Mel Blanc: Man of 1,000 Voices

They knew that I was the one who did the crazy

voices

in the cartoons and they called me to do a crazy voice in this program and that once I was doing up to 18 transcontinentals. shows a blank week also originated the voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker for the theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lance for Universal Pictures and I remembered in school that he had a crazy laugh that he used to do in school in high school and I went up the end of the hall to hear the echo would just echo every which way not knowing that this would turn out to be Woody Woodpecker's voice which is yes strange, in the end he stopped voicing Woody after the character's first three spots when he signed an exclusive contract with Warner Brothers Despite this, his laugh was still used in the Woody Woodpecker cartoons until 1951, when Grace Stafford recorded a softer version, while his signature line was used in the opening titles until the end of the series.

Closing of Walter Lands Productions in 1972 but you know who remembers that in 1960 Blank's exclusive contract with Warner expired and while he would continue working for the studio voicing Bugs Lucas and the other beloved characters. He was now a free agent in what became a long and profitable second working relationship. Blank began voicing animated characters for Hanna-Barbera Studios. The first significant contribution came with prime time. animated series The Flintstones in which Blank played Fred's kind neighbor Barney Rubble, yes he did the voice for him and you know it's a different voice than an old man, call me, but today also do a voice like God Connie.

I said no, I won't do it. Do that, but I'll give you this voice here. I'll take the same Reflections he uses and the slow life at the end. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when a horrific car accident on Sunset Boulevard nearly ended Blank's career and his life. Hit head-on by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. The voice actor was in a coma at UCLA Medical Center for three weeks. There was a brain specialist. He had a triple skull fracture and was unconscious. He needed to know if he had ever done it. he would come out of it and he would come every day and say how are you feeling today.

Mel and I didn't respond to him because I've been here, but he had an idea and one day he walked in and he knew when my wife Estelle. They were in the room at the same time and he came in and said uh how are you today Bugs Bunny and I replied I said very good doctor how are you and he knew with this that he was going to get out of this because I personally was dead but my characters were still alive and He knew I was going to get out of it. That doesn't sound like a true story but it's true.

Throughout the 1960s and '70s Blank expanded his repertoire of Hanna-Barbera

voices

with memorable characters like George Jetson's Pugnacious Boss, Mr. Space, the bushy-tailed spy Secret Squirrel, and the anthropomorphic Speed ​​Buggy. He also branched out into commercials becoming the lead voice of Toucan. Sam Blank also lent his voice to a live-action series as the diminutive robot Tweaky in Buck Rogers and the 25th Century, his last original voice characterization being created for Ruby Spears' Saturday morning cartoon Heathcliff, in which voiced the orange feline and here we are at The Firm believing that Heathcliff is superior to Garfield, so all you haters can save it for Mondays.

I don't understand why they tie up pets, humans cause so much more damage and again paying for pet food after over 60 years in the business. Blank contributed to the highest-profile feature film of his career with Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, where he provided the voices for several of his classic characters, including Bugs Daffy and Tweety, a year later, shortly after filming a television commercial, his son Blank suffered a stroke and later died at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on July 10, 1989 at the age of 81. Throughout her extremely successful career Mel was able to remain incredibly grounded and humble if she saw a person smile, that to me was a payment in itself and if she could make them laugh when they were very sad, that was a great payment to me, He truly is a legend who pioneered an entire history. industry and inspired many to embrace the art of voice acting, there's not much else to say other than thank you Mel and like her headstone in Hollywood Forever Cemetery States, thank you to these people for supporting us on patreon and coffee, thanks for watching. this episode of discographies comment below with the characters you would like to see us cover further reading and references are linked below hope to see you in another foreign discography