* Filmography
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August 14, 2001 – by Mark Evanier
You are gazing on the rarely-seen face of writer-actor Lorenzo Music, who passed away ten days ago, and who was – as I and many others have noted – a wonderful creative force and friend. This photo is fairly recent and was a handout at the well-attended memorial service in Beverly Hills last night. And while it may seem odd to say you had a great time at a memorial service for a pal…well, let’s just say that Lorenzo, who had given us so many entertaining shows during his life, was responsible for yet another.
Everyone always wants to know who was at these things so here’s a brief rundown. The speakers included Bob Newhart, Jack Riley, Ed Asner, Beverly Sanders, Alan Barzman, Patti Deutsch, Marcia Wallace and several others, including Yours Truly and a pretty funny rabbi. In the audience, one could spot Peter Bonerz, Gary Owens, Avery Schreiber, James L. Brooks, Stan Freberg, June Foray, Thom Sharp, Rosanna Arquette, David Arquette, Julie Kavner, Maurice La Marche, Tress MacNeille, Gregg Berger, Laura Summer, Danny Mann, Mary Gross, Edie McClurg, Dan Castellenetta, Julie Payne…and I’m probably leaving out at least fifty other names of popular actors, both on-camera and voice, to say nothing of the non-S.A.G. friends and family that packed the Writers Guild Theater. A rousing gospel choir closed the formal event which was followed by a party that Lorenzo would also have loved.
One of Lorenzo’s sons suggested I post the photo so that his many fans can, at long last, know what one of their favorite actors actually looked like. And Gary Owens furnished this picture of a time that Phyllis Diller and Lorenzo visited his radio program to participate in a “Phyllis Diller Look-Alike Contest” which, I suspect, Lorenzo won handily.
Gary didn’t recall the date of it but, judging from his outfit, it would probably be in the early seventies. At the time, Lorenzo was a writer and story editor on the now-legendary sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He was also usually responsible for the show’s warm-up, greeting the audience and getting them all in the proper mood to laugh at Mary and Ted and Murray and Mr. Grant. His warm-ups were also legendary, at least within the business, for Lorenzo was superb at holding an audience in rapt interest, and just listening to him made people smile.
We all smiled a lot at the memorial service. And laughed. And there were even a few tears, but not that many. I think we’ve all moved past that, as you have to in life, and we were there to share stories of our friend, to embrace his wonderful family and to indulge in one big group hug.
Lorenzo…I don’t know if they have Internet connections where you are but, assuming they do and the hook-up’s fast enough to read this page, I want to say the following to you: I hope you heard all the warm, loving and funny tales that were related last evening. I hope you know how terrific everyone thought your wife and kids are and that we meant all those nice things we said about you to them. And when I go, I hope I have at least a fourth as many wonderful and fascinating friends turn out to say good-bye to me. I only wish you could be one of them.
Originally published on Mark’s sites: POV Online and Evanier.com.
August 5, 2001 – by Mark Evanier
A very talented writer and actor named Lorenzo Music died yesterday following months of brutal, heart-breaking illness. He was – like his distinctive, well-known speaking voice – unique. Those who cast him as a voiceover performer often said that just to hear him, no matter what the script or ad copy, was curiously comforting and satisfying. That was absolutely true, and it was an extension of the man himself. He walked through life with a warming aura of creativity about him…one that enveloped all who came near. To be in his presence was to feel smarter, wittier, more creative and, of course, happier – all by osmosis. He had so many gifts, one body could not contain them all. They were always leaking out, enriching others.
Lorenzo was born May 2, 1937 in Brooklyn, though he grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. Much later, he attended the University of Minnesota there and became enormously active in the school’s Theatre Arts classes and community. He also became enormously active with a lovely female drama student named Henrietta. Together, they started a comedy act that lasted eight years and a life partnership that continued indefinitely, through four children.
