George Lowe, the actor who voiced the superhero-turned-talk-show-host Space Ghost on “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast” on the Cartoon Network for nearly two decades, died on Sunday in Lakeland, Fla. He was 67.
His agent, Christy Clark, confirmed the death. His family said in a statement that Mr. Lowe had a challenging recovery after undergoing elective heart surgery in November.
“Space Ghost: Coast to Coast” was the first fully original program for Cartoon Network and the spark that led to the creation of Adult Swim, the network’s late-night programming block. The show, which ran for 11 seasons from 1994 until 2012, reimagined Space Ghost, the title character from a 1960s Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon, as a temperamental talk show host, in a new format that mixed animation and live action.
Thanks to an enviable lineup of guests — Weird Al Yankovic, Beck and Sarah Jessica Parker were among the celebrities who made appearances — and decidedly off-the-wall interview questions (“Are you getting enough oxygen?” Space Ghost once asked Hulk Hogan), the show became a cult favorite among teenagers and young adults, helping launch Adult Swim into the stratosphere.
At the heart of it all was Mr. Lowe. Dave Willis, a writer and producer on the show, said Mr. Lowe had a “big, booming movie-trailer voice” and approached the role like the morning drive-time D.J. he had been before he got into voice work. His relatable and highly entertaining kvetching, Mr. Willis said, helped shape Space Ghost’s new persona.
“We would just turn on the mic the second he entered the room,” Mr. Willis said. “Over time, the character took on certain aspects of George in a way that really made the show work.”
Produced on a minimal budget, the show featured interviews with celebrity guests, which were conducted over speaker phone. The guests would hear the questions through an earpiece as they were videotaped in whatever Turner-controlled television studio could be found — or, in one case, Willie Nelson’s tour bus.
Their images would then be superimposed on an animated television monitor beside Space Ghost’s desk.
Space Ghost’s dialogue was written and recorded after the interviews were conducted, meaning that — by design — the answers did not always exactly match the questions, to humorous effect. (“Any advice for us?” Space Ghost once asked his fellow talk-show host Joe Franklin. “It’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice,” Mr. Franklin said. “Give us something we can use,” Space Ghost replied.)
Some guests were confused by the unconventional questions, while others played along. (After Paul Westerberg, the former lead singer and guitarist for the Replacements, who had never seen the show, walked out, Mr. Willis told The New York Times in 2021, they began asking guests to sign a waiver before they were interviewed.)
George Lowe was born in Dunedin, Fla., on Nov. 10, 1957. He moved to Atlanta in the late 1980s and joined the “Breakfast Club” morning show on Power 99, a Top 40 station, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He went on to do voice-over work for 99X, the alternative rock station that replaced Power 99, and also lent his voice to hundreds of radio commercials and television promos, The Journal-Constitution reported.
Information about his survivors was not immediately available.
Mr. Lowe loved creating abstract art, Mr. Willis said — several of his drawings are in the permanent collection of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta — and collecting prints by Pop artists including Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist.
Over a career that lasted more than three decades, Mr. Lowe supplied the voices for a number of characters on other Adult Swim shows, including “Robot Chicken,” “The Brak Show,” “Squidbillies,” “Sealab 2021” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”
But Mr. Lowe was most closely associated with Space Ghost, and was known to dress in full costume to promote the talk show. He voiced the character until the series finale in 2012, and he reprised the role last year in a “Space Con” episode of the Max animated series “Jellystone!”
Matt Harrigan, a producer on “Space Ghost: Coast to Coast” who also directed a short documentary on Mr. Lowe called “Lowe Country,” said that Mr. Lowe was the show’s secret sauce.
“Some people would say one of the hardest things about building a fictional character is imparting humanity,” he said. “Fortunately, we could just kind of steal that from George, because George was the human side of Space Ghost, warts and all.”
Earlier this week, Mr. Willis took a look back at five of Mr. Lowe’s most memorable “Space Ghost” episodes.
Sept. 23, 1994
Weird Al Yankovic and Schoolly D
Weird Al Yankovic outlines his superpowers, which include that he can “eat my own weight in Ding Dongs, I can turn red traffic lights green just by staring at them and I can do an oil painting with my butt.” “That’s enough to get you on this show,” Space Ghost responds.
Oct. 17, 1997
Pavement, Goldie Hawn and Tommy Davidson
Space Ghost mistakes the indie rock band Pavement for the Beatles and then tries to interview Goldie Hawn while they play a song whose lyrics consist only of “Space Ghost.”
“Their drummer, Steve West, just kind of implicitly understood how we made the show,” Mr. Willis said. “He gave me a long list of replies that I could use anywhere. He very flatly said things like: ‘Yes. No. I like this. This is good.’”
Nov. 7, 1997
Rob Zombie and Raven-Symoné
The wrestler Randy Savage steals the show as Space Ghost’s grandfather, Leonard Ghostal (picture Space Ghost, plus a white beard). He interrupts Space Ghost’s interviews with an aggressive Rob Zombie and a young Raven-Symoné, eventually taking over himself and asking Raven questions, such as whether she has ever piledrived anyone at her school.
“About all I remember of that is thinking that Randy Savage should maybe use some hair conditioner,” Mr. Willis said, laughing.
Dec. 10, 1999
Conan O’Brien
Conan O’Brien, Mr. Willis said, “fully understood the assignment.” In this fan-favorite episode, the “Late Show” comedian banters with Space Ghost, who is then bitten by a fire ant. He vows to follow it home and “kill its whole family,” sparking an 11-minute-long sequence of Space Ghost crawling behind it while muttering to himself.
“It’s the most tedious, campy television test of a viewer’s patience,” Mr. Willis said.
Dec. 7, 2001
Willie Nelson
Space Ghost has fallen on hard times, and his show has been sold to a “failing liquor chain” — its mascot is “Old Kentucky Shark” — to make ends meet. With A+ editing of a confused Willie Nelson, and frequent appearances by that enormous shark, as well as a crazed bear, the episode is a smorgasbord of laughs.
“Old Kentucky Shark has now found its way into a bunch of stuff,” Mr. Willis said. “We just stole it from an old episode of ‘Sealab.’ We used to just cut stuff out from old Hanna-Barbera episodes, since Turner owned them.”