Allen Swift
| Allen Swift | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Ira Stadlen January 16, 1924 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 18, 2010 (aged 86) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart failure |
| Occupation | Voice actor |
| Years active | 1946–2010 |
Ira Stadlen (January 16, 1924 – April 18, 2010), known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American voice actor, best known for voicing cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the Underdog cartoon show. He took his professional name from radio comedian Fred Allen and 18th century satirist Jonathan Swift.
Swift was an early television star who hosted The Popeye Show from September 10, 1956, to September 23, 1960, until he was forced to leave the program due to creative differences with station management. But he later became a children's television show host named "Captain Allen" on WPIX in New York City.
Swift is best known for providing the fiendish voices for the cartoon villains Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the Underdog cartoon show. He also voiced many of the characters in The Bluffers the 1960s underwater puppet show Diver Dan, and Gene Deitch's 1961–1962 group of Tom and Jerry cartoons.
In addition, Swift provided the majority of the voices in Rankin/Bass's Mad Monster Party?, credited as Alan (sic) Swift in the movie's credits. He was also in other Rankin/Bass productions including the TV special The Emperor's New Clothes (part of The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye), as the voice of Musty.
Swift supplied most of the character voices for the NBC Howdy Doody Show. When Buffalo Bob Smith—who himself did the voice of the lead puppet character Howdy Doody and had many times proclaimed that "nobody else could do Howdy"—suffered a heart attack, Swift took home some recordings over the weekend, came back on Monday, and supplied Howdy's voice for more than a year.
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