Brian Bedford, Voice of Disney's Hottest Cartoon Fox, Has Passed Away at 80

By Madeleine Davies  |  January 15, 2016 | 2:30am
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In a week already rife with loss, Brian Bedford—theater great and voice of Robin Hood (i.e. the first cartoon animal you ever looked at and thought “I would definitely hit that”)—has passed away at the age of 80.

Since the age of 15, Bedford has been performing on stage. He won two Tonys, one for Two Shakespearean Actors in 1992 and another for London Assurance in 1997. He also performed in Ontario’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival for over thirty years.

“[Bedford] is perhaps the finest English-language interpreter of classical comedy of his generation, and he seems to pick up a Tony nomination every time he steps on a Broadway stage,” New York Times’ Ben Brantley wrote in 2011.

Though he’s appeared in many movies, Bedford remains most recognizable to American audiences by his beautiful voice, most notably heard in Disney’s Robin Hood.

Behold the moment I knew that I could love a fox:

He is survived by his partner, Tim MacDonald.

Contact the author at [email protected].

Images via Getty and Disney.

 
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