Dick Beals, Actor Who Gave a Voice to Gumby and Speedy, Is Dead at 85

Dick Beals and the characters Gumby, center, and Speedy.

Few people know the name Dick Beals, but millions may remember his liltingly boyish voice as Speedy Alka-Seltzer proclaiming, “Plop-plop, fizz-fizz, oh, what a relief it is!” Mr. Beals was the voice behind Speedy — with his Alka-Seltzer tablet-shaped body and hat — for decades as well as the voice-over actor for hundreds of other animated characters, including Gumby. He died on Tuesday at a nursing home in Vista, Calif., and though his voice always retained the tenor of a 10-year-old, he was 85.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/arts/television/dick-beals-85-who-gave-a-voice-to-gumby-dies-at-85.html?_r=1&smid=pl-share