Stan Freberg facts for kids
Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was a very talented American who did many things! He was an actor, writer, comedian, musician, radio host, puppeteer, and even helped create amazing advertisements. He was known for his funny songs, his work on the TV show Time for Beany, and voicing many characters in famous cartoons like Looney Tunes.
Quick facts for kids
Stan Freberg
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Freberg in 1956
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| Born |
Stanley Friberg
August 7, 1926 Pasadena, California, U.S.
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| Died | April 7, 2015 (aged 88) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
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| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Other names | Stanley Freberg Stan Friberg Stanley Victor Freberg |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1943–2014 |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 2, including Donavan |
| Awards |
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| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
Contents
Early Life and Family
Stan Freberg was born Stanley Friberg on August 7, 1926, in Pasadena, California. His mom, Evelyn, was a housewife, and his dad, Victor, was a minister. Stan had roots from Sweden and Ireland.
He joined the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947. He worked in a special entertainment group that helped at a hospital in Pasadena.
Stan's first wife, Donna, passed away in 2000. They had two children, Donna Jean and Donavan. He later married Betty Hunter in 2001.
Voice Acting in Cartoons
Stan Freberg started his career by doing funny voices on a radio show in 1943. Soon after high school, he became a voice actor for cartoons. He went to Warner Brothers in 1944 and quickly got hired. This started his amazing career that lasted over 70 years!
He voiced many characters for Warner Bros. cartoons. He often worked with another famous voice actor, Mel Blanc. Together, they voiced pairs like the mice Hubie and Bertie and the Goofy Gophers Mac and Tosh.
Some of his famous cartoon voices include:
- Bertie in Roughly Squeaking (1946)
- Junyer Bear in What's Brewin', Bruin? (1948)
- Pete Puma in Rabbit's Kin (1952)
Stan also worked for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was the voice of Mr. Busy the Beaver in Lady and the Tramp (1955). He also did voices for Susie the Little Blue Coupe and Lambert the Sheepish Lion. Later, he voiced Cage E. Coyote, the father of Wile E. Coyote, in a cartoon called Little Go Beep (2000).
Movies and More
Stan Freberg almost sang in Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951). He was supposed to sing the part of the Jabberwock. The song wasn't in the final movie, but you can hear a demo recording on some DVD versions.
He appeared in movies too! His first on-screen role was in the comedy Callaway Went Thataway (1951). In the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), he played a Deputy Sheriff and voiced a dispatcher.
A cool fact: George Lucas asked Stan Freberg to try out for the voice of C-3PO in the first Star Wars movie (1977). Stan suggested that Lucas use the voice of the actor who played C-3PO, Anthony Daniels, instead.
Funny Songs and Parodies
Stan Freberg was great at making funny songs that made fun of popular culture. He signed with Capitol Records in 1951.
Early Hits
One of his first famous songs was "John and Marsha". It was a funny soap opera parody where the two characters (both voiced by Stan) only said each other's names! Some radio stations thought it was a real conversation and wouldn't play it.
He also made fun of popular songs. He parodied Johnnie Ray's sad song "Cry" with his own version called "Try". He made fun of the singer's dramatic style.
In 1953, he released "St. George and the Dragonet". This song was a parody of the TV show Dragnet. It became a No. 1 hit and sold over a million copies!
He continued to make funny musical parodies:
- "Sh-Boom" (1954): A parody of the song by The Chords.
- "The Yellow Rose of Texas" (1955): Where a drummer gets a bit too excited.
- "Rock Around Stephen Foster": He tried to make old songs sound like rock and roll.
- "Heartbreak Hotel": A parody of Elvis Presley's song, where the echo effect goes wild!
Later Parodies
In 1957, Stan Freberg made fun of Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song" with his version, "Banana Boat (Day-O)". In his song, the singer has to yell "Day-O!" from another room because the drummer thinks it's too loud!
He also made a funny song about TV called "Tele-Vee-Shun". It talked about how TV changed his family. In one part, he even made fun of Elvis Presley's dancing!
