Later Career
One of Ravenscroft's best known uncredited works is as the vocalist for the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." His name was accidentally left out of the credits, leading many to believe (erroneously) that the cartoon's narrator, Boris Karloff, sang the song while others cited Tennessee Ernie Ford as the song's signature voice.
Ravenscroft also sang "No Dogs Allowed" in the Peanuts animated motion picture Snoopy, Come Home and I Was a Teenaged Brain Surgeon for Spike Jones.
For more than 50 years, he was the uncredited voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. His booming bass gave the cereal's tiger mascot a voice with the catchphrase, "They're grrrreat!"
Various record companies also released singles by Ravenscroft, often in duets with little-known female vocalists, in an attempt to turn the bass-voiced veteran into a pop singer. These efforts were commercially unsuccessful, if often quite interesting. The Mellomen released some doo-wop records under the name Big John & the Buzzards, a name apparently given to them by the rock-and-roll-hating Mitch Miller.
Read more about this topic: Thurl Ravenscroft
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