Introduction
Larry D. Mann (18 December 1922 – 6 January 2014) was a Canadian actor. He was best known as "The Boss" in a series of Bell Canada television commercials in the 1980s and for voicing the character of Yukon Cornelius in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Life and career
Larry D. Mann was born in Toronto, Ontario, on 18 December 1922. Prior to beginning his acting career, he was a disc jockey on 1050 CHUM radio in Toronto in 1949.
Mann voiced the character of Yukon Cornelius in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. During the 1970s he played several characters in Rankin-Bass television series and specials.
Mann's film career spanned four decades. He first came to the attention of CBC audiences in 1953 when he kidded around with the puppet Uncle Chichimus on the show Let's See. According to a CBC Archives article, Mann got the job when his friend, actor Don Harron, pointed him out to producer Norman Jewison. Apart from his CBC work, he appeared in more than 20 movies, with roles in The Sting and In the Heat of the Night.
On TV, Mann's dozens of credits included Gunsmoke, Bewitched, Hogan's Heroes, The Green Hornet, Green Acres and Hill Street Blues. He also starred in a Bell Canada series of television commercials called "The Boss" in which he played the title role for ten years beginning in 1981.
His last role was on Homefront in 1991.
His brother was Paul Mann, who appeared in the films America America and Fiddler on the Roof. Larry Mann died of natural causes on 6 January 2014 in Los Angeles. He was 91.