George Lowe was an actor best known for providing the voice of Space Ghost on the Cartoon Network series “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.”
- Died: March 2, 2025 (Who else died on March 2?)
- Details of death: Died after a long illness at the age of 67.
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George Lowe’s legacy
“Space Ghost Coast to Coast” was one of the weirdest cartoons of all time, and its absurd irreverence owed a lot to Lowe. He wasn’t the first actor to voice the character Space Ghost; that was Gary Owens (1934–2015), who originated Space Ghost in the late 1960s’ self-titled show. That incarnation was a traditional superhero, but when producer Mike Lazzo got his hands on the property in the mid-1990s, he made it into something very different, with Space Ghost hosting a surrealist talk show, interviewing real celebrities while imprisoning his old animated nemeses.
Lowe had been a fan of the original “Space Ghost” as a child, and when he had a chance to audition for the new version, he gave it his all. He had previously worked in radio and done voiceovers for cartoons, and he had honed a superhero voice. In fact, he initially tried to imitate Owens’ portrayal of Space Ghost, but over time, he developed his own style, blending his own voice with a campy pomposity. From the beginning, Lowe was given free rein to improvise on the script, and his contributions helped make “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” a cult classic. The cartoon became influential: It launched the Adult Swim programming block on Cartoon Network and inspired other absurdist cartoons for adults.
During three of the first five years “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” aired, Lowe hosted its spin-off, “Cartoon Planet,” in which Space Ghost introduced classic cartoon clips. He voiced Space Ghost in episodes of “The Brak Show,” another “Coast to Coast” offshoot. He also had voice roles in “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” “Robot Chicken,” and “Squidbillies,” plus made guest appearances in such cartoons as “Celebrity Deathmatch” and “American Dad!” On the big screen, he voiced Space Ghost in “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters” and was a radio announcer in “Radioland Murders.”
Notable quote
“All of it was scripted, but they were cool enough to know, ‘We’ve got to let him improvise, too.’ Like we had Adam West on, and he kept holding his new book up and plugging it. Finally, I got annoyed and said, ‘Okay, see you at the auto show!’ This other time, the guest was Bill Carter, the entertainment writer for the New York Times. He was talking, and I got bored and suddenly said, ‘Hey Bill, tell me about your trousers!’ The whole show was this gumbo of structure and non-structure and post-modern art gone wild.” — from a 2023 interview for Cracked
Tributes to George Lowe
Full obituary: Deadline
