Harry Lang

Harry Edward Lang (December 29, 1894 – August 5, 1953) was an American actor born in New York City whose career spanned Broadway, film, radio, and animation. Over the course of more than four decades in entertainment, he worked across a notably wide range of performance formats.

Lang's stage career began in 1910 and continued through 1924, during which he appeared in several Broadway productions. His credits included the musical My Little Friend, the musical Lady Billy, the 1922 revue George White's Scandals, and the production The Brass Bottle.

His transition to film came in 1929 with a Vitaphone short titled Who's Who?, in which Lang and his partner Bernice Haley performed an early version of the comedy routine later known as Who's on First?. The pair followed that appearance with a 1930 comedy skit called Who's Your Boss?.

Lang went on to work at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's cartoon studio, where he provided vocal effects for the character Tom in the Tom and Jerry cartoon series from 1940 to 1953. Between 1943 and 1946, he also supplied Tom's speaking voice on select occasions.

In 1946, Lang joined the cast of The Cisco Kid radio series, taking on the role of Pancho opposite Jack Mather, who played the title character. He held that role until 1953, when heart trouble forced him to step away from the show. Following a brief return, Lang died of a heart attack on August 5, 1953, at his home in Hollywood, California. Mel Blanc subsequently took over the role of Pancho and remained with the series until it concluded in 1956.