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<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Echoes from past
inspire voice-over artist<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This
article, one in a series of profiles of local performing arts
personalities,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">appeared
in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Times </I>papers<I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> </I>7/09/09<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p><FONT
face=Calibri> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“Stays sugar sweet
and crunchy, even in milk.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">These words may not
actually haunt Bobby Thomas’ days or disturb his sleep at night, but they linger
nonetheless.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They serve as a
perpetual reminder of just how competitive the world of voice-over artistry can
be and how close he came to embedding himself in our nation’s popular
culture.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“Stays sugar sweet
and crunchy, even in milk” has been the catch phrase for Cap’n Crunch breakfast
cereal since its inception in 1963.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>It was spoken by voice-over impresario Daws Butler in the guise of the
product’s namesake.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Until his death
in 1988, Mr. Butler was the voice behind Captain Crunch and just about every
Hanna Barbera TV cartoon character ever created, including Yogi Bear,
Huckleberry Hound, QuickDraw McGraw, and Snagglepuss.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Enter Bobby
Thomas.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Growing up in the
1950s and 1960s, Bobby was a child of television.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>A fan of cartoons, he was always
impressed by the notion that one person—a Daws Butler or a Mel Blanc at Warner
Bros.—could be so amazingly versatile to give life to such diverse
characters.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Admiration turned to
action, first as a high school radio disc jockey in small town London, Ohio, and
then as a series of starts and stops in small town radio including Ashtabula,
Massillon and Oberlin.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There, Bobby
honed his comic timing and voice acting skills, which eventually led to a job in
Cleveland at what is now WMVX--Mix 106.5, and a nationally syndicated comedy
feature. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">During the
early-1980s, Bobby started his professional voice actor career and performed in
hundreds of local, regional and national commercials for radio and TV, as well
as narrations for industrial films, sales videos and special projects.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In 1986, he moved to Los Angeles to
pursue voice acting in cartoons.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>While there he met Mr. Butler, who shared his vast knowledge and offered
encouragement, although the industry was changing and generating fewer and fewer
job opportunities.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">When Mr. Butler
retired due to ill health, the ad agency for Quaker Oats was looking for a
sound-a-like to replace him.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>After making a demo tape, being invited to Chicago for an audition, and
making the final cut, Bobby learned that “Stays sugar sweet and crunchy, even in
milk” would become another man’s legacy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">When Mr. Butler
passed away, the agent called again with an opportunity to audition for the new
animated <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Jetson’s</I> movie,
replacing Mr. Butler in another of his iconic characters, Elroy Jetson.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Once again, close but no cartoon
exploding cigar.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Back in Cleveland in
late-1987, Bobby joined the on-air staff at WDOK—Soft Rock 102.1.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He happily remained at this top-ranked
radio station for over twelve years, but continued to hear voices from the
past—odd<SPAN style="COLOR: red"> </SPAN>character voices with silly speech
impediments—beckoning him.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He and
his family relocated to New England to give voice-over work one more shot in a
top media market.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">“The year we moved,”
he recalls, “the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA went on strike against the
commercial producers.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As a member
of both unions, I could not and would not cross a picket line.”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The strike lasted for over eight
months.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It created changes in the
industry that made it even harder to make voice-over a fulltime occupation and
sent Bobby back to Cleveland.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Living in Solon,
Bobby continues to audition and work as a freelance disembodied voice.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He has also discovered some use
for the body he has dragged to these auditions all these years, including acting
in local community theater, on-camera character roles for TV commercials, and
performances in independent films.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>He just recently wrapped up a web “mockumentary” comedy series called <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Road to Sundance: On a Shoestring
Budget. <o:p></o:p></I></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">In the quiet of the
evening, with his wife sound asleep and his children off pursuing their own
careers, Bobby still hears silly voices from the past.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They still whisper “Stays sugar sweet
and crunchy, even in milk.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>However, these days, these words just make him hungry for
cereal.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>