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Voice Of Lucky Charms Leprechaun, Arthur Anderson, Dies At 93

General Mills

For nearly 30 years, Arthur Anderson was the voice of Lucky the Leprechaun for the General Mills breakfast cereal Lucky Charms.

There's a good chance you've seen the commercial, heard Anderson's voice and can recite lines from memory.

In your best Irish brogue, give it a go:

"Pink hearts, yellow moons, orange stars and green clovers."

Or, "They're always after me Lucky Charms!"

And then there's, "Frosted Lucky Charms — they're magically delicious."

Anderson died on Saturday in Manhattan. A friend, Craig Wichman, confirmed Anderson's death to The New York Times.

Anderson made a living voicing an animated leprechaun, but he wasn't Irish.

He was born on Staten Island, N.Y., in 1922 to parents from Denmark and England.

In 2005, he told ABC: "People have expectations. I just have an Irish-sounding name."

In that interview he added: "It was a fun character to play. Hardly a day goes by when somebody doesn't ask me to sing the Lucky Charms jingle, and I'm proud of that."

Anderson began his professional career in 1935 when he was 12 years old, appearing in a radio show called Tony and Gus.

Besides doing radio and appearing on Broadway, he was in television shows including episodes of Car 54, Where Are You? and Law & Order.

He also did films including 1969's Midnight Cowboy and Zelig in 1983.

But it may have been the work in Lucky Charms commercials where Anderson found his pot of gold.

"I never got free cereal," he told ABC, "but they gave me lots of green money."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Doreen McCallister
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