Stan Freberg also made fun of the popular "champagne music" bandleader Lawrence Welk with his song "Wun'erful, Wun'erful!". He copied Welk's speaking style and even made the orchestra sound a bit off, just like on Welk's live show.
Political Humor
Stan Freberg also used his humor to talk about important topics. On his radio show, he made a sketch about two casinos, the El Sodom and the Rancho Gomorrah. It was a funny way to talk about the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
He also made fun of Joseph McCarthy, a politician, in a song called "Point of Order". It was about a "black sheep" being investigated.
Oregon! Oregon!
In 1958, Stan Freberg was hired to create a musical to celebrate Oregon's 100th birthday. He made an album called Oregon! Oregon! A Centennial Fable in Three Acts. It was released in 1959.
Fifty years later, for Oregon's 150th birthday, Stan Freberg and the band Pink Martini updated the musical. Pink Martini toured the state and performed the show in 2009.
Radio Shows
Stan Freberg's funny songs led to his own radio show called That's Rich in 1954. He played a character named Richard E. Wilt. The show included dream sequences where he could perform his popular song parodies.
He also had The Stan Freberg Show on CBS radio in 1957. This show was very detailed and featured many of the same people from his recordings. Stan didn't want tobacco companies to sponsor his show, so he made fun of advertising instead. He advertised silly products like "Puffed Grass" and "Food."
The show was canceled after only 15 episodes. Stan felt the radio network interfered too much. In one sketch, "Elderly Man River", he made fun of this interference. A censor kept stopping him from singing "Old Man River" because of "offensive" words, changing them to silly things.
In 1966, he released an album called Freberg Underground. It was like his radio show and made fun of things like all-digit phone dialing and even the idea of Ronald Reagan becoming president!
Television Work
From 1949, Stan Freberg was a voice actor and puppeteer for the TV show Time for Beany. This children's show won three Emmy Awards! Even Albert Einstein was a fan and would stop meetings to watch it!
Stan also appeared on TV shows like The Ed Sullivan Show. He often brought his puppet, Orville the Moon Man, who came from a flying saucer.
He had his own TV special in 1962, Stan Freberg Presents the Chun King Chow Mein Hour. He also appeared on The Monkees (1966) and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1967). Later, he played Mr. Parkin on the show Roseanne in 1996.
Advertising Genius
Stan Freberg started his own advertising company, Freberg Limited. He became famous for bringing humor and satire into commercials. He believed radio was special because it made people use their imagination.
Some of his most famous ad campaigns include:
- Contadina tomato paste: "Who put eight great tomatoes in that little bitty can?"
- Jeno's pizza rolls: A funny commercial that featured Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger and Jay Silverheels as Tonto. It was so good that audiences would applaud when it aired on The Tonight Show!
- Sunsweet prunes: He called them the "food of the future." The ads were so successful that prune sales went up 400 percent!
- Heinz Great American Soups: A commercial where a housewife turns her kitchen into a huge song and dance number. It was one of the most expensive commercials ever made at the time!
- Jacobsen Mowers: Showed sheep eating grass, then said, "Jacobsen mowers. Faster... than sheep!"
- Prince Spaghetti: In 1985, he made a commercial for Prince Spaghetti Sauce that sounded like a concert announcement for the singer Prince. The singer was not happy, but the company kept the ad!
Stan Freberg won 21 Clio Awards for his amazing commercials. Many people consider his ads to be classics.
Later Career
Stan Freberg was often invited to special events. He wrote a book about his life called It Only Hurts When I Laugh. In it, he shared stories about meeting famous people like Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra.
He also had short sketches on KNX radio in the 1990s. He voiced characters on Garfield and Friends and Taz-Mania.
In 1995, Stan Freberg was added to the National Radio Hall of Fame. He also hosted a radio show called When Radio Was for many years.
He appeared on "Weird Al" Yankovic's The Weird Al Show. "Weird Al" has said that Stan Freberg was a big influence on his own comedy. Stan also narrated a documentary about Looney Tunes cartoons.
