Courage The Cowardly Dog star Thea Ruth White passes away at 81 from complications due to an infection after surgery to treat liver cancer
Thea Ruth White, best known as the voice of Muriel Bagge in the Courage The Cowardly Dog, has passed away at the age of 81.
On Sunday, the Cartoon Network star’s nephew Brad Zitzner announced that she had died from complications from an infection after undergoing surgery to treat liver cancer.
‘Sadly we lost our legendary Feefer (the voice of Muriel) on Friday morning after she fought hard with courage to try to beat her liver cancer and to resume life or to die trying,’ Brad wrote in an emotional tribute that he shared on Facebook.
Sad loss: Thea Ruth White, best known as the voice of Muriel Bagge in the Courage The Cowardly Dog, has passed away at the age of 81
‘(She ended up with an infection after cutting out the damn cancer),’ he continued.
Brad went on to describe Thea as the ‘greatest cheerleader to me and my family’ and said ‘the pain is so deep.’
Zitzner continued, ‘Thanks Feefer for your leadership of your family. The roll you have taken with my kids and all your family sadly can’t be replaced. I can see hundreds of fan tributes already online so your love was shared far and wide.
‘I’ve never met a person who knew you who didn’t think you were the greatest person alive. That lasted even up through your stay in the hospital as I’m told the nurses and doctors also fell in love.
‘You loved life and even know I know the final outcome I love your decision to go for it and to try to win. Damnit sticks!’
Heartbreaking: ‘Sadly we lost our legendary Feefer (the voice of Muriel) on Friday morning after she fought hard with courage to try to beat her liver cancer and to resume life or to die trying,’ Brad wrote in an emotional tribute that he shared on Facebook
Brad included several family photos in his post along with images of her character from the beloved animated series.
Thea’s brother John Zitzner also shared the sad news on Facebook. On Friday, he posted a video of White in which she was seen sitting outside on a wooden bench.
In the video, Thea cheerfully asked for some photos of the ‘little and big children’ in her family ‘frolicking in the ocean.’
She joked, ‘That will speed my recovery. I’ll be up and at ’em in five minutes after they cut me open. Well, ish.’
‘My sister recorded this prior to her surgery,’ John wrote in the caption. ‘She fought. She left us today at 11:05.’
Her past: White, born Thea Ruth Zitzner, launched her career as an actress after studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She met her husband Andy White when the two performed together in the play Goodbye Charlie. Thea retired from acting after marrying Andy in 1983. They remained married until his death in 2015
John shared another video of Thea recording a message for him and his family while she was undergoing treatment in the hospital.
The actress was laughing and joking as she struggled to use her Muriel voice. ‘It’s the anesthesia,’ she said.
John captioned the video: ‘Thanks to Susan Bookshar for recording this last Sunday, July 25 some 5 days after her first surgery. Wishing her family good times as some of us were in Chautauqua for a few days, contemplating she would join us later in the week. Her last breath was Friday July 30 at 11:05 am. 2 days after her second surgery.’
White, born Thea Ruth Zitzner, launched her career as an actress after studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She met her husband Andy White when the two performed together in the play Goodbye Charlie. Thea retired from acting after marrying Andy in 1983. They remained married until his death in 2015.
The New Jersey native made her acting comeback returned to acting when she was offered the role of Muriel on Courage the Cowardly Dog. She voiced Muriel during the entire series run from 1999-2002 and reprised her role several times for other projects.
Bad pain: Brad went on to describe Thea as the ‘greatest cheerleader to me and my family’ and said ‘the pain is so deep’