Arnold Stang, who played a memorable array of comedic pests and lapdogs on radio, stage, television and film over a six-decade career, died on Dec. 20, 2009, in Newton, MA. He was 91 and lived in Needham, MA. Short, bespectacled, with sleepy eyes made beady by thick glasses, and a weak chin, Mr. Stang hardly seemed a shoo-in for a long acting career. Yet he managed apply his talents to a great variety of projects. He was the voice of the savvy, street-smart, Phil Silvers-like Top Cat in the 1960s animated series of the same name. He was the spokesman for the candy bar Chunky in the 1950s, delivering the memorable slogan "Chunky! What a chunk o' chocolate!" for years. He played a running character in the popular radio series "The Goldbergs," and applied his pesky, nattering persona as a sidekick to Milton Berle and other comedians.

More often than not, he came off as a brassy New Yorker (he grew up in Brooklyn) who fought back from too many beatdowns with a know-it-all personality and honking bravado. Yet he could also bring dramatic heft to a role. His best known film was 1955's "The Man With the Golden Arm," an early drug drama based on a Nelson Algren novel, starring Frank Sinatra as a drummer with an addiction. Mr. Stang played Sinatra's needy, insistent shadow, named Sparrow, who sticks by the musician only to be abandoned in the final scene.

His other films included "Seven Days Leave," "My Sister Eileen," "They Got Me Covered," "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Skidoo," "Hercules in New York" and "Hello Down There."

Mr. Stang made three short stops on Broadway, in All in Favor and You'll See Stars in 1942, and a revival of The Front Page in 1969.

He put his naturally cartoonish voice to good work voicing an array of animated characters. The most famous was Top Cat. But he also provided the voice for Popeye's pal Shorty (a caricature of Stang), Herman the mouse in a number of Famous Studios cartoons, Tubby Tompkins in a few Little Lulu shorts, and Catfish on Misterjaw. He also furnished the voice of the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee in the 1980s and was also a spokesman for Vicks Vapo-Rub.

He is survived by his wife, JoAnne Stang, his son David, and his daughter, Deborah Stang.