Gary Altman, known professionally as Gary Owens, was an American voice actor, disc jockey, radio announcer, and personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens was equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and was frequently heard in television, radio, and commercials. He was best known, aside from being the announcer on Laugh-In, for providing the voice of the titular superhero of Space Ghost. He also played himself in a cameo appearance on Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 1998. Likewise, Owens provided the voice of Roger Ramjet on The Roger Ramjet Cartoons. He was the primary voice of the over-the-air digital network Antenna TV for a number of years.
Owens received a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1980, between Walt Disney and Betty White.
He was the narrator of the former Epcot attraction World of Motion and the TV specials: Donald's 50th Birthday, Vacationing with Mickey and Friends, and The Roots of Goofy.
Owens also co-starred in a number of documentaries about dinosaurs in the 1980s alongside Chicago's Eric Boardman. These documentaries were distributed by the Midwich Entertainment group for The Disney Channel before it went from being a premium pay channel on cable to a standard channel.
Owens was also the announcer for America's Funniest Home Videos from 1995–1997, replacing Ernie Anderson.
Credits[]
Owens appeared in or provided the voices for:
- A substitute announcer for Bill Nye the Science Guy
- Badly Animated Man in Raw Toonage
- Opening narration of TV series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
- The alarm voice and the ominous voice in Wizards of Waverly Place
- Mr. Hammerhead in the Goof Troop episode "Date to Destiny"
- The narrator in the Dinosaurs episode "Nuts to War"
- The announcer in DTV Monster Hits
- The narrator in the Disney's Wonderful World episode "Baseball Fever"
- The announcer in the Disney Sunday Movie episode "Walt Disney World's 15th Anniversary Celebration"
- The newscaster in Return from Witch Mountain
- The announcer in The Love Bug
- Himself in the Wonderful World of Disney episode "Mickey's 50"
- Himself and the announcer in The Muppets Go Hollywood
- The narrator in World of Motion
- The proprietor of the Let's Get Away From It All Travel Agency in Vacationing with Mickey and Friends
- The host of The Roots of Goofy and Donald's 50th Birthday
- Additionally, he replaced Walt Disney in later re-airings of Pluto's Day, he's also in the edited version Pluto and His Friends.
Gallery[]
External links[]
Gary Owens on Wikipedia- Gary Owens on IMDb
- Gary Owens at Find a Grave
