‘Frosty the Snowman’ voice actor Jackie Vernon’s hidden life revealed

Jackie Vernon voiced one of pop culture’s most beloved cheerful characters. Off-screen, his life wasn’t exactly joyful: The stand-up comedian had multiple secret families and struggled with a serious Quaalude addiction.

The shocking truth about the man who voiced the famous “Frosty the Snowman” was revealed by his son David Vernon in a recent interview. “Nostalgia Tonight with Joe Sibilia.”

The star died in 1987 at the age of 63.

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During the sit-down, David shared that the artist, born Ralph Verrone, had three families before starting a new life with his wife, Hazel. The couple married in 1958 and remained together until his death. They shared three children.

Life in the Vernon household was full of surprises. But nothing could prepare David for a knock on the door on a fateful day.

“There was a woman there with a child older than me,” he recalled on the program. “He was probably in his teens and seemed a little rude. The woman wanted to talk to my father. I said, ‘My father is on the way. He’s not home.’

Jackie Vernon died in 1987 at the age of 63. (Norman James/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

“Then I remembered he was so determined,” David said. “He said, ‘Then I want to talk to your mother.’ So my mother came, I think she immediately assessed the situation, but my mother told me to go upstairs. … I heard a somewhat heated conversation going on. They left after a few minutes.”

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David then confronted his mother.

“I asked my mom, ‘Who was that?'” David said. “It eventually turned out that my father had been married at least three other times before our family, and I was a little shocked when I found out.”

Vernon rose to fame with a series of “lovable loser” roles on TV shows such as “The Dean Martin Show,” “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “The Merv Griffin Show,” among others. Los Angeles Times reported. But before the show business came, the artist had other marriages and other children.

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Jackie Vernon is seen here in 1965. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

“I think one marriage happened when I was in the military, which was when I was 19,” David said. “And he had sons from these marriages, and he named them all Ralph after his real name, Ralph Verrone. But he also abandoned all these families. He abandoned them, moved on. My mother wasn’t sure if he had divorced one of the women, or even if he was married to someone else.”

“But when my mom and dad got married, they made an agreement,” David continued. “He would name the boys, and he would name the girls. He had this idea that Ralph was an unloved child, a child left behind, and he wanted to make sure I would never be a Ralph. That’s when I realized my mother had a plan for him to stay with our family and not leave us.”

In later years, Vernon was described as having “sadness radiating from” him. David said this sadness turned into a struggle with depression as his career slowed down in the 1970s and ’80s.

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“He had some of his own predicaments, like depression and addiction,” David said. “His addiction was actually to tranquilizers, Quaaludes and Valium. It really hit him hard.”

“He had to work hard to get out of this depression. It was a struggle for him. It was hard for us to see him go through this.”

Vernon voiced Frosty in the 1969 animated special. He reprized his role in the films “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland” (1976) and “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July” (1979).

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Following the 1969 special, Jackie Vernon reprized the role in “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland” (1976) and “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July” (1979). (Rankin-Bass Productions/ALAMY)

David explained that his father had strong reservations about taking on the role. The Patriarch once said: “I think all the fat men were out of town.”

“He didn’t take it very seriously,” David explained.

“He didn’t want to do it. He thought it was a little underwhelming for him. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it also wasn’t a lot of work. He didn’t have a lot of confidence in it. I guess someone else had dropped out and he had the time to do it. He hadn’t prepared much for it. He didn’t think about it. He barely talked to us about it. It should be crossed off his resume.”

In later years, Jackie Vernon struggled with addiction and depression. (Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)

When “Frosty the Snowman” was first released, Vernon’s children received it coldly.

“We were not impressed,” David said. “… But in the end, when Frosty melted, it was a bit of a shock to us. … We weren’t really ready for it. It actually scared us. My little sister was like, ‘What? Daddy’s melting? He’s dying.’

“It was kind of a mess. He started crying, he was really upset, and I was confused. My mom said, ‘Your dad’s okay. He’s not dead. He’s at the Playboy Club in Chicago.’ And he had to try to get her on the phone. “He called back later and said he was fine.”

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Before his death, Jackie Vernon was particularly fond of “Frosty the Snowman.” (Courtesy CBS/Getty Images)

After decades of offloading Frosty, Vernon began to take pride in this role. David shared that this gave his father peace of mind and lifted his spirits at the end of his life. It made him happy to know that his work continues to make audiences smile.

“He had accepted his place in show business,” David said. “It was one of the last Christmases my dad was still around… We all watched [‘Frosty the Snowman’] He was together and he was very proud of it. He liked it. He laughed at this. He was so happy to do this that it became such a warm spot in his heart. And I loved seeing that for him.”

“Even though my father did a lot of things — he worked with Judy Garland, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra — [‘Frosty’] “That’s the only thing people really remember him for,” he shared.

Jackie Vernon is seen here for “Ed McMahon’s Famous Roast” hosted by Dean Martin. (Gary Null/NBC/NBC NewsWire/Getty Images)

“And the new generations found that. They really embraced it. He accepted that he would be remembered for that, and he was really proud of it. He loved kids coming over and talking to him. Every Christmas, his friends would ask him to call their kids and do his Frosty voice. It became a real source of pride for him.”

David insisted that his father was never too far away, especially during holidays.

“Every year — it’s already happened once this year — I’ll go to CVS or Walgreens and hear my dad’s voice,” he said. “There’s a Frosty plush toy that someone presses the button on, and I hear it from another hallway. It’s a weird experience, but kind of nice. I feel like it comes back every Christmas, just like Frosty.”