In 1967, he switched from performing to writing when he joined the staff of the legendary Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS – although he managed to occasionally sneak onto camera, often with his banjo or ukulele. The show’s writers won Emmys in 1969 but Lorenzo decided that variety shows were dying out and that he’d better drum up some credits in situation comedy. To that end, he and his partner, David Davis, accepted a low-level staff position on a new sitcom called The Mary Tyler Moore Show. By the second season, they were story editors on what would be hailed as one of the all-time greatest television comedies and were charged by the production company, MTM, with creating a new series for comedian Bob Newhart. Lorenzo co-created, produced and wrote for his third “TV classic” in a row when he and Davis concocted The Bob Newhart Show, featuring Dr. Robert Hartley and his odd style of psychiatrics. And Lorenzo and Henrietta composed the show’s theme song.
Their next project was to develop and produce Rhoda, a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It was on this series that Lorenzo returned to performing, supplying the voice of the unseen, perpetually inebriated doorman, Carlton. Later on, an attempt to develop a prime-time animated series called Carlton, Your Doorman was unsuccessful, though the pilot won an Emmy as the best animated special of its season.
I first met Lorenzo when I was called in to write what would have been the second episode of Carlton’s show. I found him to be a bright, friendly gent who was brimming with ideas, not just about comedy writing but the world around him. Way too much time was wasted, talking about things that had nothing to do with the job at hand…but it wasn’t really wasted. Time spent with Lorenzo was never wasted. He had a way of throwing an idea your way – or, perhaps, introducing you to someone from his wide and diverse list of friends – and letting the magic, if any, evolve.
Professionally, he began to take more interest in performing. That was how the Carlton cartoon show came about, as he did not see himself as an on-camera player, especially after a syndicated talk show he co-hosted with Henrietta was hastily terminated. While doing the pilot for the Carlton series, he came up, almost half-heartedly, with the idea of doing a live-action sitcom set in an animation studio. By way of research, he toured Hanna-Barbera Studios where a casting director to ask him to audition for a role on the Pac-Man series that was then in production. He won the part, which prompted him to put his writing-producing career aside, at least for a while, and devote his energies to voiceover work. (The premise of a comedy set in an animation studio later emerged from the MTM studio as The Duck Factory, written by others using none of Lorenzo’s ideas.)
Soon, Lorenzo Music had one of the most-heard voices in radio and television. He would eventually be heard on several more cartoon shows, including The Real Ghostbusters and Gummi Bears, and on hundreds of commercials and voiceover spots. His most famous performances came, however, when he was selected as the voice of Jim Davis’s well-syndicated feline superstar, Garfield the Cat.
Lorenzo was not that character’s first voice. That honor belonged to Scott Beach, a San Francisco radio personality who spoke for Garfield when the cat was first animated for a brief TV appearance. When CBS ordered up an entire Garfield special, Davis – not quite happy with the choice that had been made – inaugurated a major casting search for the perfect, permanent sound. Hundreds of actors were heard and re-heard before Lorenzo tried-out and Jim said, almost instantaneously, “That’s the one.” Thereafter, Lorenzo spoke for Garfield on more than a dozen prime-time animated specials (one of which he co-wrote, and several of which won Emmys) and on the Saturday morning Garfield and Friends show, which was on CBS for seven years.
As the writer (and later, co-producer and voice director) of the Saturday show, I was reunited with Lorenzo and came to truly appreciate his acting abilities. He was a thinking performer who would instantly grasp what had been written and, as often as not, come up with a way to maximize the humor. His suggestions were nearly always good, and contributed to making Garfield a truly memorable animated personality.
During this period, Lorenzo came up with the gimmick of keeping his visage from public view…a notion that flowed from all the curiosity he’d aroused when playing the never-seen Carlton on Rhoda. Thereafter, his publicity photos showed him in silhouette, or with something in front of his face, and he declined all TV interviews that would not present him that way. Although he had appeared occasionally on TV before, the stunt had its intended effect of arousing attention. People began wondering about the face that went with the voice and he often chuckled that he was becoming “semi-famous” for not being seen. He received several lucrative proposals to appear on-camera in movies and TV shows or as a commercial spokesperson and was forever considering them but always opting to wait for a better offer. (He once likened it to a great dramatic actor waiting for the right role before he’d perform without his hairpiece. He’d say, “I’m not showing my face for this one.”)
