American comedian, television and film actor, voice artist, commercial presenter and television host Chuck McCann sadly passed away on April 8, 2018 at the age of 83. His publicist, Edward Lozzi, confirmed his passing citing congestive heart failure as the cause. 

Charles John Thomas McCann was born on September 2, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York. Throughout the 1960s, McCann was the face of children’s television, starring on such programs as Captain Kangaroo, Rootie Kazootie, The Puppet Hotel, Laurel & Hardy & Chuck, Let’s Have Fun!, and The Chuck McCann Show. Along with his namesake show, he added The Great Bombo’s Magic Cartoon Circus Lunchtime Show, Chuck McCann’s Laurel and Hardy Show, and the Clay Cole Show to his list of credits. By the end of the ’60s, McCann was performing regularly on The Garry More Show and made his film debut in the 1968 drama The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. 

Branching into an animation acting career, McCann voiced several characters in Bob Kane’s Cool McCool and also provided the voice of Sonny the Cuckoo Bird for General Mills commercials – where he expressed, “‘I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!” After relocating to Los Angeles, McCann made frequent appearances on such shows as Little House on the Prairie, Bonanza, Columbo, The Rockford Files, The Bob Newhart Show, Santa Barbara, and All That Glitters. He later co-created and co-starred in the Saturday morning sitcom Far Out Space Nuts, while also starring in a long-running series of commercials for Right Guard. 

Notable film credits for McCann included They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way, The Projectionist, Jennifer on My Mind, Linda Lovelace for President, Foul Play, C.H.O.M.P.S., The Comeback Trail, Hamburger: The Motion Picture, and Herbie Rides Again. He also had a supporting role in the 1988 horror film Cameron’s Closet, a brief appearance in Mel Brooks’ 1993 comedy film Robin Hood: Men in Tights as well as Brooks’ Dracula: Dead and Loving It in 1995.

McCann has also provided voices for King’s Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow, both the Fantastic Four and Hulk animated series, as well as an animated adaption of Iron Man. Plus The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh, G.I. Joe., Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Powerpuff Girls, Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas, True Crime: New York City, The Aristocrats, and more recently Adventure Time, The Garfield Show, DuckTales Remastered, and the 2016 reboot of The Powerpuff Girls. 

McCann is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Fanning, and two daughters from a previous marriage.