Stan Freburg
| Stan Freberg | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
Stanley Friberg August 7, 1926 Pasadena, California, United States |
| Died | April 7, 2015 (aged 88) Santa Monica, California, United States |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Other names | Stanley Freberg Stan Friberg Stanley Victor Freberg |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1944–2014 |
| Spouse(s) |
Donna Freberg (m. 1959; her death 2000) Betty Hunter-Freberg (m. 2001; his death 2015) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Pop, Jazz, Satire |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Website | hunterfrebergltd |
Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American author, recording artist, voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director, whose career began in 1944. He remained active in the industry into his late 80s, more than 70 years after entering it.
His best-known works include "St. George and the Dragonet", Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, his role on the television series Time for Beany, and a number of classic television commercials.
Freberg was born Stanley Friberg in Pasadena, California, the son of Evelyn Dorothy (née Conner), a housewife, and Victor Richard Friberg (later Freberg), a Baptist minister. Freberg was a Christian and of Swedish and Irish descent.
Freberg's work reflects both his gentle sensitivity (despite his liberal use of biting satire and parody) and his refusal to accept alcohol and tobacco manufacturers as sponsors—an impediment to his radio career when he took over for Jack Benny on CBS radio. As Freberg explained to Rusty Pipes:
After I replaced Jack Benny in 1957, they were unable to sell me with spot announcements in the show. That would mean that every three minutes I'd have to drop a commercial in. So I said, "Forget it. I want to be sponsored by one person", like Benny was, by American Tobacco or State Farm Insurance, except that I wouldn't let them sell me to American Tobacco. I refused to let them sell me to any cigarette company.
Freberg's first wife, Donna, died in 2000. He had two children from that marriage, Donna Jean and Donavan. He married Betty Hunter in 2001.
Freberg was employed as a voice actor in animation shortly after graduating from Alhambra High School. He began at Warner Brothers in 1944 by getting on a bus and asking the driver to let him off "in Hollywood". As he describes in his autobiography, It Only Hurts When I Laugh, he got off the bus and found a sign that said "talent agency". He walked in, and the agents there arranged for him to audition for Warner Brothers cartoons where he was promptly hired.
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