James Bateman, better known by his stage name, Henry Gibson, was an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer, and songwriter, who, for Disney, provided the voice of Eleroo in The Wuzzles and hosted the Mouse Factory episodes "Knighthood" and "Lions". He also played Ravetch in Escape to Witch Mountain and Reilly O'Reilly in The Luck of the Irish.
Gibson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School, where he was president of the drama club. After graduating from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., he joined the Air Force before becoming a professional performer. After making his film debut in The Nutty Professor, he went on to perform in the sketch-comedy series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
His other film credits included Charlotte's Web, Nashville, The Blues Brothers, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Innerspace, The 'Burbs, Magnolia, Wedding Crashers, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, A Perfect Couple, Tulips, and The Long Goodbye.
Gibson also made television appearances in both live-action and animation with shows, like Boston Legal, The Beverly Hillbillies, My Favorite Martian, Bewitched, Love, American Style, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The New Adventures Of Wonder Woman, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Biskitts, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, King of the Hill, Rocket Power, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Stargate SG-1.
He died of cancer 7 days before his 74th birthday.
