George S. Irving, Tony winner and voice of Heat Miser, dies at 94

George S. Irving, a veteran comic and voice actor who won a Tony for "Irene," died Monday in New York of natural causes. He was 94.

The gruff-voiced Irving was born in 1922 as George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Mass. He received the 17th Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre in 2008.

He was also known for a variety of voice acting roles such as the Heat Miser in Rankin/Bass's stop-motion Christmas movies "The Year Without a Santa Claus" and "A Miser Brothers' Christmas." He also narrated the 1960s animated series "Underdog."

Irving's TV credits included sitcoms such as "Car 54, Where Are You?," "The Patty Duke Show," "All In The Family," and the soap opera "Ryan's Hope."

He first appeared on Broadway in 1943 in the first run of "Oklahoma !" He received a Tony nomination for "Me and My Girl" and appeared on numerous plays and musicals including "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "Can-Can," "Bells Are Ringing" and "The Pirates Of Penzance" opposite Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt.

Irving starred in the 1973 revival of "Irene" and won the Tony Award for best performance by a featured actor in a musical. Reynolds was nominated for best actress in a musical and her daughter Carrie Fisher, who died Tuesday, made her Broadway debut in the production.

Irving was married to the actress Maria Karnilova, from 1948 until her death in 2001. He is survived by two children and three grandchildren.