User:Hmich176/Research notes/Thom Huge

Thom Huge (born September 1, 1944) is a retired voice actor best known for his work on the Garfield franchise.

Early life
Huge grew up in Indiana. In high school he fell in love with theater and acting. He stated in interviews that Stan Freberg and Howard Morris were his childhood heroes. He attended Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and was a member of Theta Xi fraternity. Huge graduated with a degree in Broadcasting. He found an entry level job as a 'floor man' at a local television station. After a year and a half at the television station, Huge obtained a job as a disc jockey and radio producer. At this job he "fell in love with producing radio" and stayed at this job for 4–5 years.

Voice Acting
After working in radio, Huge worked at a recording studio where he was in charge of editing and producing local commercials and ads. When an announcer didn't show up for an ad the agent asked if Huge could do the voice over work. Huge did and stated "That's how it started". In 1977 he decided to go to Chicago to see if he had what it took to make it in professional voice over work. He landed an agent and a spot for McDonald's instantly, which he said he took as 'instant validation'. Though he did not get another spot for four months, he eventually became successful getting 'steady, union work' in voice over commercial work. Huge retired from voice acting in 2001, the same year of the death of co-star Lorenzo Music, who supplied the voice of Garfield.

Huge has been a fraternity brother of Jim Davis who could go on to create the Garfield comic strip. Huge stated in an interview that they had a 'symbiotic relationship' and could talk for hours. Davis had struggled to be a successful cartoonist while Huge had started in voice over work. Garfield was syndicated in 1978 and soon after CBS approached Davis about doing a TV special based on the strip. The first Garfield TV appearance was an hour special based on comics called "Those Fantastic Funnies" hosted by Loni Anderson in 1980. Huge stated "Jim said Tom needs to be the voice of Jon". While he was part of this first cartoon, CBS wanted 'an LA actor' for the next all Garfield special "Here's Garfield". Sandy Kenyon voiced Jon in this special. It would be the only time Jon was voiced by someone other than Huge in the original set of cartoons (1980-1994). "Jim really took my cause to heart, I didn't even ask him to, he went to CBS and said this is the guy I hear for this". Huge made a demo reel and CBS accepted him for the role of Jon in the following Garfield specials, though Huge still lived in Indiana.

Garfield and Friends
Huge went to work full time for Davis at PAWS Inc in 1984. He worked as a writer, TV producer and creative director. Huge helped created the US Acres comic series and shop a potential cartoon to television studios. Though studios didn't want a US Acres only cartoon, they were eager to take on a Garfield cartoon series. This went on to become Garfield and Friends which was 2/3 Garfield, 1/3 US Acres. The series started as a half hour show and was later upped to an hour for the rest of its run. Huge said of US Acres, "As an actor I have to tell you I loved working on US Acres." Proud of working with his childhood heroes as well as the overall experience, Huge said of the series "Other shows were so sterile...We said to heck with that let's roll the dice and let actors be actors so it was a wonderful acting experience for everyone involved."

On performing Jon Arbuckle's voice Huge stated, "Jon Arbuckle was pretty much me, only a little nerdier...he needed to be sort of pathetic and vulnerable." On performing Binky, "Binky the Clown was the screaming clown...everything he did was at the top of his voice as loud as he could do it." Binky performances had to be done at the end of the sessions to protect Huge's voice.

Other Works
Huge owned a small ad agency in Indianapolis with his ex wife. The agency won many local awards. Huge moved to Cody, Wyoming in the 2000s to work as a communications director for the Buffalo Bill's Historical Center, a grouping of 5 museums. He held this position for five years until moving to news director for Big Horn Radio Network and KODI-AM also in Cody. Huge had volunteered on the committee of the Buffalo Bill Art Show for six years before retiring from his news job to direct the art show in 2006. He stated he has no desire to leave Wyoming for something bigger as he finds the state a beautiful and affordable place to live.

Personal life
Huge has been married twice. His wife Karen is a special education teacher at the Cody Middle School. He and his wife are part of a 'folk/bluegrass' trio that performs in the Cody area for benefits and community events.

Filmography

 * Garfield on the Town(1983) - Jon Arbuckle
 * Garfield in the Rough(1984) - Jon Arbuckle
 * Garfield's Halloween Adventure(1985) - Jon Arbuckle, Binky the Clown
 * Garfield in Paradise(1986) - Jon Arbuckle
 * Garfield Goes Hollywood(1987) - Jon Arbuckle
 * A Garfield Christmas(1987) - Jon Arbuckle
 * Garfield: His 9 Lives(1988) - Jon Arbuckle, Jester, Caveman, Junior, Soldier, Computer
 * Garfield and Friends(1988-1994) - Jon Arbuckle, Roy Rooster, Binky The Clown, Bobby the Buddy Bear, Gort
 * Garfield's Babes and Bullets(1989) - Jon Arbuckle, Thug, Landlorg
 * Garfield's Thanksgiving(1989) - Jon Arbuckle
 * Garfield's Feline Fantasies(1990) - Jon Arbuckle
 * Garfield Gets a Life(1991) - Jon Arbuckle