Jackie Vernon Voiced Frosty the Snowman—and Hid a Secret Life of Multiple Families
Meet the man who voiced Frosty: all about his secret life and sons all named 'Ralph'
Frosty the Snowman may have been a jolly, happy soul, but the man who voiced him was a little bit more complicated. The iconic Christmas role, which originated with the 1950 song of the same name and was brought to animated life in the 1969 TV special, was voiced by comedian and actor Jackie Vernon (born Ralph Verrone)
Though he portrayed the wholesome, loving character of Frosty, Vernon’s life wasn’t exactly like that. The actor’s son, David, revealed on the podcast, Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia, that he had multiple families prior to marrying his wife, Hazel, and welcoming three children with her.
The hidden life of Jackie Vernon, Frosty the Snowman’s voice actor
David recalled a time when an unexpected guest arrived at his family’s home that turned out to be more than just a random visit.
“There was a woman there with a kid who was older than I was,” David said. “He was probably in his late teens and a little rough around the edges looking. I heard a somewhat heated conversation going on, and then a couple of minutes later they left…It finally kind of came out that before our family, my dad had been married at least three other times, which I was kind of shocked to find out.”
David learned that his father had several other children with at least three other women, all of whom are unknown to the public, but had something in common.
“From these marriages, he had sons, and he named them all Ralph after himself—after his original name, Ralph Verrone,” David explained. “But he also abandoned all these families [and] moved on.”
Why Jackie Vernon almost turned down the role of Frosty
Although Vernon voiced Frosty in that original 1969 special and the sequels—Frosty’s Winter Wonderland (1976) and Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979)—the actor wasn’t too keen on accepting the role initially. His son shared what Vernon really thought of the iconic character.
“It wasn’t a lot of money, but it also wasn’t a lot of work,” David explained of the Frosty role. “He didn’t have a lot of confidence in it. I think somebody else had dropped out, and he had the time to do it… He didn’t really prepare much for it. He didn’t think about it. He barely told us about it… he thought it was just gonna be a little something that aired one year and then totally disappeared and would be scratched off of his resume.”
David also shared that while his father was uninterested in the project, he and his siblings shared the feeling, as they were teenagers at the time of its popularity and felt it was more of a kids’ show.
But towards the end of Vernon’s life, as he was battling depression and addiction, he grew to love the film and the legacy of the character.
“One of the last Christmases that my dad was around, we all watched it together and he was so proud of it,” David recalled. “He enjoyed it, he laughed at it. He was so happy he had done it and it became a very warm spot in his heart. I loved seeing that for him.”
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