Mel Blanc (1908 – 1989) was an American actor, performing on radio, in television commercials, and most famously, as a voice actor in hundreds of cartoons. He is regarded as the most gifted and influential person in his field, providing voices for characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tasmanian Devil, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Speedy Gonzales, Woody Woodpecker and Barney Rubble among hundreds of others. His talents earned him the nickname, “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” and clearly his talent gave a timeless personality to his characters. Blanc’s voice, as these cartoon characters, has become instantly recognizable to generations of children. Both Blanc and Bugs Bunny have their own stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Mel Blanc has said that the honor of which he is most proud is his inclusion in the United States entertainment history collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.
Blanc was working as a voice actor in radio when his ability to create voices for multiple characters first attracted attention. He was a regular on the Jack Benny Program in various roles, including Benny’s automobile (a Maxwell in desperate need of a tune up), violin teacher Professor LeBlanc, Polly the Parrot, Benny’s pet polar bear Carmichael, and the tormented department store clerk. Blanc’s success on the Jack Benny Program led to his own radio show on the CBS radio network, and he also appeared on other national radio shows, and later played various small parts on Benny’s television show.
Mel Blanc joined Warner Brothers Pictures in 1936 as a voice actor. The first cartoon to feature his vocal work was Picador Porky, directed by Tex Avery and released in 1937, and he soon became noted for voicing a wide variety of cartoon characters. During his days at the studio, they earned five Oscars for cartoons he was involved with, and he worked with a talented group of animators, producers, and directors that included Friz Freleng, Milt Avery, Chuck Jones, and Leon Schlessinger. In addition, Blanc occasionally acted as a dialect coach to film stars such as Clark Gable. He also negotiated an unprecedented screen credit that enabled him to get freelance work with other studios and programs. In the early 1960s, Blanc went to Hanna-Barbera and did the voices for many characters such as Barney Rubble from The Flintstones and Mr. Spacely from The Jetsons.
It would not be much of an exaggeration to state that Mel Blanc invented the profession of cartoon voice acting. Before 1936, when he joined Warner Bros., voices tended to be done by whoever happened to be handy. Popeye, for example, was voiced by animator Jack Mercer, and Mickey Mouse, at first, by Walt Disney.
Between 1943 and 1945, during World War II, Warner Brothers produced educational cartoon shorts for the United States War Department. The character Private Snafu was created by director Frank Capra. Voice characterizations were provided by Mel Blanc, with Private Snafu’s voice being very similar to Bugs Bunny. Through his irresponsible behavior, Snafu demonstrates to soldiers what not to do while at war. In “Spies“, Snafu leaks classified information a little at a time until the Germans and Japanese piece it together and sink his transport ship.
Blanc voiced some of his Warner Bros. characters for TV in the late 1960s. For these, Blanc primarily did the voices for Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales or Tweety and Sylvester (since he was forbidden by Hanna-Barbera to voice Bugs Bunny). He continued to work as a voice actor up until the end of his life. Blanc’s last original character was an orange cat called Heathcliff. He also provided voices in the feature films Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Jetsons: The Movie.
In the mid 1940s, Capitol Records began producing a line of records specifically geared towards children. Mel Blanc was under contract there at the time, so a deal was made with Warner Bros. to produce children’s albums featuring the popular Warner Bros. cartoon characters. Mel made many records for Capitol Records including his Warner Bros. characters and other characters, including Woody Woodpecker, with his most famous Capitol album being “Party Panic.” He also performed on records with other artists including The Sportsmen.
Speedy Gonzales debuted in 1953’s Cat-Tails for Two, directed by Robert McKimson. Friz Freleng and animator Hawley Pratt redesigned the character into his modern incarnation for the 1955 Freleng short, Speedy Gonzales. Mel performed his Speedy Gonzales character in Pat Boone’s 1962 hit record of “Speedy Gonzales.”
In 1958 Mel Blanc released a Christmas record (Capitol 3902), featuring his mexican Speedy Gonzales voice (though it is never referenced as being Speedy), called “The Hat I Got for Christmas is Too Beeg.” On the B-side is a song called “Pancho’s Christmas.”
LISTEN TO SONG:
DOWNLOAD MP3:
Mel_Blanc_-_The_Hat_I_Got_For_Christmas_Is_Too_Beeg.mp3
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As a voice-over actor, I loved reading this concise summary of Mel Blanc’s amazing career. This song made me laugh, and I could picture Speedy stumbling around a sombrero too beeg for his head! Thanks for posting this treasure.
Karen Commins
www.AVOICEAboveTheCrowd.com
www.KarenBlogs.com