Dig a hole: Lee Marshall, voice of Tony the Tiger

The news is not so Grrrrrrrrreat! Lee Marshall, the voice of Kellogg’s cereal advertising mascot Tony the Tiger, is dead.

Lee Marshall died of esophageal cancer on April 26 at a Santa Monica hospital. He was 64.

He began his career in radio at the age of 14, first as a deejay and later a talk-show host. Marshall garnered fame as a wrestling announcer, but I will confine this obit to the chapters in his life that were sugar frosted, so to speak.

Anthony “Tony” the Tiger was born of Italian descent in 1951. Dallas McKennon was the first to give voice to Tony. In 1953 he was replaced by Thurl Ravenscroft, whose deep bass pipes spent over 50 years growling the familiar catchphrase. Marshall came on board to do fill-in work in 1998 and became the official voice of the corporate spokes-feline when Ravenscroft passed away in 2005.

Marshall is survived by his wife, son, stepdaughter, and granddaughter.