Lorenzo was an enormously versatile, brilliant man with interests in a hundred different directions and talents he never had time to fully flex. He wrote music and poetry, he produced short stories for his own and his friends’ enjoyment, and he even participated in a dance troupe. For a time, he donated one night per week to taking calls on a suicide hot line. The callers never knew his identity but occasionally, one of them would be pouring out a story – “my wife left me, I’m broke, I have an incurable disease,” etc. – and would suddenly blurt out, “Hey, you know you sound like that cat on TV?”
A few months ago, Lorenzo began having health problems. Initially misdiagnosed, they soon turned out to all be related to cancer that had infiltrated his system and spread across his spine and into various nooks of his body. A lot of us knew the end was near when he told us his spine was “riddled with cancer.” Any time you hear the word, “riddled,” it ain’t good. The disease had been, for a time, undetected…up until a visit he paid to a health spa. While being lifted on a massage table by a masseuse, Lorenzo’s back broke and doctors subsequently spotted the deterioration. Additional problems quickly followed – a rather horrifying list of them. Still, when I visited him in the hospital, he initially sounded as strong and determined as if he were in for a simple tonsillectomy. The facts of his case suggested he hadn’t long to live but, until about a week ago, his spirit and resolve suggested otherwise. Sadly, the facts won out.
It’s customary to end these things by writing something like, “Fortunately, he will be with us forever…in reruns of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, The Bob Newhart Show and other programs he wrote, and reruns of Rhoda, Garfield, The Real Ghostbusters, The Gummi Bears and other shows on which he performed. He also leaves behind a terrific family, a legacy of friends who were introduced to one another and inspired by his kindness, and a whole lot of fans.” And of course, all that is true. But to those of you who never had the chance to know him, I have to say…
I’m sorry. The work was wonderful, and I know you’ll enjoy watching it again and again and again. But being around Lorenzo Music was even better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His family has requested that anyone wishing to make a donation in his name do so to:
The Subud International Cultural Association
5828 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally published on Mark’s sites: POV Online and Evanier.com.
by Craig Crumpton, 08-07-2001, 12:19 PM
On Saturday, August 4th, actor/writer Lorenzo Music died of bone cancer* in his Los Angeles home after “months of brutal, heart-breaking illness,” writes friend and associate Mark Evanier. He was 64.
[* Note: Some media sources have erroneously stated that Lorenzo died of lung cancer. According to Greg Burson, one of Music’s fellow cartoon voice actors, “Lorenzo died of cancer throughout his body and not necessarily in his lungs. He did not smoke in the decade I knew him. The most damaged area of his body as I understand it, was his spine. When you hear Lorenzo’s voice you don’t hear any smoke damage. Not very important in the overall procession of human kind, but something I thought Lorenzo would want corrected.”]
Lorenzo Music was born Gerald David Music on May 2, 1937 in Brooklyn, NY. (According to CNN.com, “Music later took the first name Lorenzo for spiritual reasons, his wife said.”) His family moved to Duluth, Minnesota when he was 5. After high school, he attended the University of Minnesota and was actively involved in theatre. According to LorenzoMusic.com (his official site), Music majored in English Literature and minored “in Banjo Playing, Janitorial Work, and Being In A Lot Of Plays.” While in college, he also met and fell in love with Henrietta, a female drama student whom he would later marry…and remain faithful to through 4 children and 41 years, right up until his death. They also performed a comedy act together for 8 years — in the mid-70s, they even had their own syndicated TV series for a short while: “The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show.”
In 1959, he began to pursue acting as a career, but it was as a writer where he found his first true success, becoming “one of the hottest sit-com writers of the 1970s” (according to The Duluth News Tribune) which can be largely credited to his writing for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” in the late 60s. He went on to become creator, writer and producer for some of the most popular shows of the 70s (primarily produced by MTM Enterprises): “The Bob Newhart Show” (described as the “pet project” of Music and David Davis); “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and its spin-off “Rhoda.” Music also co-wrote the theme song “Home to Emily” for The Bob Newhart Show with his wife Henrietta, and for the first 2 years of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” he served as “the audience warm-up man, who came out and interacted with the studio audience each Friday night, and introduced the cast members.”
In September 1976, the aforementioned “The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show” was broadcast. Jim Beaver writes on the alt.obituaries newsgroup, “It was an hour show also featuring Samantha Harper, Dave Willock, Bob Gibson, Erick Darling, Sandy Helberg, and Murphy Dunne. Music co-produced and co-wrote with Lewis Arquette.”
