Larry D Mann

Life and career

Larry D. Mann was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 18 December 1922. Prior to beginning his acting career, he was a disc jockey on 1050 CHUM radio in Toronto in 1949.

Mann voiced the character of Yukon Cornelius in the classic Rankin-Bass Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He also provided voices for characters in several other Rankin-Bass television series and specials.

Mann's film career spanned four decades. He first came to the attention of CBC audiences in 1953 when he kidded around with the puppet Uncle Chichimus on the show Let's See. According to a CBC Archives article, Mann got the job when his friend, actor Don Harron, pointed him out to producer Norman Jewison. Apart from his CBC work, he appeared in more than 20 movies, with roles in In the Heat of the Night, Bullitt and The Sting.

On television, Mann's many credits included Get Smart, Gunsmoke, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, The Green Hornet, Green Acres, Columbo, Quincy, M.E. and Hill Street Blues. He also starred in a Bell Canada series of television commercials called "The Boss" in which he played the title role for ten years beginning in 1981.

His last role was on Homefront in 1991.

His brother was actor Paul Mann, who appeared in the films America America and Fiddler on the Roof. Larry Mann died of natural causes on 6 January 2014 in Los Angeles. He was 91.