Thea White
{{short description|American voice actress (1940–2021)}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| birth_name = Thea Ruth Zitzner
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|6|16}}
| birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|7|30|1940|6|15}}
| death_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
| nationality = American
| occupation = Voice actress, librarian
| spouse = {{marriage|Andy White|1983|2015|end=died}}
| years active = 1957–2021
}}
Thea Ruth White ({{née}} Zitzner; June 16, 1940 – July 30, 2021) was an American voice actress best known for her work as Muriel Bagge in the animated television series Courage the Cowardly Dog.{{Cite web |title=Thea White, Voice of Muriel on 'Courage the Cowardly Dog,' Dies Age 81 |url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/2021/08/thea-white-voice-of-muriel-on-courage-the-cowardly-dog-dies-age-81/ |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=Animation Magazine |archive-date=2024-09-02 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240902034229/https://www.animationmagazine.net/2021/08/thea-white-voice-of-muriel-on-courage-the-cowardly-dog-dies-age-81/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Wit |first=Alex Dudok de |date=2021-08-03 |title=Marty Grabstein & John Dilworth Remember 'Courage The Cowardly Dog' Colleague Thea White |url=https://www.cartoonbrew.com/rip/marty-grabstein-john-dilworth-remember-courage-the-cowardly-dog-colleague-thea-white-207536.html |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=Cartoon Brew |language=en-US |archive-date=2021-10-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012122953/https://www.cartoonbrew.com/rip/marty-grabstein-john-dilworth-remember-courage-the-cowardly-dog-colleague-thea-white-207536.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title='Courage the Cowardly Dog's Thea White Passes at 81 |url=https://www.awn.com/news/courage-cowardly-dogs-thea-white-passes-81 |access-date=2024-06-16 |website=Animation World Network |language=en}}
Early life
White was born in Newark, New Jersey on June 16, 1940,{{cite web | url=https://www.brown-forward.com/obituaries/thea-white-1 | title=Thea White Obituary 2021 | access-date=2022-07-04 | archive-date=2022-07-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704021601/https://www.brown-forward.com/obituaries/thea-white-1 | url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.newjerseyhills.com/local-resident-puts-snd-dd-s-_ff539941-015d-5db1-80c1-b0743f538b4e.html|title=Local resident puts aside shyness, finds 'Courage'|date=April 12, 2002|website=newjerseyhills.com|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-date=August 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810200107/https://www.newjerseyhills.com/local-resident-puts-snd-dd-s-_ff539941-015d-5db1-80c1-b0743f538b4e.html|url-status=live}} as the daughter of Arthur and Theatrice (née Hazard) Zitzner. White's mother and maternal grandmother Eva were both actresses: Theatrice began acting as a child, and continued to do so as an adult, while Eva made her acting debut as a teenager and retired following marriage, later opening a movie theater with her husband. White moved to North Caldwell with her parents at the age of 12. She graduated from Grover Cleveland High School and studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the American Theater Wing.
Career
White began her career on several stage productions in Dallas, Texas.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/thea-white-dead-courage-the-cowardly-dog-muriel-1234991310/|title=Thea White, Voice of Muriel on 'Courage the Cowardly Dog,' Dies at 81|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|date=August 1, 2021|access-date=August 2, 2021|archive-date=September 2, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240902033925/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/thea-white-dead-courage-the-cowardly-dog-muriel-1234991310/|url-status=live}} While acting on stage, Broadway and theater, she served as the personal assistant for Marlene Dietrich, during Dietrich's later career.
After marrying her husband, White retired from acting and became a librarian and outreach specialist at the Livingston Public Library in Livingston, New Jersey. She returned to acting when she was offered the role of Muriel Bagge on Cartoon Network's Courage the Cowardly Dog. She voiced Muriel during the entire series run, and reprised her role in the 2006 video game Cartoon Network Racing, the 2014 short The Fog of Courage, and the 2021 Scooby-Doo! crossover Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog.
Personal life and death
She had resided in Caldwell. She met her husband, Andy White, while acting in the play Goodbye Charlie; they later married in 1983 and remained so until his death in 2015. Andy was best known as the man who played drums on The Beatles' first single "Love Me Do".
White died from an infection at the Cleveland Clinic, on July 30, 2021, at the age of 81.{{Cite web|last=Williams|first=Helen|date=2021-08-01|title=What happened to Thea White? Fans react to death of Courage the Cowardly Dog's Muriel Bagge|url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/08/01/thea-white-death/|access-date=2021-08-01|website=HITC|language=en-GB|archive-date=2021-08-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801190547/https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/08/01/thea-white-death/|url-status=dead}} She had undergone two liver cancer-related surgeries in the days leading up to her death.{{Cite web|url=https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/courage-the-cowardly-dog-thea-white-death/|title=Courage the Cowardly Dog Star Thea White Dies at 81|website=TV Shows|access-date=2021-08-01|archive-date=2021-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807183636/https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/courage-the-cowardly-dog-thea-white-death/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.tmz.com/2021/08/01/thea-ruth-white-voice-muriel-courage-the-cowardly-dog-dead-dies/|title=Thea Ruth White, Voice of Muriel on 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', Dies at 81|date=August 2021|publisher=TMZ|accessdate=August 1, 2021|archive-date=August 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801173229/https://www.tmz.com/2021/08/01/thea-ruth-white-voice-muriel-courage-the-cowardly-dog-dead-dies/|url-status=live}}
Work
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0925508}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Thea}}
Category:21st-century American librarians
Category:21st-century American women librarians
Category:Actresses from Livingston, New Jersey
Category:Actresses from Newark, New Jersey
Category:20th-century American librarians
Category:20th-century American women librarians
Category:American voice actresses
Category:Deaths from cancer in Ohio
Category:Deaths from liver cancer in the United States
Category:James Caldwell High School alumni