Sid Raymond (born Raymond Silverstein, January 21, 1909 – December 1, 2006) was an American comedian and character actor.

Early years

Born Raymond Silverstein in Manhattan, Raymond dropped out of New York University and became the recreation director at a resort in the Catskills.

Career

Raymond traveled for the radio program ''

Major Bowes Amateur Hour The ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' was an American radio talent show broadcast in the 1930s and 1940s, created and hosted by Edward Bowes (1874–1946). Selected performers from the program participated in touring vaudeville performances, under ...

'', seeking talented people across the United States. He also entertained military troops during World War II and, in 1950, portrayed Finnegan in the ''

Duffy's Tavern ''Duffy's Tavern'' is an American radio programming, radio sitcom that ran for a decade on several networks (CBS, 1941–42; Blue Network, NBC-Blue Network, 1942–44; and NBC, 1944–51), concluding with the December 28, 1951, broadcast. The ...

'' radio show. He appeared in many films and commercials, and was active nearly until his death. He is probably best remembered as being the voice for

Baby Huey Baby Huey is a gigantic and naïve duckling cartoon character. He was created by Martin Taras for Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios, and became a Paramount cartoon star during the 1950s. Huey first appeared in ''Quack-a-Doodle-Doo'', a Paramount ...

. In addition, Raymond did the voice for Katnip the cat of

Herman and Katnip ''Herman and Katnip'' is a series of theatrical cartoons featuring Herman the Mouse and Katnip the Cat, produced by Famous Studios in the 1940s and 1950s. Arnold Stang and Allen Swift were the regular voices of Herman, while Sid Raymond was t ...

fame (Katnip also appeared in several

Buzzy the Crow Buzzy the Funny Crow is an animated cartoon character that first appeared in the Famous/Paramount Noveltoons cartoon, "Stupidstitious Cat" (1947). He went on to appear in 13 cartoons from 1947 to 1954, including ''Sock-a-Bye Kitty'', ''As the Cro ...

cartoons). He was also one of several actors (notably

Dayton Allen Dayton Allen (born Dayton Allen Bolke; September 24, 1919 – November 11, 2004) was an American comedian and voice actor. He was one of the "men in the street" on ''The Steve Allen Show''. His catchphrase was "Why not, Bubbe?" (pronounced "whooo ...

) who voiced magpies

Heckle and Jeckle Heckle and Jeckle are postwar animated cartoon characters created by Paul Terry, originally produced at his own Terrytoons animation studio and released through 20th Century Fox. The characters are a pair of identical anthropomorphic yellow ...

. His first cartoon was in the

Little Lulu ''Little Lulu'' is a comic strip created in 1935 by American author Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character, Lulu Moppet, debuted in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' on February 23, 1935, in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding ...

cartoon ''Lulu's Indoor Outing''. On radio, Raymond was "Finnegan" on ''

'' during its final seasons. He returned to play the character of Baby Huey in ''

The Baby Huey Show ''The Baby Huey Show'' is an animated television series that ran in syndication during the 1994–95 and 1995–96 TV seasons. The show featured the Harvey Comics character Baby Huey. 26 episodes were produced by combining old theatrical Famous S ...

'' in the 1990s, though he was replaced by

Joe Alaskey Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American actor and comedian. He was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his death. He alternated with Jeff Bergman, Greg Burson, Ji ...

in the show's second season. On Broadway, Raymond portrayed Candy Butcher in ''

Something About a Soldier ''Something About a Soldier'', subtitled "A Comedy-drama in Three Acts", was a play written by Emmy-winning writer Ernest Kinoy. It premiered on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre in New York on January 4, 1962, after a preview the night before ...

'' (1962) and Mr. Diamond in '' Golden Rainbow'' (1968). The short documentary ''Sid at 90'' was about Raymond.

Personal life and death

Raymond was married to the former Dorothy Naftel for 69 years. He died in

Aventura, Florida Aventura is a planned suburban city in northeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, north of Miami and part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city is especially known for Aventura Mall, the third largest mall in the United State ...

, aged 97, where he lived with his wife, from complications of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

the week before.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1909 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male voice actors American male radio actors American male comedians Male actors from Manhattan People from Aventura, Florida Paramount Pictures contract players Famous Studios people Comedians from Manhattan Comedians from Florida {{US-voice-actor-1900s-stub