Mel Blanc

Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc (30 May 1908 – 10 July 1989) was an American voice actor, comedian, radio personality, and recording artist. Although he began his over-sixty-year career performing in radio, he is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros. as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and many of the other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical short films, during the Golden Age of Animation.
== Biography ==
Blanc was born in San Francisco to Russian-Jewish parents in 1908. As a kid, he grew up in Portland, Oregon. While growing up, he had a thing for voices and dialect, which he started to voice at the age of ten. At sixteen, he claimed that he changed the spelling of his name from "Blank" to "Blanc", because a teacher told him that he would amount to nothing and be like his name, a "blank". Blanc joined the Order of DeMolay as a young man, and was eventually inducted into its Hall of Fame.
Blanc had some musical knowledge. After graduating from high school in 1927, he split his time between leading an orchestra, becoming the youngest conductor in the country at the age of nineteen, and performing shtick in vaudeville shows around Washington, Oregon, and northern California.Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe (1988), That's Not All Folks, Warner Books. ISBN 0446512443
His voice acting career with Warner Bros. began in 1937 with the cartoon short "Picador Porky", in which he voiced two hobos who disguise themselves as a drunken bull. By 1944, Blanc had become the first voice actor to receive on-screen credit for his work, beginning with the Bugs Bunny short "Little Red Riding Rabbit". According to Blanc's autobiography, he was given this exclusivity by Leon Schlesinger in exchange for not getting a raise. The compromise enabled Blanc become a favorite voice actor to cast for other productions, even though it meant his fellow players in the company like June Foray would work in relative obscurity for years more. 
Having earned the nickname "The Man of 1,000 Voices," Blanc is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice-acting industry. Over the span of his career, he was in over five thousand cartoons and did over four hundred different voices for them.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeAM1vwEcFg
Blanc began smoking cigarettes at the age of nine. He continued his pack-a-day habit until age 77, after he was diagnosed with emphysema. On May 19, 1989, his family checked him into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles when they noticed he had a bad cough while shooting a commercial. He was originally expected to recover, but when his health worsened, doctors discovered he had advanced coronary artery disease. After nearly two months in the hospital, Blanc died on July 10, 1989 at Cedars-Sinai of complications from both illnesses. He was 81. He is interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in section 13, Pinewood section, plot #149 in Hollywood. His will specified that his gravestone read "THAT'S ALL FOLKS"—the phrase with which Blanc's character, Porky Pig, concluded many Warner Bros. cartoons.
== Looney Roles ==
* Porky Pig (replaced Joe Dougherty in 1937's Porky's Duck Hunt)
* Daffy Duck (debuted in 1937's Porky's Duck Hunt)
* Egghead (debuted in 1937's Egghead Rides Again, Note: Mel voiced Egghead in most scenes while other voice actors like Danny Webb and Billy Bletcher voiced Egghead in one scene.)
* Elmer Fudd (debuted in 1937's Little Red Walking Hood. Mel also voiced Elmer Fudd in some cartoons before and after Arthur Q. Bryan, and even during Bryan's lifetime)
* Bugs Bunny (debuted as a white rabbit in 1938's Porky's Hare Hunt, and redesigned for 1940's A Wild Hare)
* Cecil Turtle (debuted in 1941's Tortoise Beats Hare)
* Tweety (debuted in 1942's A Tale of Two Kitties)
* Yosemite Sam (debuted in 1945's Hare Trigger)
* Pepé Le Pew (debuted in 1945's Odor-able Kitty)
* Sylvester (debuted in 1945's Life with Feathers)
* Henery Hawk (replaced Kent Rogers in 1946's Walky Talky Hawky)
* Foghorn Leghorn (debuted in 1946's Walky Talky Hawky)
* Barnyard Dawg (debuted in 1946's Walky Talky Hawky)
* Charlie Dog (debuted as Rover in 1941's Porky's Pooch)
* Mac (debuted in 1947's The Goofy Gophers)
* Marvin the Martian (debuted in 1948's Haredevil Hare)
* Sylvester Junior (debuted in 1950's Pop 'Im Pop!)
