# Larry Kenney

Larry Kenney (born August 5, 1947) is an American voice actor and radio personality.

## Early life

Larry Kenney was born August 5, 1947 in Pekin which is south of Peoria, Illinois, the son of George and Joyce Kenney. He has a brother, Steven, and a sister, Jody. He graduated from Pekin Community High School in Pekin. He attended Western Illinois University in Macomb, northwest of Springfield, Illinois but did not graduate.

## Career

In 1963, Kenney began his radio career at the age of 15 as a disc jockey at WIRL in Peoria. After WIRL, he worked at WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana; WKYC (AM, now WTAM), Cleveland, Ohio (1970–1973); WHN, New York City; WYNY, New York City; WJJD (now WYLL), Chicago; and WKHK (now WLTW), New York City until 1972.
Kenney was part of the regular cast on the Imus in the Morning radio show from 1973 to 2007, where he recorded impersonations of dozens of characters including General George Patton, Andy Rooney, and Ross Perot.
In 1973, Kenney joined 1050 WHN (now WEPN), a country music station in New York City. He originally announced for the afternoon drive-time show, before taking over the prestigious morning drive-time in 1974. His program was a hit, not only for the music, but also for his comical characters who "joined" him while he performed as a dj. Billboard named him Best Country Disc Jockey "at a station in a metropolitan area of one million or more" in 1976 and Best Country Music Personality in 1978. He stayed at WHN until the fall of 1979, when he moved to WYNY to host the morning slot for a year before moving to WKHK's (now WLTW) morning show. He was the host of the New York edition of the television show Bowling for Dollars on WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV) from 1976 to 1979.
Kenney is also known for his voice work as Lion-O on the 1980s Rankin/Bass cartoon ThunderCats, and Karate Kat, a martial arts blackbelt cat featured as part of The Comic Strip. He was the voice of Bluegrass in SilverHawks and Dolph in TigerSharks. He did voice work for several breakfast cereal characters such as Count Chocula and Sonny the Cuckoo Bird. Kenney reprised the role of Lion-O in Family Guy, and voiced the character's father Claudus in ThunderCats (2011) and his mentor Jaga in ThunderCats Roar.
Kenney provided voice-overs for The State, the 1990s sketch comedy cult classic which featured his daughter, Kerri Kenney. He was also the announcer for VH1's Best Week Ever during its run from 2004 to 2009; he provides introductions for Westwood One's radio coverage of Monday Night Football and various other commercial work including for Skittles and Campbell's soup. He was the announcer for The Beat 102.7 in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV and K.T.I. Radio in the L.A. Noire. He did the voice for JB Cripps in Red Dead Online, the online component of Red Dead Redemption 2.
In 2008, he was hired to do an impersonation of Mark Twain for a gala held by the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut.

## Personal life

He and his wife Carol Ann Jacobs Kenney have three children, daughters Kerri and Ashley, and son Tanner. Kerri, the eldest, is an actress, best known for her work on the series Reno 911! and The State. Ashley works in the nonprofit sector and is the bassist and singer for the band Witch Hair from New Haven, Connecticut. Tanner was the voice of Agenda Caller in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Larry and Carol Kenney live in New Canaan, Connecticut.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | A Star for Jeremy | | Voice, television film |
| 1985 | The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus | Wind Demon Commander | Voice, television film |
| 1986 | Light Moments in Sports 1986 | Narrator | Voice, television film |
| 1987 | Thundercats Ho! the Movie | Lion-O, Jackalman | Voice, direct-to-video |
| 1992 | Aisle Six | Announcer | Voice, short film |
| 1993 | The Waiters | | Voice, short film |
| 1993 | The Twelve Days of Christmas | Sir Carolboomer | Voice, television film |
| 2005 | Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story | Lion-O | Voice, direct-to-video |
| 2011 | Butterfly Blues | Claudus | Voice, television short |
| 2015 | The macabre madness of Mortulia Morose | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2015 | Vault of Macabre II | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2015 | Vault of the Macabre Presents Scary Little Christmas | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2016 | Vault of the Macabre Presents All Hallow's Eve | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2016 | Vault of the Macabre Presents: the Fright Before Christmas | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2017 | Vault of the Macabre: the House Upon the Hill | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2017 | Vault of the Macabre: Christmas Cheer | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2018 | Vault of the Macabre Presents the Witching Hour | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2018 | Vault of the Macabre Presents the Christmas Witch | Host | Voice, short film |
| 2020 | Unit Eleven | Narrator | |
| 2020 | The Bloody Man | Radio DJ | Voice |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985–1989 | ThunderCats | Lion-O, Jackalman, Snarf Eggbert, Torr, Safari Joe, Wizz-Ra, Pilot | Voice, main role |
| 1986 | SilverHawks | Lt. Colonel Bluegrass, Pokerface, Buzzsaw, Moonstryker, Time Stopper, General Rawlings, Professor Power, Space Bandit, Lord Cash, Warden Lockup | Voice, 65 episodes |
| 1987 | TigerSharks | Dolph | Voice |
| 1987 | The Comic Strip | Dolph, Karate Kat, Boom-Boom Burmese | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | ThunderCats | Claudus | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2019–present | Teen Titans Go! | Chief, Original Lion-O | Recurring voice role |
| 2020 | ThunderCats Roar | Jaga | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2024 | Pokémon Horizons: The Series | Ludlow | Voice, 8 episodes, English dub |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | The Beat 102.7 Announcer | |
| 2010 | Mafia II | Frank Vinci | |
| 2011 | L.A. Noire | K.T.I. Radio Announcer | |
| 2012 | Alan Wake's American Nightmare | Eddie Rodman | |
| 2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | JB Cripps | Red Dead Online only |