A voice actor who came to Boston recently was surprised at the amount of times death was mentioned during one of the city’s most popular tourist activities.
Dan Povenmire, known for voicing the character of Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz in the Disney Channel animated series “Phineas and Ferb,” shared his reaction to taking a Duck Tour of Boston in a TikTok posted on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
“It was great, but there was a lot more talk of death than I was expecting,” the actor said before the video cut to a tour guide saying, “Fifty-six people signed the Declaration of Independence, three of them are in this burial ground” as the bus passed Granary Burying Ground.
John Hancock, Paul Revere, James Otis, Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine are among those buried in that burial ground, according to its website. The tour guide also highlighted the burial grounds of the Boston Massacre victims, Benjamin Franklin’s family members and Mary Dyer.
Povenmire also captured his tour guide talking about the public hangings in the Boston Common.
“Public hangings would happen here in the Common,” the guide said in the video. “The last hanging happened in 1812.”
Povenmire thought the death talk was over when the boat drove into the water, however that wasn’t the case.
“Boston-born, Boston-bred, and when I die I’ll most likely be Boston dead,” the guide said in the video.
“Even with all those cautionary tales, he still let my daughter Alex drive the boat,” Povenmire said before showing a picture of his daughter behind the wheel.
Despite all the talk of death, the voice actor rated the experience a 10 out of 10.
Boston Duck Tours departs from either the Museum of Science, the Prudential Center or the New England Aquarium. Each location offers different tour times, schedules and hours.
