Skip Hinnant, an original cast member of PBS’s The Electric Company in the 1970s and a prolific voice actor, died on Sunday, November 8, in Denver. He was 86. His family announced the death, saying he passed peacefully, and Variety confirmed it through an obituary notice published by the New York Times.

Hinnant was a charter member of The Electric Company when it launched in 1971 as a companion daytime series to Sesame Street, aimed at helping older children develop critical thinking skills. He stayed with the sketch-centered show through its end in 1977, playing a range of characters. Fellow cast members over the years included Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Zero Mostel and Bill Cosby.S2

Hinnant is best known to many for voicing the title character in Ralph Bakshi’s 1972 animated film Fritz the Cat, based on the lascivious stoner cat created by Robert Crumb. Despite Crumb’s objection to the adaptation, the film became an underground hit and led to a 1974 follow-up, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat. His other voice work included the Easter Bunny in the 1977 Rankin-Bass special The Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town, narrated by Fred Astaire, and My Little Pony, and he was prolific in animation and TV commercials.S1S2

Earlier in his career, Hinnant was active in theater. He originated the role of Schroeder in the Off Broadway debut of the Peanuts musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in 1967 and was part of the Julius Monk revue Struts and Frets in 1963. He had a recurring role on the ABC sitcom The Patty Duke Show the year before, and in 1962 he performed at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner for President John F. Kennedy. His later television credits included Kate & Allie, As the World Turns and 3 2 1 Contact.S2

Born Joseph Howard Hinnant in 1940, he grew up on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, and was nicknamed Skip by his older sister Jean. He graduated from Yale University in 1962 and was active with Actors Equity, AFTRA and SAG, before the latter two unions merged, from the 1980s through the early 2000s. He is survived by his first wife, Miriam Hinnant, his longtime companion Ruth Nerken, four children and nine grandchildren. The family has asked that donations be made in his name to the Entertainment Community Fund or the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.S2