Voice Actor Vridays: Alan Reed

In honor of Seth MacFarlane's reboot of The Flintstones, today's saluted voice actor is Alan Reed, the voice of Fred Flintstone. A brilliant character actor, Reed got his start on stage in New York appearing in many Broadway productions. From there he moved into radio working as announcer and actor on such shows as Duffy's Tavern, Life of Reilly, and The Shadow.

Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles, where he could be seen as a regular guest star on practically every show. He was one of those character actors of the fifties and sixties that you'd see all the time and go, "Oh, it's that guy."

Nothing would make him more famous, though, than that burly-sounding, gravely voice coming out of Fred Flintstone. That was his shining moment; he even created the catch phrase "Yabba Dabba Doo" for Fred. He also provided the voice of Boris in Lady and the Tramp.

You can learn more about his life and career in his memoir Yabba Dabba Doo! The Alan Reed Story.

CG