R.I.P. Eddie Carroll (1933-2010)

Edmonton-bred, L.A.-based Jiminy Cricket voice actor Eddie Carroll died last week at age 76

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

EDMONTON-born voice actor and uncanny Jack Benny impersonator Eddie Carroll died last Tuesday (April 6) from a brain tumour, at L.A.'s Motion Picture & Television Fund Hospital. He was 76, and is survived by two children and his wife Carolyn.

Carroll, who was born Eddie Eleniak, got his Hollywood start as a writer of Hanna-Barbera and competeing cartoon studios, co-penning episodes of The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (1972). Prior to that Carroll had worked in Canadian theatre and wrote for radio & TV, until he landed an NBC scholarship that took him to Los Angeles.

Throughout the '60s Carroll accepted small roles on episodes of The Lieutenant (1963), Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1966), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Andy Griffith Show (1967), before appearing as a regular on The Don Knotts Show (1970).

His first gig as Jiminy Cricket came with the 1971 short Bongo, and continued for decades to come, including in Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), Jiminy Cricket's Christmas (1986), Villain's Revenge (1999), and three Kingdom Hearts video games (2002-07).

Carroll also co-founded L.A.-based Carroll-Farr Productions with M*A*S*H actor Jamie Farr, producing prjects for film and televison.

But to many he is known best for his Jack Benny impersonations, which was highlighted in his acclaimed one-man stage show Jack Benny: Laughter in Bloom.

Carroll died just one day before his 47th wedding anniversary.

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