Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American disk jockey and voice actor from Mitchell, South Dakota. He was known for his deadpan, baritone voice, his The Comically Serious roles, his habit of cupping his hand to his ear while announcingnote , and his Catch Phrases "Beautiful downtown Burbank", "This is Gary Owens, friend of those who want no friends, going places and losing things.", and "Hello, and also hi; but not necessarily in that order." To an extent, another catchphrase was "Bring me chopper backup!"
He was a gifted punster with a fondness for Word-Salad Humor, which his earnest deadpan delivery made even more hilarious. He often threw a Perfectly Cromulent Word into his radio announcing, dropping such phrases as "We'll be back in just a krenellemuffin" and "I'd like to thank my engineer, Wayne Doo, for creebling at the turntables." As a radio DJ, he urged listeners to send in for "yours", which turned out to be a postcard from him with the word "Yours" written on it. Despite his ability to navigate any amount of silliness with a straight face, he was caught at least once in a famous example
of Corpsing, breaking up into hysterics upon realizing that the sponsor of the ad he was reading was a hemorrhoid cream.
His sons Christopher Dane Owens (of "Shine on Me" fame) and Scott Owens are a movie producer and production manager respectively.
He passed away at age 80 from complications involving Type 1 Diabetes, which he had first been diagnosed with at age 8.
Notable Roles
- The Abominable Dr. Phibes: Narrator
- Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: Narrator (TV pitch pilot only)
- Barnaby Jones: Gary Michaels
- Batman (1966): Radio announcer, T.V. announcer
- Letters To Laugh-In: Emcee
- Batman: The Animated Series: 1950's Batman
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Space Ghost
- Bobby's World: Captain Squash
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: Opening narration
- Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: Narrator
- Dexter's Laboratory: Blue Falcon
- Dino-Boy in the Lost Valley: Opening narration
- Dinosaurs: Narrator (two episodes)
- Dynomutt, Dog Wonder: Blue Falcon
- Fantastic Four: The Animated Series: Himself
- Garfield and Friends: Introductory announcer; various announcers on shows within the show; himself (in the episode "The Binky Show")
- The Green Hornet: Newscaster
- Inspector Gadget: Gadget in the first version of the "Gadget in Winterland" pilotnote
- Johnny Bravo: Blue Falcon
- Laff-A-Lympics: Blue Falcon
- Mighty Orbots: Narrator
- Outpatients (Comedy album): Co-recorded with Jonathan Winters
- The Perils of Penelope Pitstop: The Narrator
- Pigs Is Pigs: Narrator
- The Prisoner of Second Avenue: Radio newscaster
- Raw Toonage: Badly Animated Man
- The Ren & Stimpy Show: Powdered Toast Man
- Roger Ramjet: Roger Ramjet
- Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In: The Announcer
- Sesame Street: Animated letter of the day and "Secret drawing" segments. Also starred in live action “The Man From Alphabet” segments in the initial pilot episodes, which were unaired.
- Space Ghost: Space Ghost
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Himself, appearing under the guise of a Space Ghost replicant in the episode "Warren".
- Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers: Narrator
- Space Quest VI: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier: Narrator
- Space Stars: Space Ghost
- Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends: Narrator
- Square One TV: Dirk Niblick (animated segments)
- SWAT Kats: Commander Ulysses Feral
- That '70s Show: Announcer
- 2 Stupid Dogs: Announcer, Principal Schneider
- Wizards of Waverly Place: Alarm Voice, Ominous Voice
- Yogi's Space Race: The Announcer
- Yogi's Treasure Hunt: Narrator
