Frank Lee Graham (November 22, 1914 – September 2, 1950) was an American radio announcer and voice actor, best remembered for his many voice roles during the Golden Age of American Animation. He started his career as a voice actor and writer for radio in the 1930s, being described as the "man of a thousand voices". His most famous of these was Prof. Cosmo Jones, whom he played in the live action film adaptation The Crime Smasher (1943). He provided voices for MGM, Warner Bros, Screen Gems, Disney, and WWII propaganda shorts, primarily as a narrator. His more notable roles include the Big Bad Wolf in six Tex Avery shorts, including the acclaimed Red Hot Riding Hood (1943), the narrator of the Walt Disney Classics film The Three Caballeros (1944), and The Fox and the Crow in eighteen shorts from 1942-1946. He appeared in six Tom and Jerry shorts, including two as Butch and as the Lion in Jerry and the Lion (1950), which was his last role released before his death from suicide that same year.
Biography Graham was born on November 22, 1914, in Detroit, Michigan, to Frank L. Graham and opera singer Ethel Briggs Graham. He later traveled with his mother on tour.Gilmore, Art; Middleton, Glenn (1946). Radio Announcing. Hollywood, CA: Hollywood Radio Publishers. p. 113. "Frank comes by his talent naturally, having toured with his famous singing mother, Ethel Briggs Graham."
He starred in Jeff Regan, Investigator and co-developed the radio drama Satan's Waitin''' with Van Des Autels. Graham was also The Wandering Vaquero, the narrator of The Romance Of The Ranchos radio series (1941–1942), also on the CBS network.
One of his few live-action roles was portraying the title character in the film Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher (1943). He had also served as a writer for the radio program upon which the film was based.
Graham voiced numerous characters in animated films for Walt Disney, MGM, Columbia and Warner Bros. He voiced the Wolf in Tex Avery's Droopy cartoons, as well as the Mouse in King-Size Canary'' at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He provided the voices of the Fox and the Crow in the shorts of the same name at Columbia.
He was found dead at age 35 in his convertible in the carport of his home in Hollywood on September 2, 1950, with a photograph of Mildred Rossi by his side.'Radio Star Graham Commits Suicide', Los Angeles Times, September 4, 1950. Rossi had ended a relationship with him weeks earlier. A coroner declared he had committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1941 The Night Before Christmas Narrator Voice, uncredited 1942 A Hollywood Detour Narrator Horton Hatches the Egg Narrator / Tall Hunter Woodman, Spare That Tree The Fox and the Crow Foney Fables Narrator / Wolf Blitz Wolf Narrator Saludos Amigos Himself Uncredited The Early Bird Dood It! Bird Voice, uncredited Toll Bridge Troubles The Fox and the CrowFox Pop Prisoner Fox 1943 Slay It with Flowers The Fox and the Crow Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher Professor Cosmo Jones Dumb-Hounded Wolf / Mayor Voice, uncredited Plenty Below Zero The Fox and the Crow Red Hot Riding Hood Wolf / Storyteller / Nightclub MC / Cab Driver Tree for Two The Fox and the Crow Coming!! Snafu Narrator A-Hunting We Won't Go The Fox and the Crow Reason and Emotion Narrator / Reason Sleepy Lagoon Narrator Uncredited Room and Bored The Fox and the Crow Voice, uncredited Way Down Yonder in the Corn Chicken Little Narrator / Foxy Loxy / Chicken Little / Cocky Locky / Turkey Lurkey / Additional Voices Rumors Narrator – Soldier 1944 Ladies Courageous Col. Andy Brennan The Weakly Reporter Various The Lady and the Monster Narrator Uncredited The Dream Kids The Fox and the Crow Voice, uncredited Going Home Narrator The Chow Hound Mr. Moocher The Fox and the Crow Big Heel-Watha Narrator / Chief Rain-in-Face / Interpreter The Stupid Cupid Narrator and Elmer Fudd Be Patient, Patient The Fox and the Crow The Egg-Yegg The Three Caballeros Narrator Voice 1945 Tokyo Woes Voice, uncredited The Shooting of Dan McGoo Wolf / Bartender / Narrator Jerky Turkey Indian Something You Didn't Eat Narrator Ku-Ku Nuts The Fox and the Crow Swing Shift Cinderella Wolf / Nightclub MC / Wolves Fresh Airedale Narrator – Shep's Master Treasure Jest The Fox and the Crow Phoney Baloney Wild and Woolfy Race Caller 1946 Baseball Bugs Baseball Commentator / Gas-House Gorilla Springtime for Thomas Jerry's Devil Conscience / Butch Foxy Flatfoots The Fox and the Crow Unsure Runts The Hick Chick Bull The Eager Beaver Narrator Cagey Bird Dog Northwest Hounded Police Wolf / Chief / Dr. Putty-Puss Mysto-Fox The Fox and the Crow Honesty Is the Best Policy Professor J. Waldo Purrington / Fish Vendor1947 Slap Happy Lion Mouse King-Size Canary 1948 Lo, the Poor Buffal Indian (saying "Yipe!") 1949 So Much for So Little Narrator The House of Tomorrow Narrator / Machine Each Dawn I Crow Narrator 1950 Jerry and the Lion Lion / Radio Announcer The Chump Champ Announcer Voice, uncredited, released posthumously
References
External links
The Sad End of Frank Graham Article on The Romance of the Ranchos