Like many people my age, I came to know George Lowe through his voicing of the character, Space Ghost, on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Whether he was eradicating fire ants during an interview or dealing with his grandad, Macho Man Randy Savage, my middle-school mind was a sponge for his absurdest humor and bassy “puking DJ” voice.
Fast forward to 2008 and I’m working as a Starbucks barista in Lakeland, Florida where I frequently worked drive-through with one of my favorite coworkers. This guy liked to challenge himself to put on different voices for several drive-through orders and remember each of them in turn when the customers arrived at the pay window. He was really good at it and, even though I didn’t have the memory to track multiple voices like him, we quickly bonded over pushing ourselves to come up with silly voices we could perform while still sounding believably professional.
One afternoon, he was deep into his schtick when he turned to me white.
“Do you know who I just gave coffee to?!” He asked.
That was Space Ghost!"
Apparently, George had driven up and paid using his Space Ghost voice to let my coworker know he was onto him and gave an encouraging wink before driving off. We both kind of freaked out, starstruck.
George Lowe was far more than the role that made him famous. Around town, we knew him as a local artist who painted and had a massive, 700+ piece collection of folk art. The Polk Museum of Art even did an exhibit of his collection back in 2016.
I did get to serve him coffee (sans silly voices) a few times more and it was always a special treat.
I was saddened to hear that George Lowe passed away in his Lakeland, Florida home on March 2, 2025, at the too-young age of 67. He was recovering from a heart surgery procedure he underwent in November.