He was the announcer for the boat race in the movie Stuart Little (1999). In his last voice role in 2014, he voiced the Mole for an episode of The Garfield Show.
Death
Stan Freberg passed away on April 7, 2015, at the age of 88. He died from pneumonia in Santa Monica, California.
Selected Movies
- Callaway Went Thataway (1951) as Marvin
- Lady and the Tramp (1955) as Beaver (voice)
- It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) as Deputy Sheriff
- Stuart Little (1999) as The Boat Race Announcer (voice)
- Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000) as Pete Puma / Additional voices (voice)
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) as Junior Bear (voice)
Discography
Singles
| Year | Titles (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated |
Chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK | |||
| 1951 | "John and Marsha" b/w "Ragtime Dan" (Non-album track) |
21 | – | A Child's Garden Of Freberg |
| "I've Got You Under My Skin" / | 11 | – | Non-album track | |
| "That's My Boy" | 30 | – | A Child's Garden Of Freberg | |
| 1952 | "Maggie" b/w "Tele Vee Shun" (from Stan Freberg With The Original Cast) |
– | – | Non-album track |
| "Try" b/w "Pass The Udder Udder" (Non-album track) |
15 | – | A Child's Garden Of Freberg | |
| "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise" b/w "The Boogie Woogie Banjo Man From Birmingham" |
24 | – | Non-album tracks | |
| 1953 | "Dinky Pinky" – Part 1 b/w Part 2 |
– | – | |
| "St. George and the Dragonet" / | 1 | – | A Child's Garden Of Freberg | |
| "Little Blue Riding Hood" | 9 | – | Stan Freberg With The Original Cast | |
| "Christmas Dragnet" – Parts 1 & 2 | 13 | – | Non-album tracks | |
| 1954 | "C'est Si Bon" b/w "A Dear John and Marsha Letter" (Non-album track) |
13 | – | A Child's Garden Of Freberg |
| "Person to Pearson" b/w "Point Of Order" |
– | – | Non-album tracks | |
| "Sh-Boom" b/w "Widescreen Mama Blues" |
14 | 15 | A Child's Garden Of Freberg | |
| "Yulenet" – Part 1 b/w Part 2 |
– | – | Non-album tracks | |
| 1955 | "The Honeyearthers" b/w "The Lone Psychiatrist" |
– | – | |
| "The Yellow Rose of Texas" b/w "Rock Around Stephen Foster" |
16 | – | A Child's Garden Of Freberg | |
| "Nuttin' For Christmas" b/w "The Night Before Christmas" |
53 | – | Non-album tracks | |
| 1956 | "The Great Pretender" b/w "The Quest For Bridey Hammerschlaugen" (from The Best Of Stan Freberg) |
– | – | A Child's Garden Of Freberg |
| "Heartbreak Hotel" / | 79 | – | ||
| "Rock Island Line" | – | 24 | ||
| 1957 | "Banana Boat (Day-O)" b/w "Tele-Vee-Shun" |
25 | – | Stan Freberg With The Original Cast |
| "Wun'erful, Wun'erful" (Side uh-one and side uh-two) | 32 | – | align="left" | |
| 1958 | "Gary, Indiana" b/w "Ya Got Trouble" (from Stan Freberg With The Original Cast) |
– | – | Non-album track |
| "Green Chri$tma$" b/w "The Meaning Of Christmas" (Non-album track) |
44 | – | Stan Freberg With The Original Cast | |
| 1959 | "The Old Payola Roll Blues" (Like The Beginning and End) | 99 | 40 | Non-album tracks |
| 1960 | "Comments For Our Time" – Part 1 b/w Part 2 |
– | – | |
| 1961 | "Pilgrim's Progress" b/w "Yankee Doodle Go Home" |
– | – | Stan Freberg Presents The United States Of America Vol. 1: The Early Years |
| 1966 | "The Flackman and Reagan" – Part 1 b/w Part 2 |
– | – | Freberg Underground! Show No. 1 |
| "-" denotes release did not chart. | ||||
Images for kids
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Theater for the ear: Freberg strikes a pose, 1962