This TV series has been described by various sources as: “a reasonably workable comedic variety program” (MTMShow.com); a daytime talk show; and a “soap opera” (WGNTV.com). [Perhaps that’s why it was so short-lived – the press was unsure how to accurately describe it.]
The Music’s show featured “folk music with acting tips and woodworking,” explains fan Susan Sparks (via Usenet). The duo wrote and performed music for the show as well as with their “acoustic folk-country star” guests, and Lorenzo played the banjo, according to another Usenet source.
“The premiere had Mary Tyler Moore as the guest,” writes fan Brad Ferguson, via Usenet. “And Music interviewed Carlton the Doorman. (They had a P.A. speaker sitting in the chair opposite Music.)”
The series lasted barely a month, possibly because it was on the air in the wrong decade – it was just a little out of place during the disco era. [An interesting note of trivia to add here: During this time, canned laughter tracks were used extensively (and gratuitously) on TV sitcoms. According to suck.com, the Music’s show “featured Carroll Pratt working his Laff console on camera, a sop to the postmodern malaise and a boffo joke in and of itself.”]
“Lorenzo and Henrietta also starred in a pilot for ‘The New Lorenzo Music Show’ that same year (actually prior to the above series and thus, despite the ‘New’ in the title, probably the pilot for the above show),” adds Beaver. “It was, however, a sitcom ABOUT a guy who hosts a variety show. It also starred David Ogden Stiers, Jack Eagle, Steve Anderson, Roz Kelly, and Lewis Arquette. It was produced by Carl Gottlieb (Jaws), and directed by Tony Mordente (of West Side Story).”
In 1980, Music developed and provided the lead voice for a fully animated pilot episode Carlton Your Doorman – a spin-off of the live-action sitcom Rhoda. It was intended to be a prime-time animated TV series, according to Evanier. And though the series was never produced, “the pilot won an Emmy as the best animated special of its season.”
But with all his writer/producer credits, Lorenzo Music will still be remembered first and foremost for his unique voice and his preference to keep his face from the public eye. “He craved anonymity and didn’t want his picture published,” Craig Lincoln wrote in an obituary for the Duluth News Tribune.
“Lorenzo would at one time vanish at the sight of cameras,” says Greg Burson. “He didn’t want a face associated with the Voice.”
This past January, in a personal quest to find a photo of Lorenzo where he wasn’t wearing his trademark dark sunglasses and hat, I asked Mark Evanier why it seemed like Lorenzo was still clinging to his anonymity even in the present and he replied, “It was just a publicity stunt thing he did for a time. He was actually on-camera on many shows before it. The last time we discussed it, he indicated that he felt he’d gotten all possible mileage out of the gimmick and was no longer going to hide his face.”
Apparently, this “notion…flowed from all the curiosity he’d aroused when playing the never-seen Carlton on Rhoda,” Evanier further elaborates in a recent article. “Thereafter, his publicity photos showed him in silhouette, or with something in front of his face, and he declined all TV interviews that would not present him that way. Although he had appeared occasionally on TV before, the stunt had its intended effect of arousing attention. People began wondering about the face that went with the voice and he often chuckled that he was becoming ‘semi-famous’ for not being seen.”
For animation fans, his definitive role – his legacy, perhaps – will always and forever be his endearing and entertaining performance as the voice of Garfield the Cat in such memorable made-for-TV specials as: “Here Comes Garfield” (1982); “Garfield on the Town” (1983), an Emmy Award-winning animated special which he also co-wrote with Garfield creator Jim Davis; “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” (1985); “Garfield Goes Hollywood” (1987); the Holiday classic “A Garfield Christmas” (1987); and the hugely popular animated series “Garfield & Friends” (1987) which was a mainstay on CBS for 7 successful seasons.
Some of Music’s other voice credits include:
His voice and personality were one-of-a-kind, and he was well loved and admired by those who knew him and his work. This is evident from the quotes and personal anecdotes from his friends, fans and associates — collected below from all corners of the web:
From Jim Heffernan (college friend):
He could not imagine a life outside of show business, and he fashioned a life in show business and a pretty good one at that. He never gave up on show business, and it never really gave up on him.
