Remembering Arthur Anderson voice of "Lucky Charms"

Remembering Arthur Anderson voice of "Lucky Charms"

Remembering Arthur Anderson 1922-2016

During the weekend of St-Patrick's Day, my mind wanders off to all things green and Irish.

Growing up, Saturday morning cartoons were only bested by Saturday morning cartoon characters from cereal commercials. 

That is where the Character "Lucky The Leprechaun" mascot of the Lucky Charms Cereal would present his adventures of trying to run and hide from kids (the Lucky Charms Gang) who were after his cereal.

Lucky Charms is a brand of cereal produced by the General Mills food company since 1964. The cereal consists of toasted oat pieces and multicolour marshmallow shapes ("marbits" or marshmallow bits). Lucky Charms was created in 1962 by John Holahan
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​Do you remember the song?:  Pink Hearts, Yellow Moons, Orange Hearts, Green Clovers, Blue Diamonds, and Purple Horse Shoes ? Lucky Charms cereal had no theme jingle; action was accompanied by a light instrumental "Irish" tune. Soon, however, a simple two-line tag was added:
Frosted Lucky Charms, 
​They're magically delicious! 
On the left is a collection of the Lucky Charms commercials over the years showcasing all the changes.

The marshmallows are meant to represent Lucky's magical charms, each with their own special meaning or "power." The following are explanations of the permanent marshmallows:[12]

1. Hearts - power to bring things to life
2. Shooting Stars - power to fly
3. Horseshoes - power to speed things up
4. Clovers - luck, but you will never know what kind of luck you'll get
5. Blue Moons - power of invisibility
6. Rainbows - instantaneous travel from place to place
7. Balloons - power to make things float
8. Hourglass - power to control time

Arthur Anderson, starting working in 1963 as the voice of the General Mills Lucky Charms mascot Lucky the Leprechaun, continuing the character for 29 years even though he is not Irish. In 2005, he recalled:
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People have expectations. I just have an Irish-sounding name. I have reason to celebrate. I had the luck of the Irish to get that part. I never got free cereal, but they gave me lots of green money. And it was a fun character to play. Hardly a day goes by when somebody doesn't ask me to sing the Lucky Charms jingle, and I'm proud of that

Remembering Arthur Anderson voice of "Lucky Charms"

In An Actor's Odyssey, The Autobiography of Arthur Anderson, Arthur Anderson claims he's been in every branch of show business but grand opera and the circus. He became a professional actor at twelve on radio, including eighteen years on the children's fairy tale program Let's Pretend. His first Broadway stage appearance was with Orson Welles in the Mercury Theatre's Julius Caesar. Summer stock, winter stock, musical stock, television, and motion pictures, including Green Card and Zelig followed, and for twenty-nine years he was the original voice of Lucky The Leprechaun for Lucky Charms Cereal, as well as doing dozens of on-camera commercials. He also appeared in Midnight Cowboy (1969) with Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, Jump Tomorrow (2001), and Oh, Sister (2011). This is his story, illustrated with many photographs that capture his work in Hollywood films, Broadway, and television.

Born Arthur John Miles Anderson on August 29, 1922 in Staten Island, New York and Died April 9, 2016 (aged 93) in Manhattan, New York City.

As a kid that always felt sorry that Lucky was always on the run (after all, the other kids were ALWAYS trying to STEAL his lucky charms), I want to thank you for leading your voice to such an iconic character trademark that made a mark on my childhood.

THANK YOU ARTHUR ANDERSON and Good bye.
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