Bill Cunningham, the unique voice of the classic Ken doll for Mattel in the course of the early Sixties, has died. He was 96.
Cunningham’s death was confirmed to Deadline Thursday by CESD Talent Agency, which he co-founded in 1963.
The singer-turned-businessman died on July 15 at his home in West Hollywood. No other details were provided.
The founder was “amongst the nice innovators and gentlemen of the talent representation business,” CESD partners Ken Slevin and Paul Doherty said in a press release.
“Bill set the template for client and customer support, particularly in industrial, voice-over and print. He was a warm, gregarious, classy man who made a positive impact on all those he represented and employed. It was our honor to know him and to learn from him.”
CESD Talent Agency is now considered one of the crucial successful industrial and voiceover talent agencies in Hollywood.
With the encouragement and support of his late pal and singer Peggy Taylor, Cunningham invested his life savings into founding the Pacific Artists Agency in 1963.
The beginning-up agency launched with just 10 voiceover clients, before becoming one of the crucial sought-after organizations for artists.
Pacific Artists became Cunningham & Associates 4 years later, and Cunningham opened up two more locations in Latest York and Chicago.
Born in 1927, Cunningham had dreams of constructing it in Hollywood from a young age.
His dreams of stardom were placed on hold when he enlisted within the US Navy, where he served on a minesweeper ship during World War II.
He continued to feed his artistic side by performing with the Fort Emory Drum and Bugle Corp during his service.
After the war, Cunningham returned home and decided to pursue a singing profession.
He soon landed stints on NBC’s “Voices of Walter Schumann” and “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.”
He also sang on movie soundtracks for studios including Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros.
It was then that he landed his career-defining voice work as Barbie’s boyfriend Ken on the 1961 album “Barbie Sings.”
The next yr, Cunningham released his debut album “I’m All the time Chasing Rainbows,” but his music profession was short-lived as in 1963 he co-founded his talent agency.
Cunningham retired in 1989 after selling the agency to T.J. Escott and Angela Dipine, who in turn sold it in 2005 to Slevin and Doherty.
His final profession enterprise was releasing his autobiography, “I Wonder What Became of Me” in 2014.
He’s survived by his nephews and nieces Kirk, Kevin, Kristen, Janet, Barbara, and Debbie.