Almy Purves "Purv" Pullen (February 2, 1909 – October 18, 1992), later known by the stage name Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath (or simply Dr. Birdbath), was an American

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

. He was known for mimicking the sounds of animals and birds.

Early life

Pullen was born on February 2, 1909, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Growing up on a farm, he began imitating bird-calls. He incorporated bird-calls into his first job as a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, and at other radio stations.

Career

Pullen began performing as a voice actor in films in the 1930s. He was the voice of Cheetah in

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

films and produced the bird sounds in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

'' (1937). Pullen's vocal contributions appear in many cartoons featuring

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

Betty Boop Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...

, and

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

's 1935 film ''

The Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

'', and the squawks and jungle sounds for

Martin Denny Martin Denny (April 10, 1911 – March 2, 2005) was an American pianist, composer, and arranger. Known as the "father of exotica," he was a multi-instrumentalist and could play a number of percussion instruments. In a long career that saw him per ...

's 1959 pop instrumental "

Quiet Village "Quiet Village" is an orchestral pop instrumental that was written and originally performed by Les Baxter in 1951 and an instrumental album from 1959 by Martin Denny. In the liner notes to his album, ''Ritual of the Savage (Le sacre du sauvage)'', ...

". In 1945, Pullen began a collaboration with

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment wer ...

, providing sound effects and other comic gimmicks on many of the classic Jones recordings. Jones gave Pullen the stage name "Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath." Pullen provided background bird vocals in

Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort and in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, and previously in Tokyo Disneyland at Tokyo Disney Resort. First opened on June 23, 1963 at the Disneyl ...

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

and

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...

. He was also heard in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

as the voice of Roscoe the Dog on the

Dr. Don Rose Don Rose (born Donald Duane Rosenberg; July 5, 1934 – March 30, 2005), also known as "Dr. Donald D. Rose" or just "Dr. Don," was an American radio personality on KFRC (defunct), KFRC Amplitude modulation, AM 610 in San Francisco, California from ...

show on KFRC. Pullen also appeared in nightclubs as a

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

with a dummy named Johnny. He appeared on a 1958 episode of ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

'' as the mystery guest.

Personal life

Pullen was a longtime resident of

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County, California, United States. It is located from Sacramento, California, Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is on the edge of the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. The city was founded in ...

, where he performed puppet shows at the

Nut Tree Nut Tree is a lifestyle center in Vacaville, California near the intersection of Interstate 80 and Interstate 505. The original Nut Tree History The original Nut Tree opened on July 3, 1921 on the Lincoln Highway (old U.S. Route 40). It was ...

in the 1970s and 1980s and where he appeared with "Roscoe the Dog," a supposedly invisible dog puppeted by means of a stiffened dog leash.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pullen, Purv 1909 births 1992 deaths American male voice actors Animal impersonators Male actors from Philadelphia People from Vacaville, California American whistlers