George Lowe, the voice actor finest recognized for the long-running cult-favorite Cartoon Community and Grownup Swim collection “Space Ghost Coast to Coast,” died Sunday at age 67, a consultant confirmed Tuesday.
A press release from the household could be forthcoming, the consultant stated. No reason behind loss of life was given, although buddy and radio host “Marvelous Marvin” Boone wrote Tuesday on social media that Lowe had died after “a long illness.”
“I’m beyond devastated,” he stated on Fb. “My Zobanian brother and best friend for over 40 years, George Lowe, has passed away after a long illness. A part of me had also died. He was a supremely talented Artist and Voice actor. A true warm-hearted Genius. Funniest man on Earth too. I’ve stolen jokes from him for decades. He stole some of mine. He was also the voice of Space Ghost and so much more.”
Casper Kelly, the writer-producer-director behind Grownup Swim’s “Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell,” remembered Lowe on X, writing, “Wonderfully kind and funny man. Brilliant improvisor. Art collector. Raconteur. Space Ghost was genius and helped usher in a new wave of oddball tv.”
Voice-over actor Billy West stated Tuesday on X that Lowe “was mighty and one of the best of the best VOs ever. Very generous of spirit and very kind… and funny funny funny. He will be missed.”
“My heart is broken. George Lowe was one of the funniest people I’ve ever known and one of the nicest people to ever exist. You will be missed more than you know my friend. RIP,” Tim Frasier, an government producer at iHeartRadio subsidiary Premiere Networks, stated Tuesday on Fb.
Michael Stipe of R.E.M. vibes with talk-show host Area Ghost — voiced by the late George Lowe — in an episode of “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.”
(BW)
“Incredibly heartbroken to learn that long time broadcasting buddy George Lowe (Official) has passed away,” radio host and voice-over artist Roy Hersey stated, additionally on Fb. “One of the inventive and funniest folks I’ve ever recognized. We labored collectively at Energy 99 in Atlanta earlier than he turned the voice of #spaceghostcoasttocoast on the Cartoon Community. … I visited with him only recently at his dwelling in Lakeland, Florida. So glad I obtained to see him one final time. If there’s a heaven, he’s obtained ‘em in [stitches].”
Lowe was born Nov. 10, 1957, in Dunedin, Fla., and worked in radio before moving to voice acting in the 1990s. He was also a visual artist and art collector, according to the American Visionary Art Museum, ultimately amassing hundreds of works including Pop Art prints by Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and others.
Space Ghost, who originated in the 1960s on CBS (courtesy of Hanna-Barbera Productions) , evolved in the 1990s from a serious fighter of outer-space supervillains into an irreverent talk-show host on a show that mixed animation and live-action.
“Space Ghost Coast to Coast” was billed as the first late-night show to feature a cartoon superhero as its host, and during its run from 1994-99, and off and on until 2012, it welcomed “guests” including Björk, Adam Carolla, Conan O’Brien, Bob Costas and Michael Stipe of R.E.M., to call a couple of. The company have been filmed dwell and inserted into the animated present.
On the premiere, eating regimen guru Susan Powter, comedian Kevin Meaney and the Bee Gees have been Area Ghost’s company, accompanied by his TV band — led by former archenemies Moltar and Zorak.
Lowe took over the Area Ghost gig from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” announcer Gary Owens, who voiced the superhero throughout his early, extra critical stints within the Nineteen Sixties and Nineteen Eighties. Owens, who died in 2015, made a cameo look as Area Ghost replicant “Gary” in a Season 5 episode of “Coast to Coast.” Within the episode, Lowe’s Area Ghost destroyed Owens’ replicant.
“The great thing about Space Ghost is that he’ll be returning at a time when heroes like X-Men and Batman are especially popular,” former Cartoon Community government Mike Lazzo advised The Occasions in 1994. “Here we have a hero working with his former enemies and there’s a completely loopy, nutty spin, making something for both kids and their parents.”
Lowe voiced quite a few roles on Grownup Swim reveals together with “Robot Chicken,” “The Brak Show” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” and in 2024 voiced Area Ghost within the Season 3 “Space Con” episode of “Jellystone!” The voice actor frolicked lately assembly followers at numerous Comedian-Cons and related gatherings.
Artwork by Lowe is hung on the Excessive Museum of Artwork in Atlanta, the Georgia Museum in Athens, Ga., the Polk Museum in Lakeland, Fla., and the American Visionary Artwork Museum in Baltimore, in keeping with the latter museum’s web site.
Former Occasions employees author N.F. Mendoza contributed to this put up.
