
2012	Tom and Jerry: Robin Hood and His Merry Mouse	Friar Tuck / Droopy Dog [12]
2013	Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure	Droopy Dog / King Droopy [12]
2015	Tom and Jerry: Spy Quest	Droopy Dog [12]
	Dark Seduction	Fatman
2016	Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz	The Wizard of Oz / Butch / Droopy Dog [12]	Voice, Posthumous release Direct-to-video (final film role), dedicated in memory.

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Night Court	Thomas Dobbs	Episode: "Author, Author"
1987	Head of the Class	Jack	Episode: "Ode to Simone"
1987–1988	Super Password	Himself	10 episodes
1987–1991	Out of this World	Beano Froelich	68 Episodes
1988	Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures	Sourpuss	Voice
1989	Couch Potatoes	Himself as the announcer and neighbor of host Marc Summers	9 Episodes
1990	Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures		Voice
1990–1992	Tiny Toon Adventures	Plucky Duck / Batduck / Friar Pluck / Daffy Duck / Duck Dodgers / Porky Pig / Sylvester Elmer Fudd / Yosemite Sam / Marvin the Martian Wile E. Coyote / Stork / Speedy Gonzales Hugo the Abominable Snowman / Pete Puma / Cartoonist / Director / Announcer / Narrator / Various / Additional Voices / Fancy Flea / Ralph Duck - Plucky's Father / Capt. Quirk / Presto the Great / Toxic Revenger / Capt. James T. Kirk / Dignitary / Ed Sullivan / George Washington / Trash Bag Dispenser / Cecil Turtle / Dan Dogma / Pluck Twacy / Mosquito / Steven Spielberg / Bobbo Acme / Doctor / Happy the Cow / Wade Pig / Ralph Duck - Plucky's Father / Singing Cockroach / Toonywood Squares Announcer / TV Spokesman / Secuity Guard / Pluck Heyerdahl / Ned Land / Richard Nixon / Edward / Ralph Kramden / Ed McMaham / Fox / Oogie / Hugo the Abominable Snowman / Flea Guard / Danny DeVito / Aide #2 / Pig Toon / Angry Father / Taxidermist / WAL Announcer / Hunters / John Candied-Yam	Voice, Main Role 85 Episodes
1991	Back to the Future	The Sheriff	Voice, 2 Episodes
1991	Where's Waldo?		Voice
1992	Nurses	Trekker #1	Episode: "Eat Something"
1992	The Little Mermaid	Lobster Mobster	Voice, 3 Episodes
1992	Tom & Jerry Kids		Voice, Episode: "Penthouse Mouse/12 Angry Sheep/The Ant Attack"
1992	The Golden Palace	Mr. Smith #3	Episode: "Camp Town Races Aren't Nearly as Much Fun as They Used to Be"
1992	The Plucky Duck Show	Plucky Duck / Plucky's Dad / Wade Pig	Voice, Main Role 13 Episodes
1993	Bonkers	Flaps the Elephant	Voice, 4 Episodes
1994–1996	Duckman	Dream Sequence Criminal	Voice, 3 Episodes
1995–2000	The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries	Sylvester the Cat / Tweety Bird / Marvin the Martian	Voice
1995	The Baby Huey Show	Baby Huey	VoiceSeason Two Only[12]
1996	Life with Louie	Johnny Love	Voice, Episode: "A Fair to Remember"
1996–1998	The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper	Stinkie / Gorey Narrator	Voice, Recurring Role 52 Episodes
1996	Quack Pack	Amos Slade	Voice, Episode: "Ducky Dearest"
1997	Extreme Ghostbusters	Sturt	Voice, 3 Episodes
1997–2004	Rugrats	Grandpa Lou Pickles / WWII Soldier / Ice Cream Man / Protester / Waiters / Workman / Auctioneer / Willard Scott Sound Alike / Tall Wrestler / Guard (1) / Announcer (13) / Loudspeaker / Soundman / Randy Panda / Senior Citizen / Parrot / Judge #3 / The Real Santa / Nearby Guest	Voice
1998	The Drew Carey Show	Daffy Duck	Voice, Episode: "My Best Friend's Wedding"
1999	Timon & Pumbaa	Little Jimmy	Voice, 2 Episodes
1999	Hey Arnold!	German Major / Soldier #2	Voice, Episode: "Veterans Day"
1999	Men in Black: The Series	Short Bug / Truck Driver	Voice, Episode: "The Mine, Mine, Mine Syndrome"
2000	Buzz Lightyear of Star Command	Soda Vendbot / Newspaper Vendbot	Voice, Episode: "The Slayer"[12]
2001	Johnny Bravo	Jean Paul / Piney / Platypus	Voice, Episode: "Lumberjack Johnny"[12]
2001	Time Squad	Robin Hood / Wilbur Wright / Samuel F. B. Morse	Voice, Episode: "If It's Wright, It's Wrong/Recruitment Ad/Killing Time"
2001	Samurai Jack	General / Alien #3	Voice, Episode: "Episode VII"[12]
2003	Teamo Supremo	Chief	Voice, Episode: "The Chief of Cheer"
2003	Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law	Peter Potamus / FEAR #1 / Employee	Voice, 2 Episodes[12]
2003–2005	Duck Dodgers	Captain Duck Edgar Dumas Aloysius Dodgers Martian Commander X-2 / Andromeda Annihilator / Drake Darkstar / Tomar-Re / Melvyn / Dr. Woe / Dodgers' Weird Fantasy Dad / Hubie and Bertie / Muttley / Rocky Beaky Buzzard / Ego Dodgers / Himself	Voice, Main role, 39 Episodes [12]
2003	My Life as a Teenage Robot	Ivan / Storeowner #3 / Eyedrop Salesman	Voice, Episode: "See No Evil"[12]
2003–2008	All Grown Up!	Grandpa Lou Pickles / Rustler #2	Voice
2006–2007	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Dealer / Broadsword Man	Voice, 2 Episodes
2006	Codename: Kids Next Door	Principal Smelling	Voice, Episode: "Operation R.E.C.E.S.S."
2006–2007	Loonatics Unleashed	Melvin the Martian / Sylth Vester / The Royal Tweetums / Stoney the Stone	Voice, 5 Episodes[12]
2008–2013	The Garfield Show	Additional Voices	Voice, 5 Episodes
2009	Laff Riot	Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck	Unaired pilot for The Looney Tunes Show[13]
2014–2016	Murder Comes to Town	Narrator	20 episodes, on the Investigation Discovery true crime TV series.

