Bob Kaliban

Robert Dean Kaliban also known as Bob Kaliban (November 6, 1933 – December 12, 2020) was an American actor, singer, and musician. He was most known for being the president of the New York branch of SAG-AFTRA, voicing the police chief in Top Cat, song work in SchoolHouse Rock!, and his role as a sales pitcher of Ty-D-Bol products who is dubbed “Ty-D-Bol Man”.

Bob Kaliban
Born	Robert Dean Kaliban November 6, 1933 Lisbon, Iowa, U.S.
Died	December 12, 2020 (aged 87) Healdsburg, California, U.S.
Education	Loras College, RADA
Occupations	Actor musician
Years active	1960–2011

Personal life and career

He was born on November 6, 1933, and raised in Lisbon, Iowa. He moved to New York City in the 1950s to pursue a career in performing arts and theater. He then attended Loras College in Dubuque.^[1] He married to Dawn after getting a divorce with Pat Spaight, who then later had two children, Kathy and Tim. He briefly moved to London and gained a scholarship at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.^[2] He later had a role in Ben Franklin in Paris.^[3]

He then became the president of the Screen Actors Guild in 1968.^[4] Bob stated his goal in his role as the president, “We have been stripped of our dignity and believability as actors by every client who uses real people. The trend must turn back from real people to the real professional.”^[5]

His uncle Sam was discharged from the military and assisted Bob in gaining his first broadway role which was "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”. Bob later went on and did local commercials in the New York City area. Despite leaving SAG in 1994, he continued to be and have a “Trustee” status of the Pension Plan until his death.^[6][7][8][9]

Bob died on Saturday of December 12, 2020 in California.^[10]

Filmography

Year(s)	Film title	Character
1978	If I Ever See You Again	Account Supervisor
1979	Something Short of Paradise	George Pendleton
1979	A Family Circus Christmas	Daddy
1980	The Berenstain Bears Meet Bigpaw	Big Paw / Announcer
1980	The Missing Link	Croak / Slick
1980	I Go Pogo	Bewildered Bat
1983	The Charmkins	Bramble Brother #2
1987	The Big Bang	Extra (English dub)
1993	Tracey Takes on New York	Extra
1996	Christmas in Cartoontown	Voice
2003	It Runs in the Family	Jim Lindsay
2011	Top Cat: The Movie	Judge/Police Chief/Mayor

Television

Year(s)	Television title	Character
1963	The Patty Duke Show	Charlie Anderson (credited as Robert Kaliban)
1967	Run for Your Life	Arthur Court
1980	Drawing Power!	Pop, additional voices
1979-2009	SchoolHouse Rock!	Lou, Mr. Chips, additional voices
1995-1996	Starla and the Jewel Riders	Josh, Merlin, King Jared (voice)
1999-2000	A Little Curious	Little Cup, Plush (voice)
2007	Human Giant	Doritos Commercial Man

Commercials

Year(s)	Company	Character
1968-1984	Ty-D-Bol	Ty-D-Bol Man
1986-1995	Toys "R" Us	Geoffrey

Discography

Albums

• The Best of Schoolhouse Rock (1998)

References

1. Alvey, Rob (July 9, 2021). "A Tribute to Bob Kaliban". Garden City News. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
2. "Robert Kaliban Obituary (2020) - Healdsburg, CA - Newsday". Legacy.com. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
3. "The Theater: 'Ben Franklin in Paris'; Preston in Musical at the Lunt‐Fontanne". The New York Times. October 28, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
4. Robb, David (December 14, 2020). "Bob Kaliban Dies: Former SAG New York President & Veteran Voice Actor Was 87". Deadline. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
5. Nassif, Fred (June 30, 1974). "And Now a Word From Somebody Real". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
6. "Voiceover Lab Bob Kaliban's Character Voices Workshop". SAG-AFTRA. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
7. "Bob Kaliban". Television Academy. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
8. "SAG-AFTRA Statement on the Passing of Former NY President Bob Kaliban". SAG-AFTRA. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
9. Armbrust, Roger (November 5, 2019). "Four SAG Trustees Enter Fray Over Pension & Health". Backstage. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
10. "Bob Kaliban Dies: Former SAG New York President & Veteran Voice Actor Was 87". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved April 25, 2023.

External links

• Bob Kaliban at IMDb