Actor Jim Backus, the gravelly voiced, nearsighted Mr. Magoo of Saturday morning cartoons and the pompous marooned millionaire of "Gilligan's Island," has died of pneumonia. He was 76.
Backus, who was admitted to St. John's Hospital and Health Center June 13 with double pneumonia, died Monday, said Paulette Wier, a hospital spokeswoman.Backus had one of the most famous voices in television, radio and films. He claimed to have made a record 13,000 radio commercials.
He began his career on the stage without much success, then became a hit in the 1930s on radio, where his many voices put him in demand.
Probably his most famous radio creation, on the "Alan Young Show," was Hubert Updyke, a man so unbelievably rich he once sold his Cadillac because it was headed in the wrong direction.
The bushy-browed Backus reached television in the late 1940s as co-host of a short-lived variety show, "Hollywood House," then scored his first major TV hit as Joan Davis's husband on "I Married Joan."
He followed that with frequent appearances on series ranging from "Studio One" in the 1950s to an episode of "Maverick" in 1961 to "Fantasy Island" in the 1980s.
Along the way he did a number of Christmas specials featuring the lovable, bumbling cartoon character Mr. Magoo.
The actor often said he had lost serious roles because many could not get the crusty curmudgeon out of their mind's eye when auditioning Backus.