| Birth Name: | Patrick Joseph McGeehan |
| Birth Date: | 4 March 1907 |
| Birth Place: | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1935–1988 |
| Known For: | Announcer on The Red Skelton Show Bear on Rock-a-Bye Bear Doggone Tired The Cat That Hated People |
| Spouse: | Bernice McGeehan |
| Children: | 2, including Mary Kate |
Patrick Joseph McGeehan (March 4, 1907 – January 3, 1988)[1] was an American actor.
Patrick Joseph McGeehan was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on March 4, 1907. He left home at age 14 when he went to sea, later working in vaudeville, and was a tightrope walker's assistant with the Barnum & Bailey Circus.[2]
McGeehan began his career in 1935 on radio.
He played Ben Calvert on the NBC radio soap, Aunt Mary (1942-1951). He was the narrator for Ceiling Unlimited on CBS (1942-1943). He played Detective Bill Lance on The Adventures of Bill Lance on CBS (1945). He was a comic foil for Red Skelton and the announcer for The Red Skelton Show on NBC (1951-1965).
For many years, McGeehan was one of a series of announcers who were the brunt of some of Skelton’s best known-lines. He was also an actor on The Adventures of Maisie (as Eddie Jordan) on the Mutual Radio Network (1949-1952), Stars over Hollywood on CBS (1941-1954), The Jack Benny Program (1932-1955) and Fibber McGee and Molly (1959). At his peak, McGeehan did more than 40 shows a week. He was the voice of The Hour of St. Francis, a Catholic radio show, where he gained worldwide recognition for his recitation of the peace prayer of St. Francis.[3]
Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, he had roles in many cartoons at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio; the Jimmy Durante Vulture in What's Buzzin' Buzzard (1943, Tex Avery), the Wolf in The Screwy Truant (1945, Avery), the Piano Player in The Shooting of Dan McGoo (1945, Avery), Joe Wolf and the Bar Patrons in Wild and Woolfy (1945, Avery), the Cat in The Cat That Hated People (1948, Avery) and Bad Luck Blackie (1949, Avery), the Hunter in Doggone Tired (1949, Avery), the Lawyer and Dogcatcher in Wags to Riches (1949, Avery), Spike in Love That Pup (1949, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera), Jerry Mouse's Devil in Smitten Kitten (1952, Hanna-Barbera), and the Pound Worker and Joe Bear in Rock-a-Bye Bear (1952, Avery).[4] [5] [6] [7]
He was married to Bernice McGeehan. They had two children, including actress Mary Kate McGeehan.[1]
McGeehan died at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Burbank after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on January 3, 1988. He was 80.[3]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Hoola Boola | Jim Dandy | Voice | ||
| 1943 | Nursery Crimes | J. Snuffington Snodgrass | Voice, uncredited | ||
| What's Buzzin' Buzzard | Jimmy Durante Vulture | Voice, uncredited | |||
| 1945 | The Screwy Truant | Wolf | Voice, uncredited | ||
| The Shooting of Dan McGoo | Piano Player | Voice, uncredited | |||
| Wild and Woolfy | Joe Wolf, Bar Patrons | Voice, uncredited | |||
| 1946 | Screen Snapshots No. 1: Radio Characters | Announcer - The Red Skelton Show | Voice, uncredited | ||
| 1947 | The Uncultured Vulture | Vultures | Voice, uncredited | ||
| 1948 | The Cat That Hated People | Cat | Voice, uncredited | ||
| The Dark Past | Commentator | Voice, uncredited | |||
| 1949 | Bad Luck Blackie | Cat | Voice, uncredited | ||
| Doggone Tired | Hunter | Voice, uncredited | |||
| Wags to Riches | Lawyer, Dogcatcher | Voice, uncredited | |||
| Love That Pup | Spike | Voice, uncredited | |||
| 1952 | Smitten Kitten | Jerry's Devil | Voice, uncredited | ||
| Rock-a-Bye Bear | Pound Worker, Joe Bear | Voice, uncredited | |||
| 1953 | The Fossil Story | Narrator | Voice | ||
| Son of the Renegade | Narrator | Voice | |||
| 1954 | Challenge the Wild | [8] | |||
| 1956 | Millionaire Droopy | Lawyer, Dogcatcher | Voice, uncredited | ||
| 1957 | Tops with Pops | Spike | Voice, uncredited | ||
| 1959 | Okefenokee | Narrator | Voice |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | NBC Comics | ||||
| 1951–1965 | The Red Skelton Show | Self - Announcer | 42 episodes | ||
| 1953–1954 | The Bob Hope Show | Self - Announcer | 7 episodes | ||
| 1955–1958 | People Are Funny | Self - Announcer | 2 episodes | ||
| 1958–1959 | The Loretta Young Show | Narrator | Voice | 3 episodes | |
| 1959 | Fibber McGee and Molly | Self - Announcer | 17 episodes | ||
| 1960 | Mel-O-Toons | Self - Announcer | 3 episodes | ||
| 1960–1963 | Insight | Narrator | Voice | 7 episodes | |
| 1961 | The Law and Mr. Jones | Episode: "Exit" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942–1943 | Ceiling Unlimited | Narrator | |||
| 1942–1951 | Aunt Mary | Ben Calvert | |||
| 1945 | The Adventures of Bill Lance | Bill Lance | |||
| 1948 | The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show | Guest | "Thanksgiving Program" | [9] | |
| 1949–1952 | The Adventures of Maisie | Eddie Jordan | [10] |