Cunningham was the original voice of Ken, Barbie’s boyfriend, for Mattel Toys.
William “Bill” Cunningham, the original voice of Barbie’s boyfriend Ken, has died aged 96 at his home in West Hollywood, it has been confirmed.
The news was confirmed by CESD Talent Agency who, as confirmed to Deadline, said that Cunningham died on 15th July. Cunningham founded the company, Cunningham & Associations, that went on to become CESD Talent Agency more than 50 years ago.
The company is now led by partners Ken Slevin and Paul Doherty and specialises in a vast array of talent from voice-overs to theatrical and young performer talent over two offices in Los Angeles and New York.
In the statement announcing Cunningham’s death, Slevin and Doherty wrote: “Bill set the template for client and customer service, particularly in commercial, voice-over and print.
“He was a warm, gregarious, classy man who made a positive impact on all those he represented and employed. It was our honor to know him and to learn from him.”
Aside from his work in the talent business, Cunningham always had a love of film, but his dreams were put on hold when he was enlisted in the US Navy and served in the Second World War. His talents spanned to singing and he toured with Fort Emory Drum and Bugle Corp, eventually playing to audiences throughout the Pacific.
He went on to sing on various film soundtracks for the likes of Warner Bros, Paramount and Fox and was, of course, the original singing voice for Barbie’s boyfriend Ken for Mattel Toys and featured on the 1961 album, Barbie Sings.
Throughout his singing career, Cunningham went on to tour with Judy Garland before investing his life savings into a startup talent agency, Pacific Artists Agency, which was one of the first talent agencies in LA. The company went on to become Cunningham & Associates and then CESD Talent Agency.
Cunningham retired in 1989 and more recently in 2014, published his autobiography, I Wonder What Became of Me.