George Edward Lowe, a voice actor known for his work on several Adult Swim cartoons, has died due to a long illness, according to Deadline. He was 67 years old.
Lowe was best known for voicing Space Ghost on the cult comedy series Space Ghost Coast to Coast. He also contributed to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, Squidbillies, American Dad!, Sealab 2021, and more, while bringing Space Ghost to other programs, such as The Brak Show, Jellystone!, and Perfect Hair Forever.
Space Ghost Coast to Coast premiered in 1994. The show centered on the reimagined Hanna-Barbera superhero character Space Ghost, now making hay as a zany talk show host. On the program, Space Ghost interviewed numerous real-life actors and musicians, such as Thom Yorke, David Byrne, Michael Stipe, Willie Nelson, Björk, and Thurston Moore, among many others.
Writing about Space Ghost Coast to Coast, for The New York Times, in 1994, Andy Meisler described some of Lowe’s process in speaking with his interview subjects. “Mr. Lowe conducts the celebrity interviews by telephone,” Meisler wrote. “The subjects hear his questions through an earpiece as they are videotaped in whatever Turner-controlled television studio can be found.”
He continued: “Only after Mr. Lowe’s interviews are recorded, however, is Space Ghost’s dialogue written and recorded. That’s why his questions don’t always exactly seem to match the guests’ answers, and that’s how he can get away with being nasty to his guests without their knowing it. (An example: ‘Any advice for us?’ Space Ghost asks Joe Franklin. ‘It’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice,’ says Joe. ‘Give us something we can use,’ replies Space Ghost, retroactively.)”
Space Ghost Coast to Coast originally ran until the end of 1999. The show was revived for a second run between 2001 and 2004, and a third and final run between 2006 and 2008. After C. Martin Croker, who voiced Space Ghost’s sidekicks, Zorak and Moltar, died in 2016, Adult Swim paid tribute to the late animator and actor by making many episodes of the show free to stream online.
Beyond his voice-acting work, Lowe was a visual artist and art collector. His work has been showcased at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum, and more. “Perhaps, one youngster staring at something in my collection, or at a work of mine, will be touched like I was staring at that [Jan Davidsz de Heem] work as a kid at the [John and Mable] Ringling [Museum of Art],” Lowe once said, “and they, too, will become inspired to pick up a pencil and discover their own true voice.”
