Actor JoBe Cerny, voice of Pillsbury Doughboy, dies at 78

JoBe Cerny, an actor who voiced the Pillsbury Doughboy in commercials and appeared in several films, died on Oct. 30. He was 78.

According to his obituary, Cerny died in Grayslake, Illnois. While no cause of death was listed, Cerny had been battling Alzheimer’s disease, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

For more than 30 years, Cerny owned and operated Cerny/American Creative Recording Studio in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, the entertainment news outlet reported.

His company completed thousands of projects, including commercials, features and audiobooks.

Cerny succeeded Paul Frees and Jeff Bergman as the high-pitched voice of the Pillsbury Co.’s cheerful Pillsbury Doughboy. The character, named Poppin’ Fresh, giggled when he was poked in the belly, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Cerny voiced the character until around 2020.

“I’ve gone through phases over the years,” he said in a 2007 interview. “Sometimes (Pillsbury gets) a new executive. One guy said, ‘You know, I’ve always hated the voice of the Doughboy. And that’s you. I’m gonna do everything I can to not let the Doughboy talk anymore.’

“This was about seven years ago. That guy lost his job. He got fired the next year and a whole floor of people got fired with him. And then the next year I talked twice as much to make up for it.”

In addition to his work as the Doughboy, Cerny was also the Silent Demonstrator in Cheer Detergent advertising spots, according to his obituary.

The Hollywood Reporter noted that Cerny also voiced characters in advertising for Raid insect spray (where he was killed “thousands of times”) and as a Scrubbing Bubble in spots for Dow Bathroom Cleaner.

According to his obituary, Cerny was born on Dec. 5, 1947, in Cicero, Illinois. His parents, Joe and Bea, combined their names to create his first name.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in speech and drama from Valparaiso University and achieved his master’s degree in theater from Northwestern University.

Cerny appeared in several films. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he played a desk clerk in “Somewhere in Time” (1980), a tailor in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1997) and a banker in “Road to Perdition” (2002).

“I’m lucky, I get to be somebody different every day and in the end, I’m glad I stuck with my irresponsible decision to have fun,” Cerny once said. “It allows me to live happily ever after ... every day.”

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