Charles Dawson Butler

 Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916 – May 18, 1988)

He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Wally Gator, Yogi Bear, Elroy Jetson, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, Spike the Bulldog, and Huckleberry Hound. His first voice work for an animated character came in 1948 in the animated short Short Snorts on Sports, which was produced by Screen Gems. That same year at MGM, Tex Avery hired Butler to provide the voice of a British wolf on Little Rural Riding Hood and also to narrate several of his cartoons. Butler would voice most of these characters for decades, in both TV shows and in some commercials. The breakfast cereal mascot Cap'n Crunch became an icon of sorts on Saturday morning TV through many commercials produced by Jay Ward. Butler played Cap'n from the 1960s to the 1980s. He based the voice on that of character actor Charles Butterworth. In 1961, while Mel Blanc was recovering from a road accident, Daws Butler substituted for him to voice Barney Rubble in five episodes of The Flintstones. Butler remained somewhat low-key in the 1970s and 1980s until a revival of The Jetsons and Hanna-Barbera's crossover series Yogi's Treasure Hunt, both in 1985. Also in 1983, he voiced the title character, Wacky WallWalker in Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls. Daws Butler died from a heart attack on May 18, 1988. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, CA.