From J. Michael Straczynski (associate; Story Editor on “The Real Ghostbusters”):
I knew Lorenzo Music while we were doing [The Real Ghostbusters], but not afterward; we never really hung out or anything. He [was] a roundish, friendly kind of guy. We always had to separate him from Frank Welker and Maurice [LaMarche] in the sound studio, because if they were *ever* in close proximity, all kinds of hell would break out.
When Lorenzo was still doing the show, Frank learned to mimic his voice. So one day, in taping, when Lorenzo missed his cue, Frank supplied his line…in [Lorenzo’s] voice. Lorenzo looked around with a “What the hell was THAT?” look on his face.
From Corey Burton (associate; Voice cast member with Lorenzo on Disney’s “Gummi Bears”):
My first exposure to Lorenzo was a taping of ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ way back when, and he came out before the show [and] between scene changes to speak to the audience. He was a very interesting man. I worked with him on ‘Gummi Bears.’ Always admired him but didn’t get to know him very well. He was very intelligent, very talented – he knew what he wanted from the performance. His acting was very subtle, organic – had a certain shading to it. He was very funny, very dry and very entertaining.
From Jess Danis (friend and associate; Lorenzo’s voiceover agent at International Creative Management, Inc.):
He was one of the most lovingly eccentric people I’ve ever known, a one-of-a-kind. He was seemingly irreplaceable in our business.
From Mike Herlihy (fan):
Lorenzo Music was one of those people that I’ve always enjoyed following. Probably because not enough people knew who he was.
When I was in High School (Fairfax in LA), I had a friend that had a crush on Mary Tyler Moore. He went to all of the tapings and I went to a couple. Lorenzo would always do the ‘warm up’ for the show, this is when someone comes out and gets the audience in the mood to laugh for the sound track.
My friend got me to ask for the ‘famous jellybean trick’. Lorenzo was happy to oblige. He took a jellybean and threw it up into the lights (TV studios are very high to allow for all of the equipment), and then he would catch it in his mouth.
I also got to see him do this prior to tapings of Rhoda (I remember it was the honeymoon show), and Bob Newhart. He had a very distinctive laugh (Haw, haw, haw), and if you listen carefully to the laughter you will hear him still. In fact I was watching All in the Family the other night and heard him, as I recall he also did the warm up there, even though it wasn’t an MTM production.
His own show was sadly short lived, his inner beauty didn’t shine as brightly through the TV as it did in person. Still I’ve always enjoyed listening for his infectious laughter, and I always will.
From Craig Crumpton (fan; Host: The Voice Actor Appreciation Group, and the author of this tribute article):
I’ve been an avid enthusiast and researcher of cartoon voice actors since the early 1980s, and Lorenzo’s voice was among the first I learned to identify. The unique quality of his voice and his endlessly entertaining performances quickly made him one of my favorites. I have especially fond memories of his voice on account of my family’s annual holiday tradition of sitting down together to watch “A Garfield Christmas.” It features my all-time favorite performance from Lorenzo. Ever since the first time I saw the TV special, whenever I’ve heard his voice, I’ve always been reminded of Christmas — some of the happiest times of my childhood and being with my family.
I so closely associate his voice with such pleasant memories of time spent with my family that losing him is a bit like losing a brother, or a very close friend, even though I never had the chance to meet him.
From Ted Arnold (friend):
Lorenzo was certainly one of, if not my best, friend. I will miss his emails, his phone calls, and everything else one misses from the security one gets from a friendship of 39 years.
From Greg Burson (associate; Fellow cartoon voice actor):
I remember a time when Lorenzo was riding the zenith of the commercial world with his highly identifiable voice.
He had deciced to increase his market share with different approaches and treatments. He presented these to Chris at Radio-Ranch. Chris excitedly exclaimed these are terrific, great in fact …….but they’re all Lorenzo.
Lorenzo certainly left his signature with everyone. I’m sure he’s now the official spokesperson for heaven.
He will be missed.
From Valerie Harper (friend and associate; Star of “Rhoda”):
Valerie’s heart is breaking, but Rhoda is certain that Carlton the doorman is giving St. Peter at the gate a run for his money.
