Jack Mather

John Eugene Mather (September 7, 1907 – August 16, 1966) was an American radio and television actor, best known for playing The Cisco Kid on radio and for being the original voice of Wally Walrus.

Early life and career Mather was born on a farm outside Chicago, Illinois, to John A. and Ella Mather.

One of Mather's earliest roles in entertainment was performing on radio in Chicago as half of a musical duet. In 1943, Walter Lantz cast Mather as Woody Woodpecker's nemesis, Wally Walrus for The Beach Nut (1944). Giving Wally a Swedish accent, Mather maintained the role until Walter Lantz Productions temporarily shut down in 1948. Dallas McKennon and Paul Frees later took over the role following the studio's reopening in 1950.

He also occasionally appeared in films, including The Bravados (1958) and Some Like It Hot (1959). He also appeared on two other ABC Warner Brothers series, 77 Sunset Strip with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Surfside 6. In his last television role in 1962, he was cast as Frank Lathrop in "The Daniel Clay Story" on the Western series Wagon Train with John McIntire.

The Cisco Kid In 1946, Mather was cast in the title role of Mutual's adaptation of The Cisco Kid, opposite Harry E. Lang as Pancho. The series, which was pre-recorded, ran from 1946 to 1956 and for more than seven hundred episodes. In addition to playing Cisco, Mather also was the announcer for the program in its later years. who was a former football star and Robert who managed a cattle ranch. Mather died in Wauconda, Illinois, of a heart attack. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in Libertyville, Illinois where he grew up.