Multimedia

Richard Bay, in character

• Watch an audio slideshow of Richard Bay describing his cartoon character

Christina O'Connor | The Roanoke Times

Richard Bay as himself. The art professor at Radford University is scheduled to lend his pipes to a gray, painting gorilla on the new CBS animated series “Creature Comforts.”

Meet the Great Ape

• When: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 7:30 p.m. (show starts at 8 p.m.)
• Where: BT’s Restaurant, Radford
• What: Meet Richard Bay and try for prizes and signed bananas
• The show: Airs at 8 p.m. Monday on CBS

RADFORD -- After surgery to remove a brain tumor, Radford University art education professor Richard Bay spent more than a decade learning to whistle again.

"It may seem like a small thing, but imagine 11 years," he said after letting out a low "toooot."

Bay, 58, remembers the broken, mangled phrases he'd sputter the first two years after the surgery as he retrained himself to speak clearly. He'd stare at the mirror, tug at his tongue, lips and mouth and poke the numb regions with pins hoping for a twinge of feeling.

Although he still has some vision and hearing loss and is partly paralyzed, his voice is back and boisterous.

On Monday, that booming tenor could explain to the nation just why primates fling their feces or how best to greet someone who annoys you. The energetic brain injury survivor, whom students know as "the Art Guy," is scheduled to lend his pipes to a gray, painting gorilla on the new CBS animated series "Creature Comforts."

The program, a Claymation-style British takeoff from English animators Aardman Animations, began its run Monday. The show's producers use commentary culled from average citizens and edit it to give voice to animated characters.

"I'm an entertainer. That's what I teach my kids [at Radford]," he said. "Honestly, I would have been disappointed if I hadn't made it."

Part-time Radford employee Connie Stevens Henson spent six hours recording interviews with Bay.

Henson is a freelance producer, and Bay was her last subject for the audition. She sent interviews from several other local residents along with Bay's to Los Angeles, but Aardman liked Bay.

"I knew they wanted people with really rich voices and interesting things to say," she said. "They told me, as soon as they heard [Bay], 'OK, that's who we want you to concentrate on.' "

First, to make sure he screen-tested well, Aardman paid Bay $1 to be a test "creature." Once Aardman hired him, Bay earned $30 an hour.

Bay spoke on nearly every topic Aardman sent Henson -- from pets at the vet, to art to body parts to family life. Sometimes, her queries were embarrassing.

"I felt like an idiot asking him some things," she said. "They were just things I would not ask a professor in his office with the door closed."

Bay, who has turned his past pain -- 25 surgeries in 28 years -- into art that covers walls at Radford's Bondurant Center, is used to being bold.

"I say what I think," he said. Still, he never knew he'd turn into a great ape.

Henson, who found out that Bay would be lending his voice to the character of an ape weeks ago, said she had to keep it from him so he'd avoid acting out that character.

When a $400 check popped into the mailbox, Bay knew he'd made it to the small screen. A publicist told Henson her subject was likely to be on two segments during Monday's show.

Bay said the show was a creative outlet -- and although he fears he may have said too much, it hasn't stopped him from embracing his 15 seconds of fame, signing bananas and smiling about his role.

Bay said he did not want to be famous for this. "It was just a new experience for me," he said.

"That's one of the things I want my kids to do -- to feel comfortable and have fun when they're in the classroom in front of other kids," he added. "And transfer to them that energy and that excitement about being able to try something new and a little bit different."