From Kim Campbell (friend and associate; Director of Public Relations: Paws, Inc — Garfield’s Headquarters):
I was the lucky person at Garfield-land selected to ‘handle’ Lorenzo. Actually, Lorenzo was much better at handling me and graciously, patiently walked me through the murky waters of voice-over land. I never had a conversation with him that wasn’t either enlightening or entertaining. How many people can you say that about? Lorenzo was compassionate, warm, honest, quick, and always, always very dear.
From Jim Davis (friend and associate; Creator of Garfield):
When we held auditions for the voice of Garfield, I wasn’t exactly sure what we were looking for — I just knew I’d know it when I heard it. After dozens of auditions, I began to feel uncertain we’d ever find the right Garfield. Then Lorenzo Music sat at the [microphone]. That was it — I knew it. He had the perfect dry wit and laconic delivery that helped define the character.
He was a huge talent, and a very nice man. Garfield will miss him terribly — we all will.
From Henrietta Music (Lorenzo’s wife):
The most compelling thing about him was the sort of relentless, easy, every day humor. He had a dry, sharp wit and it was quick. He was cracking jokes [last] Thursday; we were all sitting around in his room.
From Mark Evanier (friend and associate; Writer, Co-Producer and Voice Director for Garfield & Friends):
He was – like his distinctive, well-known speaking voice – unique. Those who cast him as a voiceover performer often said that just to hear him, no matter what the script or ad copy, was curiously comforting and satisfying. That was absolutely true, and it was an extension of the man himself. He walked through life with a warming aura of creativity about him…one that enveloped all who came near. To be in his presence was to feel smarter, wittier, more creative and, of course, happier – all by osmosis. He had so many gifts, one body could not contain them all. They were always leaking out, enriching others.
As the writer (and later, co-producer and voice director) of [Garfield & Friends], I…came to truly appreciate his acting abilities. He was a thinking performer who would instantly grasp what had been written and, as often as not, come up with a way to maximize the humor. His suggestions were nearly always good, and contributed to making Garfield a truly memorable animated personality.
Lorenzo was an enormously versatile, brilliant man with interests in a hundred different directions and talents he never had time to fully flex. He wrote music and poetry, he produced short stories for his own and his friends’ enjoyment, and he even participated in a dance troupe. For a time, he donated one night per week to taking calls on a suicide hot line. The callers never knew his identity but occasionally, one of them would be pouring out a story – “my wife left me, I’m broke, I have an incurable disease,” etc. – and would suddenly blurt out, “Hey, you know you sound like that cat on TV?”
He leaves behind a terrific family, a legacy of friends who were introduced to one another and inspired by his kindness, and a whole lot of fans. To those of you who never had the chance to know him, I have to say…
I’m sorry. [His] work was wonderful, and I know you’ll enjoy watching it again and again and again. But being around Lorenzo Music was even better.
We at Toon Zone wish to extend our sympathy and condolences to the family and friends of a very talented actor, writer, voiceover artist, producer, performer and musician.
I can think of no better way to conclude this tribute (written to honor Lorenzo’s memory) than to include what Kim Campbell shares from a recent e-mail she received from Lorenzo, which he ended with a familiar refrain from a song written by Irving Berlin:
Blue skies, smilin on me.
Nuthin but blue skies, do I see.
Kim adds, “Here’s to blue skies for Lorenzo from now on.”
Rest in Peace, Lorenzo – thanks for all the laughs and wonderful memories. You will not be forgotten.
(originally posted at: http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?threadid=3949)
WIRE: 08/07/2001 5:43 pm ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Lorenzo Music, the Emmy-winning writer and actor who played the oft drunk and oft heard but never seen doorman “Carlton” on the popular 1970s sitcom “Rhoda,” has died of bone cancer, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Music, who died on Saturday, was 64 years old.
“He was one of the most lovingly eccentric people I’ve ever known, a one-of-a-kind,” said Jess Danis, Music’s agent at ICM. “He was seemingly irreplaceable in our business.”
Music was a co-creator and a writer for “Rhoda,” which was a spinoff of the original “Mary Tyler Moore Show.” The hit sitcom starred Valerie Harper as a struggling New York designer, but it also showcased Music as the ever-inebriated disembodied doorman voice over the intercom.
