Voice actor Dick Beals dead at 85

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LOS ANGELES, June 1 (UPI) -- Dick Beals, known as the voice of Gumby and Speedy Alka-Seltzer, died at Vista Gardens Memory Care in Vista, Calif., his friend told the Los Angeles Times.

The Detroit native was 85.

"He was one of the great voice actors of all time," Ron Simon, curator of TV and radio at the Paley Center for Media, told the Times Wednesday, a day after Beals died. "He was one of those anonymous people who pioneered what animation would become today."

Beals suffered a glandular condition that prevented his voice from changing as an adult. He started out acting in radio dramas such as "The Lone Ranger," "The Green Hornet," "Dragnet" and "Gunsmoke," and was a popular voice actor for commercials. He also was famous for lending his voice to Davey on the television series "Davey and Goliath."

"I'm the voice of little babies to 15-year-olds. In cartoons, I have also been the voice of all kinds of animals -- parrots, chipmunks, birds, rabbits, you name it," the Times quoted Beals as saying.

Beals worked as a motivational speaker later in life and published his autobiography "Think Big" in 1992.

He has no immediate survivors, the newspaper said.