"Deputy Dawg" Dayton Allen dead at 85

Posted:
Nov 17, 2004

Actor and comedian Dayton Allen, the voice of Deputy Dawg, magpies Heckle and Jeckle, and many other Terrytoons characters, died Thursday in Hendersonville, North Carolina after suffering a massive stroke. He was 85.

Allen died at Pardee Memorial Hospital, said his brother, Bradley Bolke of Dobbs Ferry, New York, who is himself a former cartoon voice actor.

Born Dayton Allen Bolke on September 14, 1919 in New York, Allen started in radio with a DJ/comedy show on New York's WINS before becoming a radio actor in the Big Apple, his brother said.

In 1948, he became an early TV performer with The Adventures of Oky Doky, a kids' show aired on the now-defunct Dumont Network. He provided the voice for the title character, a puppet.

Allen portrayed grumpy mayor Phineas T. Bluster on the original The Howdy Doody Show with Buffalo Bob Smith, where he spent four years. He also voiced such puppet characters as Flub-a-Dub, as well as on-camera characters, including Pierre the Chef.

Afterward, Allen played host Jack Barry's goofy assistant, Mr. Bumble, as well as Woofer, on the very first interactive children's show, Winky Dink And You, which debuted in 1953.

He was also a regular on The Steve Allen Show, where he would appear frequently as a phony "expert" or in spoof "Man on the Street" interviews. He often said on the show, "Why-y-y-y-y not?," which became a well-known catchphrase.

Allen provided most of the voices for The Deputy Dawg Show, a syndicated series which first went on the air in 1960. Besides voicing the titular law enforcer in Deputy Dawg, he portrayed the cartoon's Muskie the Muskrat.

Other Terrytoons roles included the title character in the 1966 spy spoof James Hound, directed by Ralph Bakshi; Sidney, Stanley the Lion and Cleo the Giraffe in Sidney the Elephant; Astronut; and Luno the Flying White Stallion and his companion Tim in Luno.

He had a triple role as Lariat Sam, Tippy Toes and Badlands Meeney in Terrytoons' The Adventures of Lariat Sam. Produced by Robert Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo), the cartoon first appeared on The Captain Kangaroo Show in December 1961. After three years on Captain Kangaroo, the 13 Lariat Sam went into syndication.

In addition, Allen was a voice on the 1960 Trans-Artists Productions series Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse. He was Professor Weird in Hal Seeger Productions' Milton The Monster, released in 1965-66. The voice of Chester in Seeger's Penny Penguin, he was also Stuffy Durma and Bradley Brinkley in Stuffy Durma.

Allen was the voice of The Cat in Famous Studios' short-lived 1960-61 series of that name.

Allen and his wife since 1958, the former Elvi Daniels, moved to Flat Rock, North Carolina earlier this year, his brother said.

Besides his wife and brother, Dayton Allen is survived by a stepdaughter and a stepson. Jackson Funeral Service and Crematory was in charge of the arrangements.