Biography
Owl-eyed, adenoidal character actor Marvin Kaplan became an English teacher after studying at New York University and Brooklyn College. Following World War II service, Kaplan attended playwrighting classes at USC, which led to his participation in community theatre. It was
Katharine Hepburn who selected Kaplan for the small but telling role of the hapless court stenographer in
Adam's Rib (1949). He continued accepting movie and TV supporting parts in the 1950s, usually playing bookish, bespectacled milquetoasts. He is best known to TV sitcom fans as Henry Beesemeyer on the weekly yockfest
Alice (1976-1985). Two generations of cartoon fans remember Marvin Kaplan as the voice of Choo Choo on the Hanna-Barbera series
Top Cat, a role he has continued to reprise on such animated series as
Yogi's Treasure Hunt and Wake, Rattle and Roll into the 1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide