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“Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” “I pity the fool!” “And knowing is half the battle!” ’80s kids certainly had no lack of TV catchphrases to sprinkle into their everyday conversations. And if you were a boy showing off at the playground, one of the most popular was “By the power of Grayskull…I have the power!,” said by Prince Adam of Eternia as he held his magic sword aloft and transformed into the heroic He-Man. It was announced last week that the man behind the voice of He-Man, veteran TV and film actor John Erwin, passed away on December 20th, just two weeks after his 88th birthday.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1936, the notoriously private Erwin’s first credited TV work came when he played in several episodes of the 1956-57 syndicated military drama Citizen Soldier. After debuting on the big screen in the 1960 Civil War actioner 13 Fighting Men, he landed the recurring role of Teddy in the hit TV western Rawhide from 1960 to 1965. For the next several decades the majority of John’s acting assignments came behind the microphone. He was the announcer on such shows as Here’s Lucy and Malcolm & Eddie, and he supplied the voice of finnicky feline Morris in the popular 9 Lives cat food commercials in the ’70s. Erwin was also a voice mainstay for the Filmation animation studio, bringing to life such characters as Archie’s prank-loving rival Reggie Mantle and Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s elf-eared Cousin Ambrose.
Erwin’s best remembered role, though, came in 1983 with Filmation’s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Produced to tie into the fantasy toy line introduced by Mattel the year before, the show followed the adventures of young Adam, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena. Accompanied by his faithful feline Cringer and such allies as Man-at-Arms and Orko the bumbling wizard, Adam would wield his Sword of Power as he defended Castle Grayskull and the people of Eternia from the evil Skeletor and his minions. Along with doing double duty as Adam and He-Man, Erwin also lent his voice to Beast Man, Faker, Ram Man, Whiplash, and other friends and foes. A 1985 theatrical film, He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, introduced Adam’s twin sister Adora, who was spun off into her own series, She-Ra: Princess of Power. Erwin was heard in many episodes of She-Ra as well.
Now, I am not an ’80s kid, so much of the He-Man appeal was lost on me. The series was certainly one of Filmation’s better efforts from an artistic standpoint, and as a syndicated program it could feature more action than network cartoons were allowed at the time. The lore of Eternia was impressively built up over the show’s two-season run (along with a fondly remembered 1985 Christmas special), and Erwin himself portrayed the dual roles of Adam/He-Man in the best Clark Kent/Superman tradition.
After the original He-Man series ended, Erwin continued to do cartoon work as well as voice roles in feature films. You can hear him as radio and commercial announcers in such titles as Looker, Everybody’s All-American, and Back to the Future Part II, and he also worked on 1995’s Babe. By the early 2000s John left show business behind and settled into retirement in California, painting and spending time with his children and grandchildren. He did get behind the mic to reprise the role of He-Man in a 2005 Family Guy episode.
A reclusive man by nature, Erwin repeatedly turned down offers to appear at fan conventions. Actor Allan Oppenheimer, who voiced arch-foe Skeletor, once recalled trying to convince him to join him on a UK tour. “I said to him, ‘If Skeletor and He-Man worked together, the line would be from London to Edinburgh.’ He just wouldn’t do it; he really likes his solitude,” Oppenheimer recounted. “And he says, ‘I don’t even look like He-Man.’ I said, ‘I don’t look like Skeletor, and nobody cares.’ But I can’t get him out.” It appears that for John Erwin, his home and family were truly his castle and his power.