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers	Sylvester the Cat
1995	Daffy Duck in Hollywood	Daffy Duck	Sega Genesis version
1996	Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster and the Beanstalk	Plucky Duck	Credited as Joe Alasky
1997	Dilbert's Desktop Games	Phil The Prince of Insufficient Light, Accounting Troll
	The X-Fools
1998	Microshaft Winblows 98	Bill Gates
	Rugrats Adventure Game	Grandpa Lou Pickles	[12]
	Rugrats: Search for Reptar
	Tiny Toon Adventures: The Great Beanstalk	Plucky Duck	Uncredited
1999	Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time	Marvin the Martian / Rocky and Mugsy / Daffy Duck	[12]
	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	Important Merchant / Interpreter / Watto's Flunky
	Tiny Toon Adventures: Toonenstein	Plucky Duck
	Rugrats: Studio Tour	Grandpa Lou Pickles	[12]
2000	Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption
	Duck Dodgers Starring Daffy Duck	Daffy Duck / Marvin the Martian / Dr. I.Q. Hi	[12]
	Escape from Monkey Island	Digg the Lucre Lawyer / Judge Edd
	Looney Tunes Racing	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Gossamer / Rocky / Marvin the Martian / Tweety Bird / Smokey the Genie / Evil Scientist	[12]
	Looney Tunes Space Race	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Marvin the Martian / Tweety Bird	[12]
	Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters	Count Blood Count / Daffy Duck / Tweety Bird / Bubba Chop	[12]
2001	Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf	Daffy Duck / Marvin the Martian / Gossamer / Phantom	[12]
2002	Rugrats: Royal Ransom	Grandpa Lou Pickles	[12]
	Loons: The Fight for Fame	Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Rocky and Mugsy
	Taz: Wanted	Daffy Duck / Tweety Bird
	Hot Wheels Velocity X	Rupert / Backroads / Opponent	[12]
	Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe	Plucky Duck	Cancelled Game
2003	Looney Tunes: Back in Action	Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck / Mr. ACME Chairman / Sylvester the Cat / Marvin the Martian
2004	Spider-Man 2	Dr. Connors / Thug	[12]
	The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee	rowspan2
2005	Fantastic Four	Credited as Joe Alasky
	SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants!	Mermaid Man	[12]
2006	Gothic 3		English Dub
	SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab	Mermaid Man
	The Sopranos: Road to Respect
	Superman Returns	The Citizens of Metropolis
2007	Spider-Man: Friend or Foe	Doctor Octopus	[12]
	Looney Tunes: Duck Amuck	Daffy Duck
	Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal	Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck / Sylvester the Cat / Marvin the Martian	[12]
2008	Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor	Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck / Barnyard Dawg / Marvin the Martian / Speedy Gonzales / Sylvester the Cat
	White Knight Chronicles	Drisdall	English Dub[12]
2012	Looney Tunes Click 'N READ Phonics	Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck / Yosemite Sam / Sylvester the Cat / Tweety Bird / Tasmanian Devil
2014	Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham	Green Loontern

References

1. Kiefer, Halle (February 4, 2016). "Looney Tunes Voice Actor Joe Alaskey Dies at 63". Vulture. Retrieved June 19, 2019. According to his spokesperson, prolific voice actor and impressionist Joe Alaskey died of cancer Wednesday night at the age of 63.
2. Leovy, Jill (February 4, 2016). "Joe Alaskey dies at 63; impersonator was a later voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
3. Blevins, Joe (February 4, 2016). "Voice actor Joe Alaskey was also a damned good impressionist". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
4. Ortiz, Erik (February 4, 2016). "Joe Alaskey, Voice Behind Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Dies at 63". NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
5. Greene Jr., James (December 3, 2012). "Sufferin' Succotash! Looney Tunes Voice Actor Joe Alaskey On Bugs Bunny, Geraldo, & Why He Wasn't In 'Space Jam'". Split Sider. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
6. Kaplan, Peter W. (January 26, 1985). "75 'Honeymooners' Episodes Found". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved November 26, 2006.
7. Dornbush, Jonathon (February 4, 2016). "Modern Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck voice actor Joe Alaskey dies at 63". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
8. Westbrook, Caroline (February 4, 2016). "Joe Alaskey – aka the voice of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny – has died aged 63". Metro. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
9. The Yellow Mic: Meet Bugs Bunny
10. Sorto, Gabrielle (February 4, 2016). "Joe Alaskey, voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, dies at 63". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System (Time Warner). Retrieved February 4, 2016.
11. Grondahl, Paul (February 5, 2016). "Joe Alaskey, Troy native, voice of Daffy Duck, dies at 63". Time Union. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
12. https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Joe-Alaskey/
13. https://archive.org/details/laff-riot

External links

• Joe Alaskey at IMDb
• Joe Alaskey at Find a Grave
• Joe Alaskey at TV.com