Arnold Stang, the actor who was blessed with the features of a classic nerd and the voice to go along with it -- attributes that brought him roles in hundreds of films, radio and TV shows, cartoons and commercials -- died Sunday in Newton, MA of pneumonia at age 91, his son David disclosed Monday.
Standing 5 foot 3 and weighing about 100 pounds, he once described himself as looking "like a frightened chipmunk who's been out in the rain too long." And indeed he often provided the voice of chipmunks and assorted runty creatures in cartoons and commercials. (He was the original Buzz Bee in the Honey Nut Cheerios commercials.)
In an interview with today's (Tuesday) New York Times, JoAnne Stang, his wife of 60 years, said: "He loved the cartoons, and he liked doing commercials, too. ... But most of all, he loved radio. It offered him such a span of roles."