George Lowe, a Lakeland voiceover actor who won fame for his starring role in the cartoon talk-show spoof “Space Ghost Coast to Coast,” died Sunday following a long illness. He was 67.
His family issued a statement, according to The Los Angeles Times, saying “George Lowe had elective heart surgery, and as he recovered, was met with many challenges. Over the past few months, his family and friends have been by his side in support and care for him.”
Space Ghost Coast to Coast: The show, a combination of animation and live action, caught on with teens and young adults in the 1990s. It ran on the Cartoon Network.
The 11 seasons of the series can be streamed on Adult Swim’s website.
Some big names appeared in guest spots on the show, including Denzel Washington, in a pilot; Adam West, Eartha Kitt and Lee Meriweather in a tribute to Batman; and Michael Stipe, the lead singer of R.E.M.
Art collector and creator: Lowe was a longtime Lakeland resident. He lived in a mid-century modern home along Cleveland Heights Boulevard with his extensive art collection.
He was also an artist himself, creating complicated pieces that included thousands of hand-drawn lines. His work is in the collections of the High Museum Museum of Art in Atlanta, the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, and the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum of Art at Florida Southern College in Lakeland.
Claire Orologas, the retired executive director of the then-Polk Museum of Art, described Lowe as a “big-hearted, high-energy, nonconformist” and said he had a significant collection of mostly Outsider art.
The Polk Museum held an exhibit of some of Lowe’s collection in 2016, titled “One Collector’s Dream.” It included several works by Howard Finster, Andy Warhol, Salvdor Dalí and some of Lowe’s own drawings.
WEDU Arts Plus interviewed Lowe for the exhibit, during which he trotted out some of the many voices he said lived in his head. And he poked fun at the public television station’s fundraising drives.
“You’ll also get George Lowe’s worst moments on camera in Tampa Bay as our gift to you for joining at the $300-a-week level,” Lowe said. “You should get a back rub from the manager of the station for that kind of money!”
Lifelong love of art: As a child, Lowe’s mother took him to The Ringling Museum of Art, in Sarasota, and he was mesmerized by the works.
Orologas recalled Lowe telling her that “there was a fine line for him between passion and addiction. He loved art: collecting it, looking at it, and talking about it.”
Lowe told WEDU about buying his first piece of artwork from a disc jockey with whom he used to work.
“His wife says, ‘It has to go. It’s got bleeding eyes and naked ladies in it,’” Lowe recalled.
The piece was an original lithograph by Dalí.
Orologas said she was “saddened to learn of George’s passing, and yet the thought of him brought a smile. I’m sure he would have liked that. There was never a dull moment when George was around.”
Good son: Lowe cared for his mother, Mabel Dixon Isler, until her death in 2018 at the age of 87, Orologas said. Her home was near his, near the Cleveland Heights Golf Course.
AGB Museum of Art Director Alex Rich texted from his vacation in The Netherlands, saying, “There will only ever be one George Lowe. And Lakeland got to lay claim to him.”
Kimberly C. Davis is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
