JoBe Cerny, the Chicago actor, director and recording studio owner whose voice gave the Pillsbury Doughboy his familiar giggle, died October 30. The Grayslake resident was 78, his family announced.
For Chicago’s advertising community, Cerny’s career extended well beyond the cheerful Poppin’ Fresh. He owned and operated Cerny/American Creative Recording Studio in River North for more than three decades, working on thousands of commercials, audiobooks and film projects. A Second City alumnus, he built a career that moved between the microphone, the stage, the screen and the director’s chair.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cerny had battled Alzheimer’s disease.
His commercial work demonstrated an unusually broad range. As the Doughboy, he supplied one of advertising’s most recognizable voices. As Cheer detergent’s “Silent Demonstrator,” he made an impression without saying a word. His other advertising roles included bugs in Raid commercials and a Scrubbing Bubble for Dow Bathroom Cleaner.
Cerny also brought his experience directing performers to The Word of Promise, a 98-hour dramatized recording of the New King James Version of the Bible. The production featured more than 500 actors, including Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Richard Dreyfuss as Moses, Gary Sinise as David, Marisa Tomei as Mary Magdalene and James Alexander as Joseph.
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His work in audio storytelling also included adaptations of The Twilight Zone for radio and writing new installments for a podcast series.
Born December 5, 1947, in Cicero, Cerny got his distinctive first name from his parents, Joe and Bea, who combined their names. He attended Morton East High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in speech and drama from Valparaiso University, and completed a master’s degree in theater at Northwestern University. He joined The Second City in the 1970s, performing with its Chicago mainstage and national touring company.
Movie audiences saw him as a desk clerk in Somewhere in Time, a tailor in My Best Friend’s Wedding and a banker in Road to Perdition. His credits also included Mo’ Money, Novocaine and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, along with television appearances on Early Edition and Chicago Hope.
He shared his perspective on the business through “ADventures in Advertising,” a weekly column for Screen Magazine.
Away from work, Cerny collected model trains and continued racing go-karts into his 60s. His family remembered his outgoing personality and his knack for running into someone he knew seemingly wherever he went.
Cerny is survived by Eileen, his wife of 56 years, sons Tim and Patrick, daughters-in-law Andrea and Lily, and grandchildren Archer and Cleo. A private service was held for immediate family.
His own description of his career captured the pleasure he took in the work. “I’m lucky, I get to be somebody different every day,” he once said.
