The Incomparable Stan Freberg

Young persons: If you have never heard of Stan Freberg, you are in for a delight. His comedy sketches from the 1950s and ’60s were sharp, clever and polished and many of them make “Saturday Night Live” look like a high school talent show.   Speaking of talent, Freberg had the best: June Foray (the voice of Rocky the Squirrel and Natasha Fatale) and Daws Butler (the voice of Quick Draw McGraw and Yogi Bear). [Note: a previous version of this post said Yogi Berra. We should know better. We remember Yogi Berra and Yogi Bear and we remember the difference unless we are having a senior moment]. By 1960, Freberg, Butler and animator Bob Clampett had worked on “Time for Beany” a  popular children’s show in the early days of television (be warned: The shows are primitive). Freberg had also pioneered a series of comedy records like “St. George and the Dragonet” (with Foray and Butler)  and hosted a radio show that was canceled after 15 episodes. In the first of a three-part series from August 1960, Freberg tells the Mirror’s Ursula Baumann “I’d like to become a great humorist.”  In fact, he already was one. Fortunately, much of Freberg’s material is available at archive.org, like his 1957 show on CBS. Freberg also created a series of comedy ads for Chun King Chow Mein, like this one from 1966.

Comments

[Eve]

I still remember all the lyrics to his Great American Soups commercial with Ann Miller.

[Mary Mallory]

His comedy shows you can be funny and witty without descending to using curse words.

[Diane Ely]

Love "Green Christmas" (all those cash registers!)

[Sam Flowers]

"I'm coming Beanie Boy". Time for Beanie was very primitive compared to todays kid shows, but I guess you got to start somewhere. I never missed a show, I loved Cecil, The Seasick Sea Serpent. Of course I liked D.J. (Dishonest John) too.

[Boo-boo]

"Daws Butler (the voice of Quick Draw McGraw and Yogi Berra)"

Wasn't Yogi Berra a baseball player? I think you mean Yogi Bear.

[walt kovacs]

im still waiting for mad men to add a stan freberg character

mr freberg was one of the original mad men, and his tv ads were brilliant....while at the same time he was parodying ads and tv on his comedy albums and shows