Jim Boyd, actor who played J. Arthur Crank on "The Electric Company"

[Diner]

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=JAMES-BOYD&pid=162177684

BOYD--James A., of Manhattan on January 2, 2013, after a brief illness. Beloved husband of Kathleen, loving father of Jeanne (Bill) Billings, devoted grandfather of Andrew Billings. Jim was a New York Actor, best known for his roles in the original PBS production of The Electric Company.

Published in The New York Times on January 6, 2013

=====

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Boyd_%28actor%29

Jim Boyd (d. January 2, 2013) was an American actor, born in Philadelphia.

Boyd spent four years in the Air Force and studied at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts.

He did voice work (along with Wayland Flowers and Cleavon Little) for puppets on The Surprise Show, a children's program that aired locally in the New York City area in the late 1960s. The puppets used on the show, called Aniforms, had been developed by puppeteer Morey Bunin.

In 1971, the Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) contacted Boyd because it wanted to use Aniforms in a television show that became known as The Electric Company. During the first season, Boyd’s voice was used extensively, especially for the character J. Arthur Crank, who was just an angry voice on the telephone at the time. Boyd was unseen until season two, when he became a regular cast member, appearing on-camera until the show stopped production in 1977.

Boyd's wife was Kathleen Paris, and they have a daughter.

[Brad Ferguson]

In article <fd7c47dd-91f0-453f...@googlegroups.com>,
Diner <bway...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=JAMES-BOYD&pid=162177

Pic of him from Sesame Street at the link:

<http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Jim_Boyd>

He's not to be confused with Jimmy Boyd, who's best known for the song
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," looked a lot like Howdy Doody (yes,
a puppet), but who has been dead already for almost four years.

BTW I can't find anything on Kathleen Paris, except that she was Jim
Boyd's wife. Nothing at IMDb or the Broadway database, so maybe she's
a civilian.

[Diner]

On Sunday, January 6, 2013 5:49:26 PM UTC-5, Brad Ferguson wrote:
> In article <fd7c47dd-91f0-453f...@googlegroups.com>,

>
> BTW I can't find anything on Kathleen Paris, except that she was Jim
> Boyd's wife. Nothing at IMDb or the Broadway database, so maybe she's
> a civilian.

If you search on "Kathleen Paris Boyd", you'll find two references to her in the alumni magazine of her alma mater, Little Flower High School in Philadelphia (class of 1953). There's a photo of her and her sister in one of the issues, and some generalities about their families. But yes, apparently she's a civilian.

-Tim