Bellingham native lives on in cartoon, comedy history

DEAN KAHN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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Most people wouldn't recognize Bob Arbogast by his face or his name ... but his voice, that's another matter.

Once a well-known radio figure in the Los Angeles area, Arbogast also was a popular voice in cartoons and commercials. And he was the comedy brains behind a routine brought to fame by Steve Allen and Johnny Carson, and maybe one by George Carlin, too.

Arbogast died March 21 in Fresno, Calif. He was 81.

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LISTEN TO BOB ARBOGAST
To hear "Chaos, Parts 1 and 2," go online to youtube.com and search for "Bob Arbogast."

Why bring him up? Because Arbogast was born in Bellingham, in 1927, on April Fool's Day.

His folks, Lewis and Christine Arbogast, were stationed in Bellingham with the military, but settled in the Los Angeles area soon after he was born, said Peter Arbogast, a son and the radio sports announcer for the University Southern California.

Arbogast's memorial service was held in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 1. Given his personality and his career, his coming and going on April Fool's Day was entirely appropriate.

Arbogast's sense of humor was apparent from his early years growing up as the class clown.

"He was an only child, so he had to entertain himself," Peter Arbogast said. 'He was always doing weird stuff in school."

His weirdness and his voice served him well. During the 1950s and '60s, he hosted popular radio shows in Tucson, Chicago San Francisco and then Los Angeles. He also did some work in TV and movies.

A comedy writer, Arbogast created the "Question Man" routine - in which the comic provides a funny question to an answer - that was later used by Steve Allen and by Johnny Carson as "Carnac the Magnificent."

In 1958, Arbogast and a colleague wrote and recorded "Chaos, Parts 1 and 2," a single that spoofed Top-40 radio. The record reportedly sold 10,000 copies in three days, then was pulled off the air when radio stations figured out they were the butt of the joke.

Peter Arbogast said "Chaos" inspired comedian George Carlin's own parodies of radio stations, of which "Wonderful WINO" is the best known.

James Sullivan, the author of a forthcoming biography of Carlin, is still tracking down connections to Arbogast, but said the similarities between "Chaos" and "WINO" are "too clear to ignore."

Arbogast's many cartoon voices included Gen. G.I. Brassbottom and Ma Ramjet from the Roger Ramjet series, assorted characters from the Tom Slick and Super Chicken shows, and the letters "V," "F" and "P" on Sesame Street.

In the world of TV ads, he's probably best known as the voice for the "What would you do for a Klondike Bar" commercials.

Arbogast was friends with many other comics and voice artists, including the Smothers Brothers, Pat Paulsen, Allan Sherman and Stan Freberg.

Freberg's grandfather, by the way, lived in Ferndale after immigrating to this country in the late 1800s.

Funny world.