Kent Byron Rogers (July 31, 1923 – July 9, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in several live-action features and shorts, and a voice actor for Warner Bros. Cartoons and

Walter Lantz Productions Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio. It was in operation from 1928 to 1949 and then from 1950 to 1972, and was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures. The studio was originally formed as Universal Carto ...

Career

For Warner Bros. Cartoons, Rogers portrayed several Hollywood stars in '' Hollywood Steps Out'', and lent his voice to '' The Heckling Hare'', '' Porky's Pastry Pirates'', '' Horton Hatches the Egg'', ''

The Squawkin' Hawk ''The Squawkin' Hawk'' is a 1942 '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on August 8, 1942, and is the first to star the young Henery Hawk. It was animated by Phil Monroe and was written by Michael Maltese, ...

'' and '' Super-Rabbit''. Rogers also provided the original voice of Beaky Buzzard in '' Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid'' and '' The Bashful Buzzard''. He also provided the voice of Junior Bear in '' Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears'', the initial 1944 entry of

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

' The Three Bears series. He also appeared occasionally on radio sitcoms, generally doing one-off characters. In 1941, he had a rare on-camera role in the film '' All-American Co-Ed'' as Henry, a boy who had a talent for doing impressions. For

he voiced

Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...

in five theatrical cartoon shorts released from 1942 to 1943.

Death

Rogers enlisted as an

Ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in late 1943. He was killed in the crash of a training flight at

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

on July 9, 1944. Stan Freberg, who arrived in Hollywood just as Rogers had died, would be hired to replace Rogers, including in the role of Junior Bear.

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

took over as the voice of Beaky Buzzard, though that character's appearances were limited after Rogers' death. Rogers is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * * 1923 births 1944 deaths 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors American impressionists (entertainers) American male child actors American male radio actors American male voice actors Burials at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people United States Navy personnel killed in World War II Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Walter Lantz Productions people {{US-voice-actor-1920s-stub