Lorenzo Music

In the 1970s, Music co-created the sitcom The Bob Newhart Show with David Davis and composed its theme music with his wife. He also wrote episodes for The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, and got a major voiceover role for playing the unseen, but often heard, Carlton the Doorman in Rhoda. Music gained fame in the 1980s for voicing Jim Davis's comic strip character Garfield in twelve animated specials, and later an animated series, video games, and commercials. His nostalgic, drawling voice as Garfield was imitated by later actors after his death in 2001.

Gerald David Music was born on May 2, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York City to Harry and Sophie (née Nessell) Music. He was six years old when his family moved to Duluth, Minnesota because of his father's job at one of the shipyards. His parents later divorced. He was a student at Central High School and then at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Music met his wife, Henrietta, in college at its Theatre Arts Department. Together, they had four children and formed a comedy duo, Gerald and His Hen, performing together for eight years, even performing at a USO show in Japan.

In the 1980s, Jim Davis's Garfield was the most popular comic strip in America since Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts. Compilation books and merchandising of the strip were topping best-seller lists, and Davis decided to develop an animated television special. The producers were hiring someone to voice the titular character in the strip, who was a fat, lazy, sarcastic, and lasagna-loving cat. The audition attracted several famed vocal talents, including Sterling Holloway, the voice of Winnie the Pooh. After one audition, Music was immediately cast as the voice of Garfield. Davis responded by saying: "I looked at the room full of [voice] actors, and then in the corner I saw Lorenzo, quietly licking himself". Music would serve as the voice of Garfield in all twelve specials, an animated series, video games, and commercials until his death in 2001.

Music also voiced characters for the animated series Pac-Man, Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Fluppy Dogs, The Real Ghostbusters, Pound Puppies, TaleSpin, and Darkwing Duck. After Garfield and Friends ended in 1994, Music retired from voice acting for animation. Music did voice-overs for many commercials for prime-time TV, such as Larry the Crash Test Dummy in the "You Could Learn a Lot from a Dummy" public safety announcements sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation and for Florida grapefruit juice, a lesser-known series of commercials extolling Florida agriculture as opposed to the more popular "Florida orange juice" commercials. These commercials were animated by Jim Jinkins, and featured a prototype of the titular main character of Jinkins's later television series Doug. In keeping with his beliefs in Subud and its emphasis on charity, Music frequently volunteered his time on a suicide hotline. Music recalled that sometimes a caller would change his tone: "I am bankrupt, my wife ran off with another man... Hey, you sound just like that cat on TV!" Music's voice could be heard on Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume Two, released as a CD by Rhino Records. Music appeared on the album as James Madison and Robert E. Lee. He also appeared as an intercom announcer on an episode of The Drew Carey Show. Music served as the voice-over for commercials for Ore-Ida Potatoes and Fruit and Cream Strawberry Twinkies. He later served as the pitchman for Ruggles Ice Cream.

Music was married to composer/writer Henrietta Music for forty-two years. Together they had four children.