Stan Freberg

Mr. Freberg made his most lasting impact in advertising, a field he entered because he considered most commercials moronic. Usually working as a creative consultant to large agencies, he shattered Madison Avenue conventions. His subversive but oddly effective approach caused Advertising Age to call him the father of the funny commercial and one of the 20th century’s most influential admen. He won the Clio, a top industry award, 21 times, and had a diverse clientele, including General Motors, the United States Army and the Presbyterian Church. Stanley Victor Freberg was born on Aug. 7, 1926, in Los Angeles and grew up in nearby South Pasadena. His father was a Baptist minister who moonlighted as a vacuum-cleaner salesman. The young Mr. Freberg earned scholarships to Stanford and the University of Redlands by winning speaking contests but turned the offers down, deciding to chase his dream of working in radio. After stepping off a bus in the center of Hollywood, he knocked on the door of a talent agency and was soon auditioning for the Warner Bros. cartoon department, which hired him. Bob Clampett, part of the Looney Tunes crew, recruited him for the TV puppet show “Time for Beany” which ran from 1949 to 1954. Mr. Freberg was the voice of a 300-year-old sea serpent named Cecil. Mr. Freberg’s first wife, the former Donna Andresen, died in 2000. In addition to his son, Donavan, he is survived by his wife, Hunter Freberg; his daughter, Donna Jean Freberg; and one granddaughter.