Patrick Joseph McGeehan (March 4, 1907 – January 3, 1988) was an American actor.

Early life

Patrick Joseph McGeehan was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

on March 4, 1907. He left home at age 14 when he went to sea, later working in vaudeville, and was a tightrope walker's assistant with the

Barnum & Bailey Circus The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling, is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth ...

Career

McGeehan began his career in 1935 on radio. He played Ben Calvert on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

radio soap, '' Aunt Mary'' (1942-1951). He was the narrator for '' Ceiling Unlimited'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

(1942-1943). He played Detective Bill Lance on '' The Adventures of Bill Lance'' on CBS (1945). He was a comic foil for

Red Skelton Richard Bernard Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national old-time radio, radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelto ...

and the announcer for ''

The Red Skelton Show ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his tele ...

'' on NBC (1951-1965). For many years, McGeehan was one of a series of announcers who were the brunt of some of Skelton’s best known-lines. He was also an actor on ''

The Adventures of Maisie ''The Adventures of Maisie'' (aka ''Maisie'') was a radio comedy series starring Ann Sothern as underemployed entertainer Maisie Ravier. It was a spin-off of Sothern's successful 1939–1947 ''Maisie'' movie series, based on a character created ...

'' (as Eddie Jordan) on the

Mutual Radio Network The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. r ...

(1949-1952), ''

Stars over Hollywood ''Stars Over Hollywood'' (also known as ''Armour Theatre'') is an American anthology television series of "original comedies and light dramas" produced by Revue Productions. Revue's first television series, it was a filmed in Hollywood and ai ...

'' on CBS (1941-1954), ''

The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio and television comedy series. The show ran for over three decades, from 1932 to 1955 on radio, and from 1950 to 1965 on television. It won numerous awards, including the 1959 and 19 ...

'' (1932-1955) and ''

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime American husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most popular ...

'' (1959). At his peak, McGeehan did more than 40 shows a week. He was the voice of ''The Hour of St. Francis'', a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

radio show, where he gained worldwide recognition for his recitation of the peace prayer of St. Francis. Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, he had roles in many cartoons at the

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (also commonly referred to as MGM Cartoons) was an American animation studio operated by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the Golden Age of American animation. Active from 1937 until 1957, the studio was responsi ...

; the

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

Vulture in ''

What's Buzzin' Buzzard ''What's Buzzin' Buzzard?'' is a 1943 American animated short film directed by Tex Avery, produced by Fred Quimby, and musical score by Scott Bradley. The short pokes fun at the food shortages common at the time. The plot focuses on two turkey ...

'' (1943,

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

), the Wolf in ''

The Screwy Truant ''The Screwy Truant'' is a 1945 Screwy Squirrel cartoon directed by Tex Avery and released by MGM. Summary The cartoon centers around an adolescent version of Screwy Squirrel, who skips school to go fishing, which causes truant officer Meathead ...

'' (1945, Avery), the Piano Player in ''

The Shooting of Dan McGoo ''The Shooting of Dan McGoo'' is a cartoon directed by Tex Avery and starring Frank Graham as the Wolf. Both Bill Thompson and Avery himself voiced the lead character Droopy. Sara Berner did the speaking voice of Lou, while her singing was prov ...

'' (1945, Avery), Joe Wolf and the Bar Patrons in ''

Wild and Woolfy ''Wild and Woolfy'' is a 1945 animated cartoon short, one of six cartoons in which Droopy was paired with a wolf as his acting partner. It is one of a very few cartoons in the series where Bill Thompson did not voice Droopy, instead Tex Avery him ...

'' (1945, Avery), the Cat in '' The Cat That Hated People'' (1948, Avery) and ''

Bad Luck Blackie ''Bad Luck Blackie'' is a 1949 American animated comedy short film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The Tex Avery-directed short was voted the 15th-best cartoon of all-time in a 1994 poll of 1,000 animation industry professionals, as referenced ...

'' (1949, Avery), the Hunter in '' Doggone Tired'' (1949, Avery), the Lawyer and Dogcatcher in '' Wags to Riches'' (1949, Avery),

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...

in '' Love That Pup'' (1949,

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator, voice actor, and musician who is best known for co-creating ''Tom and Jerry'' and providing the vocal effects for the series' title characters. Alongside Joseph B ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known as the co-founder of the animation studio Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian Americans, Italian immigrants in New York City, Bar ...

Jerry Mouse Gerald Jinx Mouse, known simply as Jerry, is an American character and one of the two titular characters in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's series of ''Tom and Jerry'' theatrical animated short films and other animated ...

's Devil in '' Smitten Kitten'' (1952, Hanna-Barbera), and the Pound Worker and Joe Bear in ''Rock-a-Bye Bear'' (1952, Avery).

Personal life

He was married to Bernice McGeehan. They had two children, including actress Mary Kate McGeehan.

Death

McGeehan died at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on January 3, 1988. He was 80.

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGeehan, Patrick 1907 births 1988 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male radio actors American male television actors American male voice actors Male actors from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio people