Lucie Dolène
Lucie Dolène (17 June 1931 – 9 April 2020) was a French actress and singer. She notably dubbed the voices of Snow White and Madame Samovar. Her autobiography, cowritten by Grégoire Philibert, is published in 2021. Biography. Dolène was born in Damascus during the French Mandate. Discovered by Joseph Canteloube, Dolène recorded "Chants d'Auvergne" under the pseudonym Lucie Daullène. She played in musicals with Luis Mariano and Les Frères Jacques. Her skills in acting helped her find roles in theatrical productions, including "Le noir te va si bien" in 1975. She began dubbing in the 1950s, including her voice -over of Debbie Reynolds in the French film edition of "Singin' in the Rain". Her soprano voice helped her voice-over in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", which was released in 1962. She voiced over Madame Samovar in "Beauty and the Beast". When the movie was released on VHS, Dolène sued the Walt Disney Company over the rights to the use of her voice. She won the lawsuit, and Disney paid her for all the rights to her songs. Shortly thereafter, Disney opted for a different voice-over actress for all of its films and replaced Dolène's voice  in "Snow White". In 1997, Pierre Huyghe made a documentary on the suit, titled "Blanche-Neige Lucie". Dolène withdrew from studios in the 2010s. She died on 9 April 2020 in Noisy-le-Grand at the age of 88.