He Was a Good One

Tasmanian devils bedeviled by cancer - Science - MSNBC.com

"A mysterious illness that has killed tens of thousands of Tasmanian devils is caused by cancerous tumors that are spread by ferocious squabbling among the carnivorous marsupials, according to research published Thursday.

Numbers of the black, fox-sized scavengers with a bloodcurdling growl and powerful jaws that crunch through the bones of much larger animals have plunged in the past decade on Australia's island state of Tasmania, which is their only natural habitat."

What's really sad is that the passing of one of the cartoon world's most beloved characters was not even mentioned in this article.

Here's what IMDB says about him:

Date of birth (location)
19 June 1936
Warsaw, Poland

Date of death (details)
2 February 2006
Los Angeles, California, USA (respiratory failure due to cancer)

Trivia
Got his start doing stunt work in Disney Films.

Biography for
Tasmanian Devil

Birth name
Tazmanian Rafal Divilski

Height
30cm (11.8 inches)

Mini biography

Tasmanian moved to the United States from Warsaw with his family at the age of nine. As a teen he received intense pressure from his parents to go to medical school and did indeed attend Columbia for a short time before dropping out to pursue his own dream of acting. Taz found roles hard to come by though and, realizing that his heavy accent was hurting his chances at speaking roles, began working with a speaking coach. Around this time he had also taken a job cleaning up the Disney movie lots and was spotted by none other than Walt Disney himself, who noticed the way Taz performed his duties with reckless abandon and offered him a job doing stunt work on Disney shorts. He proved a natural and a month later Disney signed him to a two year contract doubling exclusively for Mickey Mouse. Taz found the life of a stuntman hard, grueling work and after breaking both legs in a scene where Mickey falls from a table, decided to leave Disney at the end of his contract. When he was back on his feet again fate smiled on Tasmanian when his agent received word that Warner Bros. was looking for someone to play opposite their top star, Bugs Bunny, in a new short entitled "Devil May Hare" (1954). Taz won the role and acted in four more successful shorts for Warner Bros. before they shut down their animation studios in 1964. Having made enough off these shorts to get by comfortably on, Tasmanian lived in semi-retirement with his wife and three kids in Los Angeles until the late 80's when Warner Bros. animation studios enjoyed a renaissance, as did Tasmanian's career. He continued acting even after being diagnosed with cancer and had even been signed to team up once again with his old pal Bugs Bunny in "Hare and Now" which was set to begin production in summer 2006.

Spouse
Dorothy Devil

Trade mark
Spinning around really fast. Huge appetite.

Sometimes credited as:
Tazmanian Devil, Taz Devil, Taz

I think I speak for everyone when I say he'll be missed.