Mark Elliott, known for being the voice behind many Disney trailers for several decades, has died, his representative confirmed. He was 81.
According to Elliott’s rep Peter Varano, the actor died over the weekend.
“He was an incredibly talented voice-over actor. His career spanned decades and inspired many newcomers to the industry,” Varano said in a statement. “Though many fans only knew him as a voice we were fortunate to know him as a person. His talent was only surpassed by his generosity and kindness.”
Elliott was the voice behind many Disney at-home movie trailers including classics like “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “The Lion King” and “Tarzan.”
“A true gentleman. It was an honor to represent him. We will miss him and we will never forget him,” Varano added.
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Elliott was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and began his voice career as a disc jokey for local radio stations. During his early career he bounced around local radio stations and went through many name changes to match his radio personalities. Born John Harrison Frick Jr., Elliott revealed in a 2015 interview with VO Buzz Weekly that he became Mark Elliott after working at KFRC in San Francisco.
“We thought about Mark Anthony, we thought about Clark Elliott, Mark Elliot that’s working.” Elliot said. “On that Sunday night in San Francisco Mark Elliott was born.”
Elliott started working with Disney for trailer voice overs in 1977. He said his first job was to voice the trailer of the re-release of the 1950 film “Cinderella.” His last gig with Disney was in 2001.
“It’s a wonderful touchstone for my career, again, if that’s the identity that I carry with me for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said.
Fellow voice actor Joe Cipriano posted a tribute to his late colleague on Facebook saying Elliott and 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,” Cipriano wrote.
