Lennie Weinrib
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leonard Weinrib (April 29, 1935 – June 28, 2006) was an American actor, voice actor and writer. He is best known for playing the title role in the children's television show H.R. Pufnstuf, and as the original voice of Scrappy-Doo and Bigmouth in The Smurfs.
Weinrib, a native of the Bronx, got his start in show business working with comedian and musician Spike Jones, then later in The Billy Barnes Revue. He made notable guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Burke's Law, and The Munsters, to name a few.
Weinrib is probably best known for his voice acting work. Starting with The Jetsons (1962), Weinrib provided numerous voices for such animated works as Inch High, Private Eye, The New Adventures of Batman, Tarzan and the Super 7, and Hong Kong Phooey. He was the voice for both Roland and Ratfink in that series of cartoon shorts. He also provided the voice of Timer in the 1970s Time for Timer series of educational spots shown on ABC. In Voltron: Defender of the Universe, he supplied the voice of Hunk and the villain Prince Lotor.
Weinrib played the iconic role of H.R. Pufnstuf throughout the show's entire run from 1969 through 1971, and also wrote every episode of that series. He also appeared as the character in an episode of CHiPs in 1977.
Weinrib retired from acting in the 1980s and moved to Santiago, Chile. He died in a hospital near his home in Chile on June 28, 2006, after suffering a stroke.
His daughter, Linda Bendik and grandchildren, Lauren and Steven Bendik currently work as voice actors.
His daughter Heidi Weinrib has performed as part of the ensemble cast of Rojo de Chile, a popular Chilean talent competition broadcast by Television Nacional de Chile.
