Skip Hinnant, Fritz the Cat voice and PBS cast member, dies at 86

Skip Hinnant, an original cast member of PBS's "The Electric Company" and the voice of Fritz the Cat in Ralph Bakshi's animated films, died Nov. 8 in Denver at 86.

His family announced his death in a Nov. 12 obituary notice in The New York Times, saying he died peacefully with family around him. No cause of death was given.

Hinnant joined the children's series when it premiered in 1971 and remained until its 1977 end, appearing over six years in 780 episodes, according to Deadline. During his run on the show, he voiced the title character in Fritz the Cat, the first animated film rated X, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

"Skip was known for his quick wit and never missed an opportunity to make a joke," his family said.

From Chincoteague to Yale

Hinnant was born Joseph Howard Hinnant on Sept. 12, 1940, and grew up on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. His older sister Jean nicknamed him Skip, a name he kept throughout his life.

Hinnant followed his older brother Bill to Yale and later to New York City, graduating from Yale in 1962. He married Miriam Dildilian that year, and the couple brought up four children in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Hinnant performed before President John F. Kennedy at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in 1963, as part of the Julius Monk revue "Struts and Frets," according to The Hollywood Reporter and his family's notice. Variety dated the dinner to 1962. On ABC's "The Patty Duke Show," Hinnant had a recurring role as Ted, the boyfriend of Patty Duke's character Cathy. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline said his character appeared in the show's first two seasons, from 1963 to 1965, though Variety and his family's notice placed the role in 1962.

In 1967, Hinnant created the role of Schroeder for the Off-Broadway Peanuts musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." His brother Bill played Snoopy in that production. Gary Burghoff played Charlie Brown, and Bob Balaban played Linus in the original cast.

Hinnant later appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite," whose original 1968-69 production was directed by Mike Nichols.

Fargo North and Fritz

Hinnant worked alongside Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno and Bill Cosby on "The Electric Company," a companion series to "Sesame Street."

His parts included Frankenstein and Fargo North, Decoder, a detective who sorted out scrambled words and phrases for clients. Hinnant also played Jay-Jay and Supper Man, as well as the boy in the soap-opera-style "Love of Chair" skits.

The 1972 film "Fritz the Cat" drew on Robert Crumb's comic character and became an underground hit, although Crumb objected to the adaptation. Hinnant returned as Fritz for the 1974 sequel, "The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat," the first animated film rated R.

A career in voices

In 1977, when "The Electric Company" ended, Hinnant voiced the title character in the ABC stop-motion special "The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town," a Rankin/Bass production narrated by Fred Astaire. The following year, Bill Hinnant drowned at 42 during a vacation in the Dominican Republic.

Hinnant's other voice roles included work on the 1970s series "Spidey Super Stories," Pogo Possum in the 1980 feature "I Go Pogo," "My Little Pony" and the 1990 TV movie "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." He lent his voice extensively to commercials on television and radio, recorded narrations for children's books and appeared in "Kate & Allie" and "As the World Turns."

Hinnant belonged to Actors' Equity, AFTRA and the Screen Actors Guild, serving on SAG's national board from 1980 to 2003.

His family said he "was proud of his work to preserve commercial voice contracts and the everyday actor’s rights."

Hinnant and Miriam stayed close friends after their separation. He met Ruth Nerken in 1985, and the two were companions in New York City for three decades.

Nerken and his former wife, Miriam Hinnant, are among his survivors. He also leaves children Chris, Jamie, Julie and Sara and their spouses, along with nine grandchildren. His family requested donations in his name to the Entertainment Community Fund or the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

The family plans a private celebration of life in Chincoteague, where Hinnant grew up. No date has been given.