JoBe Cerny, the Chicago-area actor who voiced the Pillsbury Doughboy, died Oct. 30 in Illinois. He was 78. His family announced the death in an online obituary that gave no cause. His son Tim later told TMZ that Cerny had lived with Alzheimer’s disease since a diagnosis around 2020, and that his health declined from there. A private service was held for immediate family.
Cerny took over the Doughboy in 2014, inheriting a role previously held by voice actors including Paul Frees and Jeff Bergman. He gave life to a character that had sold refrigerated dough to American households for decades. He also worked on another General Mills-era staple of commercial television, playing the silent demonstrator in ads for Cheer detergent, a part that required no dialogue at all.
Born Dec. 5, 1947, in Cicero, Illinois, Cerny got his name by combining those of his parents, Joe and Bea. He graduated from Morton East High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in speech and drama at Valparaiso University, and completed a master’s in theater at Northwestern University.
The stage came first. In the 1970s he joined The Second City, performing with both its Mainstage company and its National Touring Company. He later built a business of his own, running Cerny/American Creative Recording Studio in Chicago’s River North neighborhood for over 30 years. The studio handled thousands of projects, from radio spots and audiobooks to feature-film work.
On screen, he appeared in “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Road to Perdition” and “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.” Behind the microphone, he served as casting director for “The Word of Promise,” a 98-hour audio Bible whose cast included Jim Caviezel, Marisa Tomei, Richard Dreyfuss and Gary Sinise.
Cerny spent five decades working across commercials, film, television and theater, and he described his career with the humor that defined it. “I’m glad I stuck with my irresponsible decision to have fun,” he once said. He lived in Grayslake, Illinois, in his final years. He is survived by his wife, Eileen; sons Tim and Patrick; daughters-in-law Andrea and Lily; and grandchildren Archer and Cleo.
