Who is the voice of mcgruff
Keil voiced most of those spots, including a brief segment with the talk show host Dick Cavett. McGruff still represents the National Crime Prevention Council , as the nonprofit organization that commissioned him is now known, and he remains a familiar and trusted figure, especially with children.
Three studies conducted for the council by market research firms indicated that 8 out of 10 children and 9 out of 10 adults recognized him. Communities nationwide have had more real-world contact with McGruff than with most other mascots. People costumed as the character have made personal appearances to help thousands of police departments connect with the people they protect. Keil did not serve as the voice for either.
His father, Alvin, owned a charcoal company, and his mother, the former Elizabeth Mullan, was a homemaker. We can be sure that he'll be missed by all who knew and loved him. Keil led the team at the Dancer Fitzgerald Sample advertising agency when they were tasked with the creation of a mascot for the National Crime Prevention Council.
McGruff went on to become an iconic figure in public service announcements about crime prevention, and the "Take a Bite Out of Crime" slogan is well-known by any who happened to catch the McGruff commercials back in the s.
Keil voiced the character throughout the 90s, despite never having any formal training in performance arts. In fact, he majored in economics as a college student. The McGruff ad campaign was all about crime prevention, but it wasn't encouraging civilians to put themselves in danger for the sake of protecting others. The focus of the McGruff commercials was on activities like joining neighborhood watch groups, cleaning up streets to discourage criminals from targeting them, keeping an eye out for sketchy activity, and watching out for strangers behaving out of the ordinary, which could range from theft to potential kidnapping.
Check out one ad featuring the vocal talents of Jack Keil:. McGruff has lived on in the years since Jack Keil retired. In fact, McGruff costumes are still used today in presentations by police in their efforts to reach out to area children. When his father was sick and in Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, leading up to his death, he'd surprise the nurses with his McGruff voice.
He also kept a yellow legal pad notebook full of lists of things he could converse about. One list was just about things that made him angry. Jack didn't slow down in his old age. Nick said people would come up to him and ask why they would see his father out running every morning even though he looked like he might fall over.
Nick said the family had to practically drag Jack off of his tractor he loved haying , and up until three years ago he was still playing tennis. When he started losing his eyesight, he still insisted on reading his copies of the New York Times and the Brattleboro Reformer using a magnifying glass; even if he could just read the headlines, he wanted to be informed.
Jack was an open person. Nick said that in recent years his father had been appalled by the political climate of the U. But Jack thought McGruff shouldn't be used for his personal agenda. Jack also loved to sing. He sang in the Butterfly Swing Band. Nick remembers his father taking him to see the World War II bomber planes flying. At Jack's memorial service, Nick said, people spent time remembering how full Jack's life was — his time spent traveling, creting an anti-drug campaign with Drew Barrymore, or when he sat in his underwear next to TV-host Dick Cavett.