Will Ryan

William Frank Ryan May 21 1949 November 19 2021 was an American voice actor and producerwritercomposer wellknown for singing about the American West In the late seventies he teamed up with Phil Baron as Willio and Phillio  They had regular gigs on television radio and comedy clubs and universities throughout the US Ryan and Baron later paired up again voicing characters of best friends Teddy Ruxpin Baron and Grubby the Octopede Ryan in the Teddy Ruxpin book and tape series as well as the 1987 television show The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin The Willio and Phillio act brought Ryan back into music and after moving to California he began to write and record songs for Disney He provided the voice of Rabbit Tigger and Eeyore in the Disney Channels longrunning series Welcome to Pooh Corner and in many other Pooh cartoons He also provided the voice of Barnaby the Dog on the popular series Dumbos Circus Since 1987 Ryan has been a fixture of the radio drama Adventures in Odyssey playing Eugene Meltsner Harlow Doyle David Harley Patrick ORyan and hundreds of oneshot characters Throughout his lifetime Ryan voiced Rabbit Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore after the death of Junius Matthews Digit the 1986 animated film An American Tail Petrie original voice the 1988 animated film The Land Before Time Elmo Aardvark Elmo Aardvark Outer Space Detective and in several Elmo Aardvark CDs Willie the Giant Mickeys Christmas Carol He appeared in the film The Wizard of Speed and Time as several different motion picture union representatives Ryans youthful involvement in pop music has continued alongside his animation career Will Ryan compositions have been recorded by artists such as Patti LaBelle Diane Schuur Victoria Jackson The Pointer Sisters and Joanie Sommers whom he also produced His musical incarnation was being the leader of Los Angelesbased Will Ryan and the Cactus County Cowboys a cross between the Marx Brothers and The Sons of the Pioneers His variety show Will Ryans Cactus County RoundUp has been a staple in Southern California since 2008 It regularly plays at several venues including the Steve Allen Theatre in Hollywood With Andrew J Lederer and Michael Rosenberg Jackie Diamond Ryan performed in the 20sstyle music and comedy trio The Merry Metronomes He and Lederer also appeared from time to time as a duo usually under the name The Natty Nabobs In 2009 he was working on the third season of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse the 21st season of Adventures in Odyssey and a radio series called Will Ryans Cactus County RoundUp On November 19 2021 at the age of 72 Will Ryan died from complications related to pancreatic cancer Description above from the Wikipedia article Will Ryan licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia