Comedian Ron Sexton, known for lending his voice to the character Donnie Baker on "The Bob & Tom Show," died Friday at age 52.
The news was revealed by Sexton's family in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.
"He was Donnie Baker to most of you, but Ron and Dad to us," Sexton's family wrote. "Please respect our privacy at this time and pray for our family."
According to "The Bob & Tom Show" host Tom Griswold, Sexton died Friday while on tour in Ohio with his stand-up comedy show.
"Ron was a much-loved colleague and friend, and we will miss him greatly," Griswold wrote in a statement posted on Facebook. "We send our sincerest condolences to his family and friends. He made many, many people happy during his more than 20 years with 'The Bob & Tom Show,' and we will remember him with love and gratitude."
Sexton's cause of death was not revealed.
Sexton, born in Indianapolis, had a passion for comedy as well as baseball. During his high school years, he worked as a baseball commentator at his school's radio station, according to USA Today. His Donnie Baker character debuted in 2005 on "The Bob & Tom Show," sharing boat sale anecdotes and delivering punchlines like "State law!" and "I swear to God."
In a 2015 interview, Sexton talked about how he developed the character.
"I don't know why it always struck me as funny, but I thought it would be funny if someone was on the phone on a radio show, and then rudely started yelling at someone off to the side," he said. "When we went out on the road, people were convinced he was real, and I was a little afraid that being out there like that, it might lose its charm.
"And I thought he was the type of person that would like wolves, so he needed lots of shirts with different wolves on them, and he would have an opinion on all of them."
In addition to Donnie Baker, Sexton also voiced other characters like Floyd the Trucker and Kenny Tarmac.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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