Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934, Mitchell, South Dakota, USA – February 12, 2015, Encino, California, USA) was an American voice actor, disc jockey, radio announcer and personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Owens was equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and was frequently heard on television and radio as well as in commercials.
He was best known, aside from being the announcer on Laugh-In, for providing the voice of the titular superhero on Space Ghost. He also played himself in a cameo appearance on Space Ghost Coast to Coast in 1998. Owens' first cartoon-voice acting was performing the voice of Roger Ramjet on the Roger Ramjet cartoons. He later served as voice of the over-the-air digital network Antenna TV.
Owens became more widely known as the voice of the eponymous television cartoon characters in Roger Ramjet and Space Ghost; the excitable narrator/announcer from The Perils of Penelope Pitstop; and perhaps most well-known, as the hand-on-the-ear announcer in the booth on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, all the while continuing his show on KMPC. He also hosted its daily game show spin-off, Letters to Laugh-In, during its brief run in 1969.
Capitalizing on Owens' "Laugh-In" fame, Mel Blanc Audiomedia, an audio production company based in Beverly Hills, California, developed and marketed "The Gary Owens Special Report," a 260-episode package of syndicated radio comedy shows.
In 1976 Owens became the voice of a new cartoon character, the Blue Falcon, a character who fought crime in fictional Big City with the "help" of his clumsy sidekick, Dynomutt, also known as Dynomutt, Dog Wonder. The series was a parody of Batman, specifically the live-action version starring Adam West. It was not uncommon to see the Blue Falcon use various "falcon gadgets," much like Batman used various "Bat-Equipment" items. The falcon belt was used in a similar fashion to Batman's utility belt with an endless supply of weapons and other devices. Owens would provide the voice of the Blue Falcon from 1976 through 1977 in 20 half-hour episodes. The 1977 episodes were broken into two parts that ran 11 minutes each — 16 episodes in 1976 and 4 episodes in 1977. Also, he narrated Yogi's Space Race in 1978 and announced for Disney's Wonderful World, starting in 1979.
Owens received a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1980, between those of Walt Disney and Betty White.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-1996 | 
|
Powedered Toast Man | The Ren & Stimpy Show |
| 1992 | 
|
Mr. Hammerhead | Goof Troop |
| 1977-1978 | 
|
Blue Falcon | Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics |
| 1983 | 
|
Inspector Gadget | Inspector Gadget |
| 1966-1968 | 
|
Space Ghost | Space Ghost and Dino Boy |