Bill Cunningham, the original voice of Barbie's beloved boyfriend Ken, dies
Bill Cunningham, the original voice for Mattel Barbie's Ken doll, has died at the age of 96.
The star, who voiced Ken in the Barbie commercials and records in the 1960s, passed away on July 15 at his home in West Hollywood, California, it was revealed.
CESD Talent Agency, a commercial and voiceover talent agency he founded, released a statement which read: "Bill set the template for client and customer service, particularly in commercial, voice-over and print.
"He was a warm, gregarious, classy man who made a positive impact on all those he represented and employed. It was our honour to know him and to learn from him."
Bill was born on January 2, 1927, in San Francisco and fell in love with films at a young age before making his way to Hollywood. However, he was soon enlisted in the US Navy and served aboard the PGM11 minesweeper craft during World War II.
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Bill Cunningham died at 96 (CESN Talent)
He voiced the original Ken doll (Getty Images)The star was also a singer and toured with Fort Emory Drum and Bugle Corp, performing to people throughout the Pacific theater.
When the war ended, he continued pursuing his passions and got a job on NBC's Voices of Walter Schumann and The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.
He appeared on a number of movie soundtracks for Warner Bros, Fox and Paramount before getting the job at Mattel Toys as Barbie's boyfriend, Ken, in commercials and soundtracks.
Bill sang on Barbie Sings (1961) with Charlotte Austin - who was Barbie. A year later, he released I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, an album financed by Fred Astaire.
He also founded his own talent agency (CESN Talent)He soon expanded his business by opening his own talent agency called Pacific Artists Agency. It started with only 10 voice-over artists before expanding.
It only took six years before he changed his company's name to Cunningham & Associates. By 1971, the company's success had him opening a second office in New York and another in Chicago the year later.
Bill retired in 1989 and went on to publish his autobiography, I Wonder What Became of Me, in 2014.
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