While multiple generations know him best as Thurston Howell III — the billionaire castaway on “Gilligan’s Island” — TV legend Jim Backus also made a name for himself by simply using his voice. For four decades, the actor lent his vocal talents to Mr. Magoo (a.k.a. Quincy Magoo), a severely nearsighted old man whose chaotic cartoon adventures were seen on both TV and in theaters.
Mr. Magoo was created by United Productions of America in 1949, making his debut in the animated theatrical short “Ragtime Bear,” directed by John Hubley. The character — who Backus began voicing 15 years before “Gilligan’s Island” — was originally inspired by Hubley’s uncle. He was depicted as a bumbling, irritable elder with squinty eyes, a bulbous nose, and a gravelly voice, but Backus added some of his own personal touches.
According to animation historian Jim Korkis (via Cartoon Research), Backus based Mr. Magoo’s voice on a character he played in his comedic nightclub act, one he described as a “loud-mouth traveling salesman” who liked to tell dirty jokes. “It was the same with Magoo in the beginning. He was a dirty old man,” Backus recalled. “Half the time you couldn’t understand what he was saying; he just used to mumble.”
At one point in his career, Backus did express some frustration over getting typecast as the cranky character. “I’d like to bury the old creep and get some good dramatic roles in movies,” he once admitted. “Every time I start to be a serious actor I lose out because someone — usually a producer — says I’m Magoo.”
Jim Backus had a customized Q MAGOO license plate
Backus eventually warmed up to the character a bit. “Magoo has been very good to me, but I certainly don’t think of him as myself,” he shared during a 1978 interview (via Cartoon Research). “He is a pain in the posterior.” All mixed feelings aside, the “Gilligan’s Island” alum continued to voice the animated icon. He was even known for driving around Hollywood with a customized “Q MAGOO” license plate.
Mr. Magoo has been featured in dozens of TV specials and theatrical shorts. Two of those shorts — “When Magoo Flew” and “Magoo’s Puddle Jumper” — even took home Academy Awards. The squinty-eyed old man even jumped to the big screen with 1959’s animated feature-length movie “1001 Arabian Nights,” which had Mr. Magoo as Aladdin’s uncle. On television, he starred in the 1962 holiday classic “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol,” along with three animated series: “The Mr. Magoo Show,” “The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo,” and “What’s New, Mr. Magoo?”
Backus voiced the beloved character until his death in 1989. Following his tenure, other actors have taken on new iterations of the visually impaired buffoon, most notably “The Naked Gun” comedy veteran Leslie Nielsen, who starred in 1997’s live-action feature film “Mr. Magoo,” and Jim Conroy, who voiced the character in 2010’s animated feature “Kung-Fu Magoo.”
