Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508140087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. LENGTH: Short
Harris died of heart failure late Friday at his home in this desert town. His wife of 54 years, actress Alice Faye, and his daughter Phyllis were at his side, family spokeswoman Jewel Baxter said.
With a toothy grin and Southern accent gained during a childhood in Nashville, Harris created a caricature of himself as a lovable, overdrinking swinger.
His trademark was a finger-snapping rendition of ``That's What I Like About the South,'' and he greeted Benny show audiences with a snappy ``Hiya, Jackson!''
In 1967, he provided the voice of Baloo the bear in Disney's cartoon version of ``The Jungle Book,'' based on Rudyard Kipling's novel about a boy who grows up with animals in a jungle. Harris sang the Oscar-nominated song, ``The Bare Necessities.''
by CNB