- Not to be confused with Lorenzo from Garfield Gets a Life or Lorenzo from the Infinite Learning Lab.
Lorenzo Music (b. Gerald David Music; May 2, 1937 - August 4, 2001) was an American actor, voice actor, writer, producer and musician, best known as the voice of Garfield from 1982 to 2001. On hiring Music, Jim Davis stated, "I looked into the room full of actors and there was Lorenzo, quietly licking himself." Music also co-wrote Garfield on the Town with Davis.
Music voiced Garfield in nearly all depictions from 1982 to 2001. One exception was during the making of the Alpo commercials, where the role was occasionally handled by Tom Smothers.
A common trait associated with Music is that he was often never seen on camera. This was due to the fact that publicity photographs often showed Music in a recording studio with the back of his head shown, as well as his off-camera role on Rhoda. Music had played upon that image, although he did reveal his image in autographed pictures of him with Garfield. One of the last jobs he had done before his death was as a pitchman for Ruggles Ice Cream, and was shown in TV commercials where his face was clearly visible. He and his wife Henrietta appeared on the game show Tattletales for one week in 1975, as well as on the short-lived series The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Series.
Music's deep, slow voice was distinctive and became associated with Garfield. He was also the voice of the Doorman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Other voice acting credits include Sergeant Dunder on TaleSpin, Tummi on Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Peter Venkman on The Real Ghostbusters, Ralph The All-Purpose Animal on Twice Upon a Time, Super Pac-Man on the Pac-Man animated series and Ping Pong on The Adventures of the American Rabbit. For a long time, Music would do volunteer work once a week for a suicide help hotline. He had recalled a few callers would turn from desperation to surprise or humor upon hearing him talk, with callers recognizing him as the voice of Garfield. His last non-Garfield roles were in episodes of The Drew Carey Show and Adventures in Odyssey.
Music was heard in commercials for Rax Restaurant, Union Camp, Highland Appliance, Zeltzer Seltzer, Central Bank, Ore-Ida, Florida Grapefruit Growers, Andre, Champale, and Ivory Soap. He also participated in the first generation of public service announcements for "Crash Test Dummies", where he voiced Larry, opposite Jack Burns as Vince.
Tribute to Lorenzo Music, as shown in "Garfield at 25: In Dog Years I'd be Dead"
On August 4, 2001, Music died of lung and bone cancer. Jim Davis and the Garfield producers commented on how Music was an important part of Garfield history and his death was a huge loss for the Garfield universe. In accordance with Lorenzo Music's last wishes, his body was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean. He is survived by Henrietta (born Myrna Johnson, married October 24, 1960), and their four children: Rozalyn, Leilani, Fernando, and Sam.
The 2002 book "Garfield at 25: In Dog Years I'd be Dead" paid tribute to Lorenzo Music following his death, complete with an original illustration in memoriam of Music.
Voiceover roles[]
TV specials[]
- Garfield (all variations)
- Sam Spayed (Garfield's Babes and Bullets)
- Lance Sterling (Garfield's Feline Fantasies)
Garfield and Friends[]
- Garfield
- Billy Buddy Bear (1st time)
- Garfield's Good Side
- Garfield's Bad Side
- Zizzabottawaddawaddaboinkboinkfreebians ("Rip Van Kitty")
- Arbuckle Vespucci's cat ("It Must Be True!")
- Gnome ("Crime and Nourishment")
- Great-Uncle Buchanan ("Astrocat")
- The Lasagna Kid
- Charlie ("Mistakes Will Happen")
- Cicero
- McKinley
- The Pied Piper ("The Pie-Eyed Piper")
- Enchanted cat
- Roosevelt
Garfield's Mad About Cats[]
- Garfield
Commercials[]
- Garfield (various)
- Announcer for Read All About It PSA
Writer[]
Trivia[]
- Music provided the voice of Peter Venkman in The Real Ghostbusters for the first two seasons. Bill Murray, who portrayed the original Peter Venkman in the Ghostbusters films, voiced Garfield in both of the live-action films.
- Music's daughter Rozalyn is a makeup artist, who has worked on films such as Adaptation and The Virgin Suicides.
- When asked for his favorite line as Garfield, Music's answer was "Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy, Candy!" from Garfield's Halloween Adventure.[1]