Pinto Colvig

In the 1920s Colvig began working in Hollywood in silent movies.[6] He was a comedy writer and played bit parts for Mack Sennett.[3] He then moved to the Disney studios where he became one of their top artists.[6]

When movies changed to sound he began doing voices for characters.[1] He is also known for his Disney work as the voice of Goofy from 1932 until his death in 1967. He was the voice of Bluto in Popeye cartoons.[1] He was Grumpy and Sleepy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.[1] In The Three Little Pigs he was the voice Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine of the Practical Pig.[1] He was also the co-writer of the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" in the same movie.[5]

From the 1920s he provided sound effects on programs such as the Jack Benny Program and Amos 'n' Andy.[5] He invented most of his own sound effects. He was known for making a funny line even funnier. Colvig is a legend among foley sound technicians.[4]

As a teenager Colvig ran away to join the circus.[7] He eventually performed as a circus clown. In 1946 he was hired by Capitol Records to work on the world's first read-along book “Bozo at the Circus.”[7] The book and record were a tremendous success and there were demands by children to see Bozo. Drawing on his circus background, Colvig created a clown character to match the books and records.[7] Station KTTV in Los Angeles created a television series for Bozo the clown starring Pinto Colvig.[7] After Bozo, Colvig returned to doing voice work.[7]