American radio and television actor (1907?1966)
Jack Mather
|
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Born
| John E. Mather
(
1907-09-07
)
September 7, 1907
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Died
| August 16, 1966
(1966-08-16)
(aged 58)
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Occupation(s)
| Actor, voice actor
|
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Years active
| 1929?1966
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Spouse
| Rosalie Encell Mather
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Children
| 2
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John Eugene Mather
(September 7, 1907 ? August 16, 1966) was an American radio and television actor, best known for playing
The Cisco Kid
on radio and for being the original voice of
Wally Walrus
.
Early life and career
[
edit
]
Mather was born on a farm outside Chicago, Illinois, to John A. and Ella Mather.
[1]
One of Mather's earliest roles in entertainment was performing on radio in Chicago as half of a musical duet.
[2]
Having been a cast member of the
First Nighter
radio show, he moved to Los Angeles when the show also moved to Los Angeles.
[1]
Throughout his career, he appeared on popular radio shows including
The Jack Benny Program
,
Lux Radio Theatre
,
Fibber McGee and Molly
, and
The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show
.
In animation, Mather occasionally did voice work for
George Pal
and
UPA
.
[3]
In 1943,
Walter Lantz
cast Mather as
Woody Woodpecker
's nemesis,
Wally Walrus
for
The Beach Nut
(1944).
[4]
Giving Wally a Swedish accent, Mather maintained the role until
Walter Lantz Productions
temporarily shut down in 1948.
Dallas McKennon
and
Paul Frees
later took over the role following the studio's reopening in 1950.
He also occasionally appeared in films, including
The Bravados
(1958) and
Some Like It Hot
(1959).
[1]
In 1959, Mather played legendary cattleman
Charles Goodnight
in the episode, "Old Blue", of the
syndicated
television
anthology series
,
Death Valley Days
, hosted by
Stanley Andrews
. The episode focuses on Goodnight's lead steer, Old Blue, who is stolen and thereafter adopted as a family pet.
[
citation needed
]
Mather appeared as crooked Judge Hardy in an episode of
Maverick
in 1959 titled "The Sheriff of Duck'n'Shoot" opposite
James Garner
and
Jack Kelly
as Bret and Bart Maverick, and as Col. O'Hearn the following year on
Maverick
again in the episode "Thunder from the North" starring
Roger Moore
as Beau Maverick.
[
citation needed
]
He also appeared on two other
ABC
Warner Brothers
series,
77 Sunset Strip
with
Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
and
Surfside 6
. In his last television role in 1962, he was cast as Frank Lathrop in "The Daniel Clay Story" on the Western series
Wagon Train
with
John McIntire
.
The Cisco Kid
[
edit
]
In 1946, Mather was cast in the title role of
Mutual
's adaptation of
The Cisco Kid
, opposite
Harry E. Lang
as Pancho. The series, which was pre-recorded, ran from 1946 to 1956 and for more than seven hundred episodes.
[5]
In addition to playing Cisco, Mather also was the announcer for the program in its later years.
[1]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Mather was married to Rosalie Encell and was the father of two sons.
[2]
Death
[
edit
]
On August 16, 1966,
[2]
Mather died in
Wauconda, Illinois
, of a heart attack.
[6]
References
[
edit
]