Mel Blanc

Melvin Jerome Blanc (May 30, 1908 - July 10, 1989) wasfamous American voice actorWarner BrothersHanna-Barbera cartoons.

Blanc's abilitycreate voicesmultiple characters first attracted attention when he worked asvoice actorradio. He wasregular onJack Benny Programvarious roles, including Benny's automobile (a Maxwelldesperate need oftune up), violin teacher Professor LeBlanc, PollyParrot,Benny's pet polar bear Carmichael. Blanc also appeared on other national radio programs such as "BurnsAllen" asHappy Postman, August Moon on "Point Sublime", Sad Sack on "G.I. Journal", FloydBarber on "The Great Gildersleeve",later played various small parts on Benny's television show. Blanc's famous role on Benny's TV show was as "Si,Mexican"which he spoke one word attime. The famous 'si-sy-sue' routine was so hilarious that no matter how many timeswas performed,laughter was always there. Another famous Blanc role on Jack's show wasTrain Depot announcer who always saidphrase: "Train leaving on Track FiveAnaheim, Azuza,Cucamonga". What made that phrase so funny wasspacing between Cucamonga.

At timesspacing wasfew seconds apartother timespause was so achingly drawn out thatlistener satattention awaitingBlancfinally finish"amonga" portion.

Mel Blanc joined Leon Schlesinger Studios (the subsidiaryWarner Brothers Pictures which produced animated cartoons)1936. He soon became notedvoicingwide varietycartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck,many others. InworldVoice Acting, Mel Blanc wasmaster. His natural voice was SylvesterCat but withoutlispy spray. Blanc'sassociation withtheatrical cartoonsWarner Brothers gave him an edge overmade-for-TV voice actors liketwo greats Daws ButlerDon Messick. Although DawsDon both had voice rolesMGM theatrical cartoons {Daws beingsouthern talking wolf who always whistledDon at times being "Droopy"},two didn't do as many theatricals as Mel.

Inearly '60s Mel wentHanna Barberacontinuedvoice various one-shot characters...with Barney RubbleMr. Spacely being his most famousHanna-Barbera. Daws ButlerDon Messick were Hanna-Barbera's top voice menMel wasnewcomerH-B. However, all of'30s'40s theatrical cartoons from Warner Brothers were making their waySaturday morning TVcompete withmade-for-TV Hanna-Barbera'sMel was once more deemed relevant. Warner Bros then startedmake first-run cartoon shortsTV inlate '60s, mostly shorts consistingDaffy DuckSpeedy Gonzales or TweetySylvester. Mel did these voices plusones he did forensemble cartoons like "Wacky Races""The PerilsPenelope Pitstop"Hanna-Barbera. Mel even sharedspotlighthis two rivalspersonal friends Daws ButlerDon Messick. Onshort called "LippyLion", Daws was Lippy while Mel was his side-kick, "Hardy Har Har". Onshort about "Richochet Rabbit", Don wasgun slinging rabbit while Mel was his side-kick, "Deputy Droop-a-Long".

Blanc's last original character was an orange cat called "Heathcliff", who spokelittle like his famed "Bugs Bunny" but withmore street tough demeanor. This wasearly '80s. Mel continuedvoice his famous characterscommercials.

His death was consideredsignificant loss tocartoon industry becausehis skill, expressive range, andsheer numbercharacters he portrayed, which now hadbe taken up by others as literally no one person could match his vocal range.

He was bornSan Francisco, CaliforniadiedLos Angeles, California. Heinterred inHollywood Forever Memorial Park CemeteryHollywood, California.

Listcharactersyear he first voiced them:^{1 2 3}

1. Porky Pig (1937, assumed from Joe Dougherty)
2. Daffy Duck (1938)
3. Bugs Bunny (1941)
4. Woody Woodpecker (1941)
5. Tweety Bird (1942)
6. The Hep Cat (1942)
7. Private Snafu, numerous war-related cartoons (1943)
8. Yosemite Sam (1945) ("Hare Trigger")
9. Pepe LePew (1945)
10. Sylvestercat (1946) aka Thomas (1947)some films
11. Foghorn Leghorn (1946)
12. Henery Hawk (1946)
13. Charlie Dog (1947)
14. Wile E. Coyote (1948)
15. K-9 (1948) (sidekickMarvinMartian)
16. MarvinMartian (1948)
17. Road Runner (1948)
18. The Tasmanian Devil (1954)
19. Speedy Gonzalez (1955)
20. Elmer Fudd (1959, assumed from Arthur Q Bryan)
21. Barney Rubble (1960)
22. Dino (1960) (Fred Flintstone's pet.)
23. Cosmo G. Spacely (1962)
24. Secret Squirrel (1964-1965)
25. Hardy Harr Harr (1965-1966)
26. Bubba McCoy from "Where's Huddles
27. Captain Caveman
28. Chug-a-Boom/the Ant Hill Mob/the Bully Brothers from "The PerilsPenelope Pitstop""Wacky Races
29. Heathcliff (1981/ appearedsyndication from 1986-1988)

Reference

• That's Not All, Folks!, 1988 by Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe. Warner Books, ASIN 0446390895 (Softcover) ASIN 0446512443 (Hardcover)