Dick Beals(1927-2012)

Dick Beals provided the voice for the commercial character Speedy Alka-Seltzer and originated the voice of Gumby and the first Davey from the TV series "Davey and Goliath," As a child, he was too small to play sports so started cheerleading for his local high school at age 7. At Michigan State, he was a member of the cheerleading squad and earned his bachelor's degree in 1949. Beals began his voice-over career in the 1940s with such radio shows as "The Lone Ranger," "The Green Hornet" and "Dragnet." His Speedy Alka-Seltzer character was featured in more than 200 TV and radio commercials that aired from 1954 to 1964. His stop-motion animation voice-over roles included the original Gumby from "The Gumby Show" in the 1950s and the voice of the first Davey from the 1960s TV series, "Davey and Goliath." Nearly 300 boys tried out for the role of N.J. Normanmeyer in the early 1990s animated series "The Addams Family," but Beals nabbed the part when he was 65. Because of a glandular condition known as Peter Pan Syndrome, Beals stood just four-feet, six inches tall, weighed less than 70 pounds, and had a voice that never changed from grade school. The Los Angeles Times reported back in 1992 that Beals' voice was featured in more than 3,000 commercials. He was a private pilot and often commuted to Los Angeles for work in his own plane. Beals moved in 1970 from the Los Angeles area to Escondido, where he opened an ad agency, coached Little League and served as a high school sports announcer. Beals raced sailboats, played golf and tennis, competed in duplicate bridge tournaments throughout America, and had never married. Later in life, he was a motivational speaker who turned to his 1992 autobiography to inspire audiences. He called his book "Think Big." He died May 29, 2012 at age 85 and had no immediate family alive at his death, but did have 3 brothers who passed before him.