Thea White, Voice of Muriel on 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', Dies at 81

Thea White, voice artist who dubbed Muriel in the Cartoon Network show ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’, has passed away.

Thea White, who voiced Muriel on Courage the Cowardly Dog, has passed away.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Thea White, the popular veteran voice artist who is remembered as the voice of Muriel Bagge on Courage the Cowardly Dog which premiered on Cartoon Network, has passed away at 81.

Her brother, John Zitzner conveyed the news of her demise on his Facebook page. He said that she passed away "peacefully" on Friday morning (30 July), at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio two days after undergoing the second surgery related to her liver cancer. White's nephew Brad Zitzner said that she caught an infection following the surgery.

"Sadly we lost our legendary Feefer (the voice of Muriel) on Friday morning after she fought hard with the courage to try to beat her liver cancer and to resume life or to die trying. (She ended up with an infection after cutting out damn cancer)," he wrote on Facebook

Thea grew up in New Jersey and begin acting professionally on stage in her 20s. She worked with actor Marlene Dietrich who is known for her lead role in the film Shanghai Express, as her assistant. White also worked as a librarian.

Courage the Cowardly Dog, a Cartoon Network series, brought her global recognition for dubbing Muriel; the elderly woman who adopts Courage into the family despite the grumpy nature of her husband, Eustace.

She voiced the character in all the episodes of the series, which ran for four seasons from 1999 to 2002. White also voiced Muriel in several spin-offs and specials, including the Scooby Doo and Courage the Cowardly Dog crossover special, the video game 'Cartoon Network Racing' and the short film The Fog of Courage.

Her last appearance as Muriel will be heard in the animation movie Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog, scheduled to come out this year.

White was married to Andy White, who played drums on popular tracks by the English band The Beatles, like 'Love Me Do' and 'P.S. I Love You'. She is survived by her brothers, John Zitzner and Stewart Zitzner, her nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.