Jack Edwards

Born into a popular show business family, Jack Lawson Edwards was the son of stage actor Jack Edwards Sr and actress Edna Park. Allegedly born in 1919 while the family were touring in Florida, Jack was immediately added to their stage show, together with siblings Florida Edwards and Sam Edwards. In order to distinguish from his namesake father, Jack was occasionally billed as Jack Edwards Jr or Sonny Edwards. The two brothers Jack and Sam became popular on radio with The Adventures of Sonny and Buddy (1933-1936) and then The Edwards Family. They broke into movies in 1936 and later joined the East Side Kids (1940). Jack, like his brother, became prolific in movies, radio and television, and both worked as voice actors on cartoons. When Mel Blanc fell ill in 1961, Jack took over the voice of Speedy Gonzales. However, despite some strong performances in tv-shows, notably as the sinister Communist in I Led 3 Lives (1953) and the vigilante tangling with a young Clint Eastwood in Highway Patrol (1955), Jack Edwards never clicked as a big name with the public and in his later years became a real estate salesman in the San Fernando Valley. According to the Edwards family, Jack passed away in September 2008. His widow Jane Webb, also a veteran of radio and cartoons, died two years later.