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Erwin Saul Hamburger (June 17, 1921 – May 19, 2002), known professionally as Earl Hammond, was an American actor who appeared in several films and television series. He was best known for voicing Mumm-Ra and Jaga in ThunderCats and Mon*Star in SilverHawks.
Earl Hammond was born Erwin Saul Hamburger on June 17, 1921 in New York City, NY — his family moved to Buffalo, NY while he was still a toddler.
Earl Hammond began acting in radio at the age of 7, and continued working in that venue throughout his life. In 1938, after graduating from Bennet High School in Buffalo, New York, Hammond began acting in Fred and Ethel Dampier's radio skits on WGR, one of the city's major radio stations. He moved on to California, studied acting at Los Angeles City College, and graduated in 1941 with future stars Donna Reed and Alexis Smith among his classmates. He was drafted into the U.S. Army for World War II.
After he was discharged, he moved to New York City, where he performed in the late 1940s on radio dramas, in summer theater, and in off-Broadway theater productions. [1][2]
In the 1940s, he had a regular role as a young lawyer on a radio soap opera.[3] He acted on the CBS Radio Mystery Theater,[4] appearing in many episodes episodes, including The Red Badge of Courage (5/1/77), The Man Without a Country (5/8/77), Three Tales of Hans Anderson (5/18/77) and They Called Him Slim (5/21/77).[5]
Hammond started his television career in the early 1950s, his first major role being as a regular called Sergeant Lane on the DuMont police drama Inside Detective (aka Rocky King Detective[6]: 905 ). At the same time, he also was the first of three actors to portray the title character in the short-lived ABC TV science-fiction adventure series Buck Rogers, which ran from April 15, 1950, to January 30, 1951. In the mid-1950s, he had a major role in the daily/noontime CBS television soap opera Valiant Lady as Hal Soames, the married love interest of the widowed title character.
Hammond was perhaps best remembered for providing the voices of Mumm-Ra, Jaga, and other characters on the 1980s animated TV series ThunderCats, and for being the voice of villain Mon*Star on the 1980s animated TV series Silverhawks. He also was the voice of the Transformers villain Megatron in a series of children's read-along books.
In 1994, Hammond was selected from among several hundred actors who auditioned to be the voice of Pope John Paul II on the audiotape version of the Random House book Crossing the Threshold of Hope.[7] The publisher said the pope personally selected Hammond.[3]
He married sometime between 1950 and 1980, and had a son and a daughter, both still living at the time of his death by heart failure on May 19, 2002, in New York City.[3]
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (4 episodes, 1986) .... Voices: Commander Joseph Walsh, Lazarus Slade, Captain Kidd, Wildfire Cody, King Spartos[6]: 17
Silverhawks (1986) TV series .... Voice of Mon*star
The Comic Strip (1987) TV series .... Cawfield ("The Mini-Monsters" segment), Merlin ("The Mini-Monsters" segment), Katgut ("Karate Kat" segment"), Sumo Sai ("Karate Kat" segment), Walro ("TigerSharks" segment), Captain Bizzarly ("TigerSharks" segment), Shad ("TigerSharks" segment)
Noel (1992) TV movie .... Voices
The Twelve Days of Christmas (1993) TV movie .... Voices
^ abcdeTerrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 8. ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.
