Marty Grabstein (born November 28, 1954) is an American actor, best known for voicing Courage in ''

Courage the Cowardly Dog ''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' is an American animated comedy horror television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It was produced by Dilworth's animation studio, Stretch Fil ...

''.

Career

Grabstein's career has included work in films, television series, live sketch comedy, theater and commercials. Grabstein’s film credits include ''Bury The Evidence'' and ''Apartment #5C''. His television credits include parts on three '' Law & Order'' series, ''

Third Watch ''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 26, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced ...

'', and ''

Conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is cons ...

.'' In addition to roles in several theater productions, Grabstein co-wrote and co-starred with Rick Mowat for their sketch comedy act Lab Rats, which performed to rave reviews in comedy clubs throughout New York City. For instance, as The Lab Rats they were regular performers in Joel Selmeier's ''One Minute Play Contest'' about which John Heilpern, in a review in the New York Observer, wrote "one brilliant sketch (created and performed by two lunatics, Marty Grabstein and Rick Mowat) had me on the floor with laughter. Entitled ''Long Fuse,'' it had just two lines of dialogue: "You got the dynamite?" There followed a pause, somewhat confused, for 58 seconds. A second man then answered, "No." That was it! But there were more possibilities for infectious laughter in the mad silence that followed the surprise absurdest question - "You got the dynamite?" - than reams of dialogue could have provided. We must watch out for the comedy team of Mr. Grabstein and Mr. Mowat." During the years they performed in that show they regularly arrived with new material. Grabstein is well-known for doing the voice of the titular character in the Cartoon Network

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

''. Grabstein used a combination of paranoia and panic to make the voice of Courage authentic. In the first season of the cartoon, he actually said many spoken words as Courage. However, for the rest of the series, Grabstein did almost all of the character's dialogue by gibberish and mumbling because the show's producers felt that Courage "talked too much" and wanted the dog to be more laconic. Grabstein reprised his role as Courage for the TV special, '' The Fog of Courage,'' and the crossover movie, '' Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog.''

Personal life

Marty's father, Danny was owner of the well known Grabstein's Deli in

Canarsie, Brooklyn Canarsie ( ) is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin and East 108th Street; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Aven ...

and his mother, Edna (née Bine) was a talented singer who once sang Cabaret at Don't Tell Mama's in New York City. Grabstein currently lives in New Jersey with his wife Nancy and sons Matthew and Daniel.

Filmography

*'' Law & Order'' (TV series; 1997, 2000, 2003) - Ackerman, Bob, Shlomo Fineberg (live-action) (3 episodes) *''Bury the Evidence'' (film; 1998) - The Nervous Man (live-action) *''

'' (TV series; 1999–2002) - Courage the Dog (voice) (52 episodes) *''

Law & Order: Criminal Intent ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...

'' (TV series 2002) - Pomerantz (live-action) (1 episode) *''Dead Air'' (short; 2002) - Additional voices *''Apartment #5C'' (film; 2002) - Restaurant owner (live-action) *''Manhattan's Best Friend'' (short; 2003) - Additional voices *'' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (TV series; 2003) - Ronny Ickles (live-action) (1 episode) *''

'' (TV series; 2004) - Ted (live-action) (1 episode) *''

Wonder Showzen ''Wonder Showzen'' is an American adult sketch comedy television series that aired between 2005 and 2006 on MTV2. It was created by Vernon Chatman and John Lee of PFFR. Described as a children's television series for adults, the show's format ...

'' (TV series; 2005) - Singing Chest (live-action) (1 episode) *''

Cartoon Network Racing ''Cartoon Network Racing'' is a racing video game developed by Eutechnyx for PlayStation 2 and Firebrand Games for Nintendo DS, published by Danish video game developer The Game Factory, and released on December 4, 2006, in North America, and o ...

'' (video game; 2006) - Courage the Dog (voice) *''

'' (TV series; 2006) - Saul Mincheff (live-action) (1 episode) *''Hanging Plant'' (short; 2009) - Plant guy (live-action) *''

FusionFall ''Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall'' was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Cartoon Network and South Korean studio Grigon Entertainment and released on January 14, 2009. ''FusionFall'' used the Unity engine as its client tech ...

'' (video game; 2009) - Courage the Dog (voice) *''Cartoon Network 20th Anniversary'' (TV movie; 2012) - Courage the Dog (voice) *''The Fog of Courage'' (CGI short; 2014) - Courage the Dog (voice) *''A Cat's Tale'' (film; 2015) - Rob (live-action) * '' Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog'' (film; 2021) - Courage the Dog, Mr. McGill/Clown (voice)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grabstein, Marty 1954 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from New York City Place of birth missing (living people)