John Kassir

John Kassir (born October 24, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as the voice of the Cryptkeeper in HBO's Tales from the Crypt franchise. He is also known for his role as Ralph in the off-Broadway show Reefer Madness and its 2005 film adaptation. He is also the first voice actor to take over Disney comics character Scrooge McDuck, after the death of Alan Young. Early life John Kassir was born on October 24, 1957, in Baltimore, Maryland, to an Iraqi father from Mosul and a Syrian mother from Mardin, present-day Turkey. He is of Assyrian descent. As a child, he would often do impressions in school and was described as a "class clown". His mother would often buy props for him and he would entertain customers who were shopping outside of Eudowood Plaza. He graduated from Loch Raven High School and attended Towson State University where he studied theatre. He and several other students formed a comedy troupe called Animal Crackers. Career Stand-up comedy Kassir originally began his career in stand-up comedy, he first became known in 1985, when he defeated Sinbad for best stand-up comic on Star Search.