Voiceover artist Mark Elliott has died aged 81, leaving behind a legacy in his signature work on the Disney film trailers of the late 21st century.
The US star, who died on April 3, had previously been admitted to hospital for treatment after suffering two heart attacks, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
His colleagues have paid tribute to Elliott’s warmth and talent since news of his death broke, with fellow voiceover artist Charlie Van Dyke remembering him as “kind”.
“Kind is a great word to describe him,” he told the publication.
Born in Iowa, Elliott cut his teeth in radio, quickly realising he had a rare talent for vocal work on the airwaves.
When the animated edition of Cinderella hit cinemas in 1977, Elliott was hired to narrate the film trailers, charmingly illustrating the film adaptation of the classic fairytale.
(Image: YouTube)
The gig led to voiceover work on many more of Disney’s biggest box-office successes, with Elliott voicing the trailers behind Beauty and The Beast and The Lion King.
In 2008, Elliott decided to retire, taking a step back from his illustrious career to spend time with his family.
After learning of his death, fellow voiceover artist Joe Cipriano, who is known for his work on the likes of Batman vs. Superman, paid his respects to the late star.
Taking to Facebook, Cipriano reminisced over the early days of his career as a voiceover artist, remembering Elliott as a shining example in the industry.
(Image: Twitter)
“When I moved to LA in 1980, I was able to start my network promo career the same way I started my radio career…by hanging around studios, watching pros work and learning from them,” he wrote.
“A CBS marketing executive I cold-called one day, allowed me to come to Television City once a week and sit in PC-23, which was the only promo production studio at CBS. I sat there watching Mark Elliott do the primetime comedy promos.
“With Mark, I learned how our shared radio background was the perfect experience for promos.
(Image: Disney)
“We talked in between his promo sessions and he told me two things about promos – never take a vacation and never buy a home based on voice over income 7 years later the comedy promo voice at the new Fox Network took a 2 week vacation. They brought me in to do the comedy promos while he was gone.
“Over the course of those two weeks I did all the promos and the network hired me as their new voice and dropped the guy who went on vacation (just like Mark said). I had that job for over 25 years and later, I also took over the comedy promos at CBS.”
Saying goodbye to his old friend, he finished: “Mark was a true gentleMAN – Getting to share all of our scenes in Lake Bell’s ‘In a World’ was icing on the cake. I’m so sad about Mark’s passing.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
