Paul Julian

**Paul Hull Husted** (25 June 1914 - 5 September 1995), better known as **Paul Julian**, was an American artist and designer, best known for voicing Road Runner for director Chuck Jones and drawing backgrounds (often suburban ones) for Friz Freleng's *Tweety & Sylvester* series.

He first did the "beep, beep" noise in the Warner Bros. parking lot as a polite means of telling people to get out of his way. Paul recorded several versions of this, and sound-engineer Treg Brown sped some of them up and looped them together. These recordings were ultimately used for the *Wile E. Coyote & Roadrunner* cartoons. However, Paul was uncredited for his work, as Mel Blanc's contract with WB stipulated that he was the only credited *Looney Tunes* voice actor.

## History

Born in Illinois, Julian worked on mural projects all around Southern California for the WPA prior to beginning his career in Hollywood. In 1942, an oil and canvas mural (*Orange Pickers*) painted by Julian was added to the interior of the Fullerton, California post office. When completed, the Post Office and interior mural brought to the Fullerton community a symbol of government efficiency, services, and culture. Julian's 1942 mural works are also at the Upland Elementary School in Upland, California at the side of the school auditorium. Though faded, the murals are in decent shape. Julian used a technique called petrachrome for this fine mural that utilized 24 different colors of marble to complete the mural's four panels. The mural inside the Fullerton Post Office is in excellent condition.

Later, while working at Warner Brothers as a background artist, Julian provided the Road Runner’s "Beep-Beep!" sound. Julian first made the sound on the Warner Bros. studio lot. He imitated a car horn as a lighthearted way to get people out of his way when he was in a hurry. Editor Treg Brown recorded Julian's noises and ultimately used them for the *Road Runner* films, which are still in use in modern *Looney Tunes* media, even after Julian's death in 1995.

Julian directed the animated films *Baby Boogie* (1955), and *The Hangman* (1964), which was produced by Les Goldman. The film garnered over fifteen international film festival awards. He also produced the 1978 anime fantasy *Winds of Change*, based on Ovid's *Metamorphosis*. Julian also had a long working relationship with Roger Corman providing artwork for many of his movies, including *Dementia 13* and *The Terror*.

Julian was still working as artist when he died in Van Nuys, California, in 1995.

## Looney Roles

* The Roadrunner (1949-1995; 1996-present, archive recordings)

## Looney Works

### Background Artist

* *That's Warner Bros.!*
* "Hare Trigger
* "Elmer's Candid Camera"
* "Elmer's Pet Rabbit"

### Actor

* "Soup or Sonic" - Road Runner
* "Fast and Furry-ous" - Road Runner
* "Sugar and Spies" - Road Runner
* *The Road Runner Show* - Road Runner
* "Freeze Frame" - Road Runner
* "Boulder Wham!" - Road Runner
* "Fast and Furry-ous" - Road Runner
* "Chariots of Fur" - Road Runner (last cartoon produced in Paul Julian's lifetime)
* "Coyote Falls" - Road Runner
* "Fur of Flying" - Road Runner
* "Rabid Rider" - Road Runner
* "Flash in the Pain" - Road Runner
* "Chaser on the Rocks" - Road Runner
* "Hopalong Casualty" - Road Runner
* *Dexter's Laboratory* - Dee-Dee imitating Road Runner
* *Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over* - Road Runner
* *The Electric Company* - Road Runner
* "Zip Zip Hooray!" - Road Runner