* Beaky Buzzard (replaced Kent Rogers in 1950's The Lion's Busy and Strife with Father)
* Clyde Bunny (debuted in 1951's His Hare Raising Tale)
* Speedy Gonzales (debuted in 1953's Cat-Tails for Two)
* Rocky and Mugsy (debuted in 1953's Bugs and Thugs)
* Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog (debuted in 1953's Don't Give Up the Sheep)
* Tasmanian Devil (debuted in 1954's Devil May Hare)
* Nasty Canasta (replaced John T. Smith in 1954's My Little Duckaroo)
* Merlin of Monroe (debuted in 1955's Knight-Mare Hare)
* Blacque Jacque Shellacque (debuted in 1959's Bonanza Bunny)
* Tosh Gopher (replaced Stan Freberg in 1965's Tease for Two)
* Wile E. Coyote (speaking voice in Operation: Rabbit, To Hare Is Human, Rabbit's Feat, Compressed Hare, Adventures of the Road-Runner, and vocal effects in various Road Runner shorts)
* Private Snafu - WWII shorts
=== See Also ===
* :Category:Characters voiced by Mel Blanc 
* :Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc
== Other Voice Work ==
In addition to Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, Blanc had done voice work for cartoon studios including Disney, Screen Gems, MGM, and Universal before he was signed to an exclusive contract with Warner Bros in 1941. For Disney, Blanc had recorded dialogue for Gideon the Cat, Honest John's sidekick, from Pinocchio, but went unused after the studio decided to make him mute similar to Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the only material that remains of him includes three hiccups that he had recorded. At the MGM cartoon studio, Blanc had done voice work for cartoons that were directed by Looney Tunes co-creator Hugh Harman where he would often play leading parts such as the squirrel grandfather in the Oscar nominated short "Peace on Earth" and the titular character in "Tom Turkey and His Harmonica Humdingers", along with voicing John Silver in the ill-fated The Captain and the Kids film series and Count Screwloose in two cartoons that were directed by cartoonist Milt Gross. He also did voice work for the Screen Gems cartoon studio including the first Fox and the Crow cartoon, Frank Tashlin's "The Fox and the Grapes", which Chuck Jones cited as the inspiration for the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons. Blanc was also the original voice of Woody Woodpecker for Walter Lantz Productions, but only voiced the character in his first few theatrical shorts. However, he did reprise his role in recordings for Capitol Records from 1948 until 1955.
Mel Blanc originally voiced Elmer Fudd between 1937 and 1938, while Elmer was also voiced by Danny Webb between 1938 and 1939 (only in Cinderella Meets Fella (1938) and Believe It or Else (1939)), Roy Rogers in 1938, only doing a singing voice in "A Feud There Was" , while Mel voices Fudd talking in this cartoon, and radio actor Arthur Q. Bryan between 1939 and 1959, but on seven occasions during Bryan's lifetime, the voice was provided by Mel Blanc. For example, "Good Night Elmer" (1940), Blanc did Elmer's crying; in "The Wacky Wabbit" (1942), Blanc did Fudd's screams of fear; in The Big Snooze (1946), Blanc spoke as Fudd crying, "Oh, agony, agony!"; in The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950), only a single line was needed, and bringing in Bryan was not cost effective; in Quack Shot (1954), Blanc did Elmer's Peter Lorre-esque laugh after he is shot in the face by his toy battleship; in Wideo Wabbit (1956), Blanc did Elmer's cry of pain; and in What's Opera, Doc?, Elmer's furious scream "SMOG!" was dubbed by Blanc, although Bryan had voiced the rest of the part. In The Stupid Cupid (1944), since Elmer has no dialogue in the cartoon, Frank Graham provided his laugh. Later, during the musician's union strike of 1958, Dave Barry did the voice for Elmer's co-starring appearance in Pre-Hysterical Hare, as Bryan was ill during production of the cartoon. Elmer was originally going to be voiced in that cartoon by Daws Butler.
