'Courage the Cowardly Dog's' voice artist Thea White passes away at the age of 81

The animated TV show, Courage the Cowardly Dog, has been an absolute favourite show of the yesteryear kids known for its dark, surreal humour and atmosphere. Recently, Thea White, the actor who voiced the polite natured Scotswoman Muriel Bagge on the show passed away at the Cleveland Clinic due to health complications on July 30. Her brother announced that the 81-year-old actor died two days after undergoing a second surgery related to liver cancer. Late Thea voiced Muriel's character in all episodes of the show and various spinoffs later on, which ran for four seasons. 

Courage the Cowardly Dog  voice-over artist no more

White’s brother, John Zitzner took to his Facebook page announcing his sister's demise on July 31. He uploaded a video of the actor just prior to her second surgery in which she can be happily seen engaging in a conversation with John. The caption read, "My sister recorded this prior to her surgery. She fought. She left us today at 11:05." He has since uploaded a string of videos and photos of Thea, celebrating her life. 

 Born June 16, 1940, in Newark, New Jersey,  Thea Ruth White began her professional acting career in her twenties. She has also held jobs as a librarian at the Livingston Public Library and personal assistant to the famous Marlene Dietrich while acting on stage, Broadway and theatre. White, whose mother and maternal grandmother were actresses, studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the American Theater Wing White after moving to North Caldwell with her parents at the age of 12. Thea was married to Andy White, who was best known as the man who played the drums on The Beatles' first single Love Me Do from 1983 until his death in 2015

Her most famous role was in the Cartoon Network horror comedy, where she essayed Muriel, the elderly woman who adopts Courage into the family despite the grumpy attitude of her husband, Eustace. Apart from the show, that went on from 1999-2002, the actor also reprised her role in several spinoffs and specials including 2000’s Scooby-Doo and Courage the Cowardly Dog crossover special, the video game Cartoon Network Racing and the 2014 short The Fog of Courage.

In his post, Thea's brother also mentioned that she was “looking forward to seeing” her latest project voicing Muriel, in the film Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, which is set to come out this year. She is survived by her two brothers, John and Stewart Zitzner. 

(IMAGE- ANI)