Henry Corden, 85, Dies; Voiced Fred Flintstone
NY Times
LOS ANGELES, May 20 (AP) - Henry Corden, the voice of the cartoon caveman Fred Flintstone, with his “Yabba dabba doo!,” for more than two decades, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 85.
The cause was emphysema, his longtime agent, Don Pitts, said.
Mr. Corden took over as the lovable loudmouth Fred Flintstone when the original voice, Alan Reed, died in 1977. Reed had had the role since the show first appeared in 1960.
Born in Montreal, Mr. Corden moved to New York as a child and arrived in Hollywood in the 1940’s. His first acting role was in the 1947 film “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Known for playing villains, he found small parts in movies like “The Black Castle” (1952) and “The Ten Commandments” (1956).
Mr. Corden moved into voice acting in the 1960’s, taking on bit parts in Hanna-Barbera shows like “Jonny Quest,” “Josie and the Pussycats” and “The New Tom & Jerry Show.”
Since “The Flintstones” echoed “The Honeymooners,” Mr. Corden tweaked his delivery to approximate that of Jackie Gleason’s character, Ralph Kramden, Mr. Pitts said.
Mr. Corden was working until about three months ago. He can most recently be heard on cereal commercials yelling “Barney, my Pebbles!”
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