Arnold Stang

Arnold Stang is a well-recognized character comedian whose career started in radio in the 1940s, then continued on to tv and movies. His voice is immediately recognizable, too, as he has done many voice-overs for radio and tv commercials. I specifically remember his commercials for Chunky chocolate - "CHunky! What a CHunk of CHocolate!" - the way he said it, just made a kid want to run out and buy a Chunky candy bar.


Mr. Stang also provided voices for many cartoon characters, perhaps most popularly as 'Top Cat', the early 1960s tv cartoon show.

Some time in the early 1960s, Mr. Stang made a personal appearance at my elementary school, Lincoln. I think he resided in a nearby city. His appearance was with The Amazing Randi, a popular magician of the time. The event was one of those annual PTA shows, each year hosting a parent/child event (this one was a Mother/Son night). At the end of the show, Chunky candy bars were handed out to the audience.

In 1980, I wrote to Mr. Stang, and sent him this photo which he signed to me as his "good friend" - probably in appreciation of my telling him my remembrance of his school show some twenty years earlier.

In the late 1980s, my job as a package-delivery driver involved a route in lower Connecticut, and one city I delivered to every day, was New Canaan. Mr. Stang lived in New Canaan, and one day, as I was driving on a main highway, I saw this familiar person walking alongside the road, towards me. It was Arnold Stang, on his way to the train station. I pulled over and stopped, and he walked up to me, probably thinking I was going to ask for directions. When I said his name and that I was a long-time fan, he was taken aback somewhat, but then smiled and thanked me, then continued on his way to catch a train into New York City.