He was also a prolific voice-over actor who provided the voices of Meadowlark Lemon in the Harlem Globetrotters animated TV series, Jazz the Autobot in The Transformers and The Transformers: The Movie (1986), the title character in Hong Kong Phooey, and Scat Cat in the Disney animated film The Aristocats (1970).

According to the jacket notes of the Let Freedom Sing CD set, Crothers was part of the music group The Ramparts, who sang "The Death of Emmett Till" (1955), a song by A. C.

[6] Crothers appeared in four films with Jack Nicholson: The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), The Fortune (1975), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and The Shining (1980).

He had the part of a fable-telling convict in the animated film Coonskin (1975), a train porter in Silver Streak (1976), a liveryman in The Shootist (1976), Mingo in Roots[6] (1977), Tinker the piano player in Neil Simon's The Cheap Detective (1978), a ringmaster in Bronco Billy (1980), a baseball coach in Zapped!

Crothers became the first black person to appear regularly in a Los Angeles television show when he joined Dixie Showboat.

[4] After The Aristocats in the 1970s, Crothers found voice acting jobs as Meadowlark Lemon in the Harlem Globetrotters cartoon series and as the title character in Hong Kong Phooey.

Crothers had guest roles on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1958, Dragnet in 1967, Bewitched and McMillan & Wife in 1971, Adam-12 in 1972 (as "George Strothers"), Kojak and Ironside in 1973, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Mannix and Sanford and Son in 1974,[10] Starsky & Hutch in 1977, Charlie's Angels and The Love Boat in 1978, Magnum, P.I.

On November 22, 1986, Crothers died at age 76 at his home in Van Nuys, California after struggling with lung cancer.