Danny Dark
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| Danny Dark |
|---|
| Voiceover |
Danny Dark (December 19, 1938 - June 13, 2004) was widely acknowledged in the commercial industry as the voice-over king. For nearly four decades, he embedded pop culture with memorable lines in advertisements for Budweiser ("This Bud's for you"), Raid Ant & Roach Killer ("Raid- Kills Bugs Dead") and StarKist Tuna ("Sorry, Charlie"). Dark was an announcer who came to be known as the "voice" of the NBC television network for over ten years, doing the promo advertisements for all of their nighttime programming, as well as an announcer for NBC's flagship station, WNBC-TV. Over the course of his career, Dark was the spokesman for Keebler Cookies, Camaro, AT&T, K-Mart, Texaco, Armor-All, Whitman's Chocolates, Dreyer's Ice Cream, and many other Blue Chip companies. Dark was the voice of the long-running TV western Bonanza, voicing their intermission commercials for the program's sponsor, Chevrolet. Danny Dark voiced the role of Superman and Clark Kent for thirteen years in Hanna-Barbera's animated series, The Super Friends. He also narrated historical documentaries for the Biography series on the History Channel, including Johnny Cash: The Man in Black, and General Robert E. Lee.
The trade paper Radio & Records said, "Dark's distinctive voice has been heard in more award-winning commercials than any announcer in broadcast history."
Danny Dark had started as a radio D.J. in Tulsa as a teenager, but quickly advanced to stations in Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans, St. Louis, and finally a 1963-66 stint as the evening D.J. for KLAC-AM in Los Angeles. Dark was known as a rogue DJ who staged hilarious pranks in order to procure publicity.
Dark's only movie roles came in the 1976 film Tunnel Vision and as an announcer in 1980's Melvin and Howard starring Jason Robards.
Danny Dark was born Daniel Croskery in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dark died in Los Angeles of a pulmonary hemorrhage at the age of 65. Ironically, Dark, a former voice actor for DC's Superman character, died the same year as live action Superman actor Christopher Reeve. [1]
[edit] External links
- Danny Dark at the Internet Movie Database
- Obituary in Variety, June 23, 2004.
| Preceded by Bud Collyer |
Played Superman/Clark Kent 1975 |
Succeeded by David Wilson (concurrent) |
