Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American actor and comedian. He was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his death. He alternated with Jeff Bergman, Greg Burson, Jim Cummings, Bob Bergen, Maurice LaMarche and Billy West in voicing Warner Bros. cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, Taz, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, among many others. He also voiced Plucky Duck on Tiny Toon Adventures from 1990 to 1995. Alaskey was the second actor to voice Grandpa Lou Pickles on Nickelodeon's Rugrats (taking over after David Doyle's death in 1997). He would later reprise his role in the spin-off series All Grown Up!. In 2004, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for voicing the title role in the animated series Duck Dodgers.
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Early life
Joseph Francis Alaskey III was born in Troy, New York, on April 17, 1952, to Joseph Francis Alaskey Jr. and Domenica "Dorothy" De Sorrento De Luca Alaskey. At age three, he was looking for a pair of sunglasses or people's cigar butts so that he could portray different characters. Alaskey was interested in archaeology at the age of ten. After archeology, he was interested in becoming a priest and an English teacher. Alaskey moved to New York City in the 1970s, where he worked in insurance while preparing to become an actor.
Career
After moving to New York City, Alaskey began his show business career as a stand-up comedian and broadcaster. Although best known for his ability to successfully impersonate Looney Tunes characters, Alaskey did voice work for non-Warner Bros. characters as well. His voice career in animation began when he was discovered by Bill Scott, the voice of Bullwinkle J. Moose, who recruited him to voice Boris Badenov in TV commercials. From 1985 to 1986, he performed various voices for the syndicated animated series Galtar and the Golden Lance.
In 1981, Alaskey had been approached by animator Friz Freleng to be a potential successor to Mel Blanc. His first major voice work for film was in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), where he voiced Yosemite Sam. While veteran voice actor Blanc voiced several characters in the film, he declined to reprise his role as Yosemite Sam, fearing it would damage his throat, and Alaskey was chosen to replace him. Alaskey eventually assumed the roles of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck following Blanc's death in 1989.
Alaskey was occasionally seen onscreen impersonating Jackie Gleason, with whom he shared a physical resemblance. In the 1980s, Gleason personally chose Alaskey to re-record selected dialogue from the "lost episodes" of The Honeymooners found in Gleason's private collection. After Gleason died in 1987, the project was shelved.
Alaskey appeared on several television shows, including Night Court, Head of the Class, and The Drew Carey Show. From 1987 to 1991, Alaskey was a regular on the sitcom Out of This World. Alaskey's only leading role in a live-action film was as Ron Douglas in the black comedy Lucky Stiff (1988), directed by Anthony Perkins and co-starring Donna Dixon and Jeff Kober.
In 1989, Alaskey was the original announcer on the short-lived game show Couch Potatoes, hosted by Marc Summers. Alaskey made several onscreen appearances, portraying the show's "next door neighbor". For the show's final weeks, he was replaced by Jim McKrell and the "next door neighbor" concept was dropped. During this time, he was also a panelist on The New Hollywood Squares, hosted by John Davidson.
Alaskey was the primary voice for Plucky Duck on Tiny Toon Adventures. He voiced Stinkie the Ghost in Casper (1995), as well as the film's 1996 animated spin-off, The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper. He inherited the role of Grandpa Lou Pickles on Rugrats after voice actor David Doyle's death in 1997. He voiced Lou again in the Rugrats spin-off series, All Grown Up!. He also created the voice of Thomas Timberwolf for the internet series TimberWolf, created by animation legend Chuck Jones. He was heard briefly as a voice-over announcer for the Toon Disney channel (and sometimes Dcom extras on Disney Channel).
In 2003, he provided the voices for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action. He voiced Daffy in the Cartoon Network series Duck Dodgers, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2004. He also, at times, provided the voices for Sylvester, Tweety, and other Looney Tunes characters.
Alaskey also did voice work for video games. He was the voice of Lizard in the game Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (2007). He voiced Mermaid Man in the games SpongeBob SquarePants: Lights, Camera, Pants! (2005) and SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (2006).
In 2008, Alaskey participated in a unique interview conducted by Logan Leistikow and released by TheYellowMic.com. He answered questions and told his story, then went out onto Hollywood Boulevard and talked to people on the street who wanted to hear his famous voices. This was the first time Alaskey had performed in public in this manner.
From 2014 until his death, Alaskey was the narrator for the Investigation Discovery Network television documentary series Murder Comes to Town.
Death
Alaskey died of cancer on February 3, 2016, at age 63, in his apartment in Green Island, New York, with his brother by his side. Five days later, his funeral was held at St Patrick's Cemetery in Watervliet, New York.