Music was heard in numerous episodes, usually with the preface, “This is Carlton, your doorman.”
Music was known for other vocal work, including the voice of Garfield the Cat in more than a dozen prime-time animated specials.
He appeared on the Saturday morning “Garfield and Friends” show, which was on CBS for seven years.
Music was also the voice of the crash-test dummies on the buckle-your-seatbelt ad campaign.
The Brooklyn-born Music won an Emmy in 1969 as a writer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.”
After joining the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” as a junior writer, he teamed with David Davis to co-create and co-produce “The Bob Newhart Show.”
Music and his wife, Henrietta also wrote the theme music for the “Bob Newhart Show.”
Music is survived by his wife and four children.
Copyright 2001 Reuters News Service.
Q: You’ve been doing the voice of Garfield since 1982. Are you anything at all like Garfield?
A: Garfield is furry and orange. Sometimes I am furry and in certain light, I appear to be orange.
Q: What is the most memorable line you’ve ever had to say for Garfield?
A: Probably the line from the Halloween Show, “Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy!”
Q: Is there a line you’re dying to deliver as Garfield, that has not yet been written?
A: “Hey everybody, I’ve been selected to let you all know that war, hunger, and suffering have officially been eliminated from the earth.”
Q: What do you think would amaze members of Club Garfield about you?
A: That for being so talented and handsome, I’m so modest.
Q: What other cartoon characters have you played?
A: I was on “The Gummi Bears.” I played the voice of Tummi, the big blue bear and on “Ghostbusters” I played Peter Venkman.
Q: Is it more fun to play a cat or a Crash Test Dummy?
A: Well since this is Garfield’s fan club, a cat.
Q: Do kids ever call your house and ask to speak to Garfield?
A: I hope not.
Q: What would your advice be to someone trying to break into the voice-over business?
A: Finish school, go to college, get a doctorate and then follow your dreams.
Originally published in the “Garfield Gazette” at:
http://www.garfield.com/news/lorenzostory1.html
http://www.garfield.com/fan_club/secret/lorenzo.html
Sometimes, it’s not what you say, but how you say it. In Lorenzo Music’s case — it’s both. Lorenzo is the talented actor/writer/producer/musician who lends his voice to the cantankerous cat and makes sure Garfield always has the last word.
Lorenzo has been the voice behind Garfield since 1982, beginning with the first animated TV special “Here Comes Garfield.” And talking on Garfield’s behalf has kept him busy: He’s recorded 14 animated TV specials, 121 half-hour episodes of “Garfield & Friends,” and countless commercials giving Garfield the droll voice characterization that is now famous. He’s leant his considerable talents to Garfield in other ways, too. He was the co-writer with Jim Davis on the Emmy Award winning animated special “Garfield on the Town” (1983).
According to Jim Davis, who selected Mr. Music after hearing him audition in Los Angeles at a recording studio, “I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a lazy, fat voice – but what exactly does that sound like? Then I heard Lorenzo’s voice and I knew he was perfect. He was Garfield.”
Lorenzo is neither fat nor lazy – he’s made a name for himself in Hollywood where he started as a writer for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” He quickly distinguished himself as a real funny guy and even won an Emmy award for “Outstanding Achievement in Comedy Writing.” From there, he joined his friend, David Davis (no relation to Jim Davis), and wrote a TV series, “Love, American Style.” The two collaborated for next seven years and joined “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” at its conception in 1970, Davis as Producer and Mr. Music as writer. In 1971, the pair created, wrote, and produced “The Bob Newhart Show.” A year after that, they developed and produced “Rhoda”. Lorenzo stepped out of his role of writer and producer, and took on the roll of Carlton the Doorman, a character never seen, only heard, over Rhoda’s intercom. The hilarious characterization of the often tipsy and usually careless doorman became one of the most popular features of the show.
Lorenzo has a slight “peculiarity” when it comes to his public persona, possibly as a result of having been the man “behind the scenes” so often. He never allows a photograph of himself unless his face is at least partially hidden by a hat and sunglasses.
Originally published in the “Garfield Gazette” at:
http://www.garfield.com/news/lorenzostory2.html
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