the most quoted man in the nation" by Life magazine. The role inspired the Warner Bros. animated character Foghorn Leghorn, first seen in the Oscar-nominated cartoon Walky Talky Hawky (1946). "During the late 1940s, Mr. Delmar captivated 20 million radio listeners every Sunday night with his burlesque of a bombastic, super-chauvinistic legislator who drank only from Dixie cups and refused to drive through the Lincoln Tunnel," wrote The New York Times. "His stock expression, 'That's a joke, son,' was for many years one of the nation's pet phrases, mimicked by children and businessmen alike. ... The windbag character, he said, was inspired by a Texas cattle rancher who had picked him up while he was hitchhiking and barely stopped talking." At the height of his popularity, Delmar also starred as Claghorn in a theatrical feature film, It's a Joke, Son! in 1947. Delmar was also announcer and voice performer on The Alan Young Show in 1944. One of the characters that he played was Counselor Cartonbranch who is obviously similar in mannerisms and voice to Senator Claghorn. In 1953 he returned to radio replacing Hans Conried's character on My Friend Irma, as the Professor's cousin, Maestro Wanderkin and as Conried's Schultz on Life with Luigi. Television Delmar was later heard by a later generation of television watchers via the animated character called The Hunter which he voiced using his Senator Claghorn inflections, including, "That's a joke, son." "The Hunter" was a dog detective whose nemesis was The Fox, a criminal fox who attempted bizarre capers, usually huge in scope (such as attempting to steal the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty or, in one episode, the State of Florida). The Hunter ran as an ancillary segment of the cartoon series King Leonardo and his Short Subjects, produced by Total Television Productions. Delmar was the host of School House'' on WABD-TV in 1949. Death Delmar died on July 14, 1984 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut. Animation Delmar was also a cartoon voice actor whose voice was familiar to baby-boomers as Commander McBragg, The Hunter, Major Minor on "Klondike Kat", and other Saturday morning cartoon icons. References External links 1910 births 1984 deaths American male radio actors American male voice actors Male actors from Boston Male actors from Stamford, Connecticut 20th-century American male actors