To kick off the segment I think it is only appropriate that I showcase possibly the most famous and most respected voice actor of all time. This is a man whose resume reads like a who's who of the most beloved cartoon characters of all time; a man whose name is synonymous with cartoon voices. I'm speaking, of course, of Mel Blanc. So well known is he, in fact, that when I tell people outside of the industry that I do voice over, the first response is usually, "Oh, you mean like Mel Blanc?" The voice of characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Pepe Le Pew, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely, Heathcliff, Woody Woodpecker, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Marvin the Martian, and Private Snafu to name a few, it's hard to find a cartoon from animation's golden age without Mel Blanc's voice in it somewhere.Mel Blanc was born in 1908, San Francisco, California. From an early age, Mel was interested in music and taught himself to play the sousaphone, the violin and the bass. He parlayed this into a career as a radio musician, and while working on a radio program called The Hoot Owls, he began making regular appearances as various characters on the program. Then in 1933 he was given the opportunity to host his own radio show in Portland called the Cobweb and Nuts Show. The budget for the show was so limited that he had to provide the voices for most of the characters himself, and it was here that he began perfecting the skills that would make him famous.
Throughout the thirties, Mel freelanced on radio programs all over Los Angeles. He became very popular on the Jack Benny program, and one of his most famous characters was a shy Mexican character named Sy. Here is a version of that routine recreated for the Jack Benny television Show:
In 1937, Leon Schlessinger hired Mel to provide voices for the Warner Bros. cartoons. This was to be the beginning of a very long and fruitful relationship. Being well known for his hiccupping drunk character, he was to provide the voice of a drunken bull in the cartoon Picador Porky. Then he took over as the voice of Porky and originated Daffy Duck in Porky’s Duck Hunt.
Blanc continued working with Warner Bros for the next fifty years, and also with Universal and Hanna-Barbera. He even did a voice for Disney in Pinocchio as Gideon the cat, which Walt later decided would be funnier as a mute character, so all that remains of that performance are the drunken hiccups. People have speculated over the years that this caused a rift with Disney, and that Mel refused to do any voices for Disney after that, which is not true. Blanc was a regular on the Disney radio program and can be heard as Uncle Orville and the pet bird on the Carousel of Progress attraction at Walt Disney World.
Despite his many characterizations over the years, no character was more beloved or more endearing than a quick-witted, carrot-chomping gray rabbit named Bugs Bunny. That was never more evident than in 1961, when Mel was in a terrible car accident that nearly killed him and put him in a coma for three weeks. Thousands of get-well cards poured in from saddened fans from all over the world, many of which were addressed only to “Bugs Bunny, Hollywood, USA,” according to Mel’s autobiography. Though things looked bleak, one doctor had a bit of inspiration. The doctor walked to Mel’s bedside and asked, “How are you today, Bugs Bunny?” Eyes still closed, Blanc answered feebly in Bugs’ voice, “Okay, Doc.” Blanc thus credited Bugs with saving his life.
Mel Blanc died in 1989 leaving a legacy of characters that millions of people have enjoyed over the years. His tombstone in Hollywood Forever Cemetery appropriately reads, “That’s All Folks.”
And here I leave you with a clip of Mel on Johnny Carson describing how he creates some of his characters:
CG
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