Thurl Ravenscroft

Despite a singing career that spanned from the 1930s to the 1970s, Thurl Ravenscroft is undoubtedly best known for applying his deep, rich vocal skills in a different professional pursuit -- specifically, for over half a century he was the inimitable voice of Kellogg's Corn Flakes icon Tony the Tiger. According to the exhaustive website All Things Thurl, Ravenscroft was born February 6, 1914, in Norfolk, NE, relocating to California at age 19 to study interior design at the Otis Art Institute. Colleagues in his church choir suggested that he audition as a studio singer at Paramount, and he soon became one of the most sought-after vocalists in Hollywood; by the mid-'30s, Ravenscroft was also a radio staple, co-starring on the program Goose Creek Parson before graduating to Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall as a member of the Paul Taylor Choristers. In 1938 Ravenscroft joined fellow Taylor Choristers Bill Days and Max Smith in the Sportsmen, who quickly became one of the busiest vocal groups in radio -- at one point they were appearing on 14 different concurring programs, among Jack Benny's The Jell-O Radio Show, Rudy Vallée's The Sealtest Village Store, and The Burns and Allen Show. In 1942 Ravenscroft left the group to enlist in the Air Transport Command, serving five years as a navigator. Upon returning to Hollywood in 1947 he attempted to rejoin the Sportsmen, but the wife of his replacement, Gurney Bell, threatened a lawsuit if Bell was dismissed from the lineup; when Smith left the group the following year, he and Ravenscroft simply formed a new combo, the Mellomen. As a member of the Mellomen and as a solo gun-for-hire, Ravenscroft backed many of the most successful artists of the 1950s, including Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Peggy Lee, and Tennessee Ernie Ford; he is...