Voice & Stage Actor Swift Dies At 87

Allen Swift, the voice behind Mighty Mouse, died on April 18 in his Manhattan home at 87. 

Born on January 16, 1924 as Ira Stadlen, Swift made his career mostly in voice acting in cartoons and commercials. Aside from Mighty Mouse, Swift was the voice of Simon Bar Sinister and Riff Raff on Underdog and many of the characters on Tom And Jerry in the early 1960s. He famously filled in for Bob Smith as the voice of the main character on The Howdy Doody Show after the star had a heart attack, in addition to the countless other puppets and characters he voiced.

Swift's Howdy Doody stint led to his twenty-five year career in commercials, doing the voice overs for spots for Jell-O, Hostess Ho Hos and countless other wares. He appeared on screen as the Captain Allen Swift, the host of the Popeye The Sailor cartoon show, from 1956 to 1960. 

In addition to voicing some of television's most famous and beloved characters, Swift appeared in several Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musical comedies, most notably in the 1985 revival of The Iceman Cometh as Ed Mosher. 

Swift is survived by his wife, Lenore Loveman, son and stage actor Lewis J. Stadlen, daughters Maxime and Clare, and five grandchildren.