Joseph Howard "Skip" Hinnant (born September 12, 1940) is an American actor, singer, voice actor and comedian.

Career

Skip Hinnant's first major role was as Cathy's boyfriend, Ted, on '' The Patty Duke Show'' from 1963 to 1965. In 1967, he played Schroeder in the original off-Broadway cast of Clark Gesner's '' You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown,'' where his older brother, Bill Hinnant, played

Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...

. Hinnant is best known as a featured performer on the children's show ''

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. T ...

'', which aired on the American educational television network

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

from 1971 to 1977. He was best known at that time as word decoder Fargo North, Decoder (a play on "

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

") and as "The Boy" in the soap opera satire " Love of Chair." Despite generally being known for acting in more family friendly works, Hinnant also performed in

adult animation Adult animation, also known as mature animation, and infrequently as adult-oriented animation, is any type of animation, animated motion work that is catered specifically to adult interests, and is mainly targeted and marketed towards adults and ...

, providing the voice of Fritz the Cat in both the 1972 animated film of the same name and its 1974 sequel, '' The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat''. In 1977, he voiced the

Easter Bunny The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" ori ...

in the

Rankin/Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...

made-for-television, stop-motion animated feature ''

The Easter Bunny Is Comin' To Town ''The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town'' is a 1977 musical Easter television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, using their "Animagic" stop motion animation. It reunites the writer Romeo Muller. designer Paul Coker Jr., and narrator Fred ...

'', and in 1980, he provided the voice for the title character Pogo Possum in the

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

feature film ''I Go Pogo'' (also done in stop-motion). His most recent acting roles were an appearance in the

science education show ''

3-2-1 Contact ''3-2-1 Contact'' is an American science educational television show produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It aired on PBS from 1980 to 1988 and later ran on Noggin (a joint venture between the CT ...

'' as Flash Jordan in episode ''Measurement: How Fast? How Slow?'' on November 2, 1984 and a part in an episode of ''

Kate & Allie ''Kate & Allie'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from March 19, 1984 to May 22, 1989, starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as two divorced women, both with children, who decide to live together in the same house ...

'' as Bob Barsky's boss Brian Keyes in episode "I've Got a Secret" on February 27, 1989. Then he retired from television acting and devoted his entire career to voice-over work at beginnings of 1990s, but in 2006 he made appearances in two retrospectives of ''

'': one was a PBS pledge drive special, the other was ''The Best of the Electric Company: Vol. 2.''Bestuff.com
/ref> Hinnant is the longest-serving president of the New York branch of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

Filmography

* 1963-1965 '' The Patty Duke Show'' as Ted 6 episodes * 1966 ''

The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean ''The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean'' is a 1966 independent film about a young psychic woman whose powers are exploited by a boy band, directed by Juleen Compton. It was written by Compton and filmed in the Ozark mountains, and was the feature film ...

'' as Francis * 1971-1977 ''

'' as Jay Jay and Various characters (most notably Fargo North, Decoder) * 1972 ''

Fritz the Cat ''Fritz the Cat'' is a comic strip created by Robert Crumb. Set in a "supercity" of anthropomorphic animals, it focused on Fritz, a feline con artist who frequently went on wild adventures that sometimes involved sexual escapades. Crumb began ...

'' as Fritz the Cat (voice) * 1974 '' The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat'' as Fritz the Cat (voice) * 1977 ''

The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town ''The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town'' is a 1977 musical Easter television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, using their "Animagic" stop motion animation. It reunites the writer Romeo Muller. designer Paul Coker Jr., and narrator Fred ...

'' as Sunny the Easter Bunny * 1980 ''

I Go Pogo ''Pogo'' was a daily comic strip that was created by cartoonist Walt Kelly and syndicated to American newspapers from 1948 until 1975. Set in the Okefenokee Swamp in the Southeastern United States, ''Pogo'' followed the adventures of its anth ...

'' as Pogo Possum * 1984 ''

'' as Flash Jordan 1 episode * 1986 ''

My Little Pony and Friends ''My Little Pony'' is a 1986–1987 American animated television series produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions and animated by Toei Animation and AKOM based on the My Little Pony toys released by Hasbro. The series featured as the ...

'' as Various voices * 1988 ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

'' as Mr. Leversee 1 episode * 1989 ''

'' as Brian Keyes 1 episode * 1990 ''

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ''Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day'' is a 1972 ALA Notable Children's Book written by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz. It has also won a George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit, a Georgia Children's Book ...

'' as Shoe Salesman

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hinnant, Skip 1940 births 1940s births Living people Male actors from Virginia American male comedians American male voice actors American male television actors American male film actors American sketch comedians People from Chincoteague, Virginia Male actors from Los Angeles Comedians from California