Johnny Murray (voice actor)

Johnny Murray
Murray in 1929
Born(1904-06-12)June 12, 1904
DiedAugust 1, 1956(1956-08-01) (aged 52)
OccupationVoice actor
Years active1929–1941

Johnny Murray (June 12, 1904 – August 1, 1956) was an American voice actor. In 1929, he was under a contract with First National Pictures to sing for Richard Barthelmess in his films; he provided Barthelmess's voice in Weary River.[1] He is most famous today for his role as Bosko, the first star of Warner Brothers cartoons, starting with Bosko the Doughboy.[2] He was the voice actor for Bosko in the 1933 short, Bosko's Picture Show.[3] This cartoon is infamous for perhaps containing the first cartoon depiction of Adolf Hitler, and possibly of being among the first, if not first, widely distributed films that contain verbal usage of the f-bomb.[4]

  1. ^ Larkin, Mark (July 1929). "The Truth About Voice Doubling". Photoplay. New York: Photoplay Publishing Co. Retrieved January 18, 2016.
  2. ^ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 6. ISBN 979-8-88771-010-5.
  3. ^ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 11. ISBN 979-8-88771-010-5.
  4. ^ Cohen, Karl (2014). Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America. McFarland & Company. p. 15. ISBN 9781476607252.