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Lorenzo Music, (May 2, 1937–August 4, 2001)
was an American actor, voice actor,
writer, television producer and musician. Born
Gerald David Music in Brooklyn, New York, he is
best known for providing the voice of the animated
cartoon cat Garfield. He was also known as the
voice of Carlton the doorman on the television
show Rhoda. 

Music was raised in Duluth, Minnesota where he
attended the University of Minnesota. There he met
his wife, Henrietta, and they formed a comedy duo
Gerald and His Hen. They performed successfully
for 8 years.

Music changed his first name to Lorenzo for
spiritual reasons.

Music got his first professional job providing
various voices to the cartoon The Jetsons in 1962.
He became a writer and a regular performer on The
Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour during 1968 and
1969. His work as a writer on Mary Tyler Moore (TV
series)|Mary Tyler Moore in 1970 would lead him to
his big break.

Music was the creator of The Bob Newhart Show
which went on the air in 1972 and ran for seven
years. He also co-wrote the theme song to the show
with Henrietta. He continued writing for the Mary
Tyler Moore Show spin-off Rhoda. While casting
Rhoda, the producers were looking for a
voice-actor to play the part of a character that
would be heard but never seen: Carlton the
doorman. When they heard Music's sleepy, husky
voice, they offered him that role, which made his
voice recognizable to a worldwide television
audience.

In 1976, Lorenzo and Henrietta were given the
opportunity to host a television variety show of
their own. The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show
was produced in an era with a glut of television
variety shows and did not last. 

At the end of Rhoda, Carlton was given his own
special. The animated Carlton Your Doorman aired
in 1980, winning that year's "Outstanding Animated
Program" Emmy.

In 1982, Jim Davis (cartoonist)|Jim Davis's comic
strip Garfield was the most popular strip in
United States|America. Compilation books of the
strip were topping best seller lists and Davis was
negotiating to make an animated television
special. Producers needed someone to voice the
main character in the strip: Garfield, a lazy,
oafish and demanding cat. After one audition,
Music was cast as the voice of Garfield (in
Davis's words, "I looked at the room full of
(voice) actors, and then in the corner I saw
Lorenzo, quietly licking himself").

Until 1991, Music's voice became an American
staple as no less than 12 Garfield television
specials (and Garfield and Friends, an animated
television series that ran for 7 years) were
produced. Music was called upon to help write and
produce the shows as well. In the interim he
became a favorite in the animation community
voicing characters for shows like TaleSpin, The
Real Ghostbusters, The Gummi Bears, and Darkwing
Duck. In 1994, Garfield and Friends went off the
air and Music retired from the entertainment
industry.

In 2001, Music died from complications related to
lung cancer|lung and bone cancer. He is survived
by his wife, Henrietta; his daughters Roz and
Leilani and his sons Fernando and Sam. Daughter
Roz is a prominent Hollywood make-up artist
(Adaptation (movie)|Adaptation, The Virgin
Suicides).

Strangely enough, in 2004 Bill Murray connected
with Lorenzo Music for the second time, by voicing
Garfield in Garfield: The Movie. Music had voiced
Peter Venkman on the TV series The Real
Ghostbusters (1986–1989), in a reprise of
Murray's 1984 film role. A deadpan delivery
provided a common link between the two men.