After his exclusive contract with WB expired in 1960, he also provided voices for the TV cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera. His most famous roles during this time were Barney Rubble of The Flintstones and Mr. Spacely of The Jetsons. His other voice roles for Hanna-Barbara included Dino the Dinosaur, Secret Squirrel, Speed Buggy and Captain Caveman. Blanc also provided vocal effects for the Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts directed by Chuck Jones in the mid-1960s. He was also heard in several commercials for Froot Loops as Toucan Sam and for Frito Lay as the controversial Frito Bandito. His final original voice role was the comic-strip character Heathcliff during the 1980s.
One of his final performances was in the 1988 live-action/animated movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in which he voiced Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety and Sylvester for their appearances in the film (though Joe Alaskey voiced Yosemite Sam in Blanc's place).
His final acting role was in Jetsons: The Movie, which was released one year after his death, where he reprised the role of Mr. Spacely. However, Blanc died during production of the film and had not finished recording his dialogue leading to one of Blanc's successors, Jeff Bergman, finishing his remaining dialogue. The film was dedicated to his memory alongside George O'Hanlon, who voiced George Jetson and also died during production of the movie.
== Trivia ==
* Mel has been called The Man of a Thousand Voices.
* In Loonatics Unleashed, one of the planets was called Blanc.
== Gallery ==
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IMG 5913768912666.jpeg|Early photo of Blanc's family; Mel is on the bottom left
1933 mel.png|1933
Mel and estelle.png|Mel and his wife Estelle Rosenbaum in 1935
Blanc family.png|A family portrait of Mel, Estelle, and their son Noel
Jack Benny group photo.jpg|Mel (far-right) with his fellow cast members of The Jack Benny Program
Mel and Clarence.jpg|With Clarence Nash
Arthur and mel.png|With Arthur Q. Bryan
Noel and mel.jpg|With a young Noel Blanc
A4b451948893ab107e08519f4eeaa3c5.jpg|With Robert McKimson
Blanc1959.jpg|1950
June-mel-and-chuck2.jpg|With Chuck Jones (left) and June Foray (center), working on "Broom-Stick Bunny"
Juneforay e.jpg|With Chuck and June
Good.jpg|1957
People are Bunny 03.jpg|Caricature from "People Are Bunny"
DkkGdJ8W4AEpgSb.jpg|Recording session of The Flintstones with Bea Benaderet (left) and Jean Vander Pyl (right)
332px-Mel Blanc (1976).jpg|1976
File:Bugs with Mel Blanc and Bill Marriott.png|Opening day of Marriott's Great America Illinois (now Six Flags Great America)
Mel and vincent.png|With Vincent Price
1626-goodman03blancclampett.jpg|With Bob Clampett
Mel-Blanc-the-voice-behind-Bugs-Bunny-and-other-Looney-Tunes-cartoon-characters 1.jpg|1982
Mel friz chuck.png|With Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones at the Academy Awards
Mel blanc vert-36962cdac061ce2f64e6552d61eb7d1aa28e6d53-s1400.jpg|With his cat Hodge
Mel-blanc-11.jpg|With Noel
402279 10150510876327731 48408214 n.jpg|With Keith Scott and Jonathan Coleman c. 1985
0-1-e1613630122806.jpg|With Joseph Campanella, Chuck Jones, and Joseph Barbera on This Is Your Life
C20806-8A.jpg|With his wife Estelle (center) and President Reagan (left) at the White House
6cb4af7d1d9f34b054152b1f9a60f182.jpg|With Bugs on his 80th birthday in 1988
Speechless Tribute to Mel Blanc.jpg|"Speechless" tribute to Mel Blanc following his death in 1989
Mel Blanc 4-15-05.jpg|Mel Blanc's gravesite marker
Mel blanc in pinkey an the brain?.png|Caricature of Mel (right) from Pinky and the Brain
24Karat-MelBlanc.jpg|"A Salute to Mel Blanc"
Unknown.jpg|Mel Blanc's autobiography
==Autobiography==
*That's Not All, Folks!, 1988 by Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe. Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-39089-5 (Softcover), ISBN 0-446-51244-3 (Hardcover)
==References==
 
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