Tom Keith, 64, a longtime sound-effects man who was the source of creaking doors, clucking chickens and more on “A Prairie Home Companion,” died of a heart attack at his home Sunday, the show’s host, Garrison Keillor, said Monday
Keillor remembered Keith as “one of radio’s great clowns.”
“He was serious about silliness and worked hard to get a moo exactly right and the cluck too, and the woof. His whinny was amazing — noble, vulnerable, articulate. He did bagpipes, helicopters, mortars, common drunks, caribou (and elands and elk and wapiti), garbage trucks backing up, handsaws and hammers, and a beautiful vocalization of a man falling from a great height into piranha-infested waters,” Keillor said.
Keith had performed with Keillor since 1976, when Keillor hosted a morning show on Minnesota Public Radio. Keith worked as a board operator but began appearing more and more in skits Keillor produced.
The Associated Press
