Mel Blanc
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Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc - 1959.jpg
Blanc in 1959
Born Melvin Jerome Blank
May 30, 1908
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died July 10, 1989 (aged 81)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Other names "The Man of 1000 Voices"
Alma mater Lincoln High School
Occupation Voice actor, radio personality
Years active 1927–1989
Spouse(s) Estelle Rosenbaum (m. 1933)
Children Noel Blanc
Awards Inkpot Award (1976)[1]
Mel Blanc (born Melvin Jerome Blank /blæŋk/;[2][3] May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989)[4] was an American voice actor and radio personality. After beginning his over-60-year career performing in radio, he became known for his work in animation as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and most of the other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons during the golden age of American animation.[5]
He later voiced characters for Hanna-Barbera's television cartoons, including Barney Rubble on The Flintstones and Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons. During the golden age of radio, Blanc also frequently performed on the programs of comedians, including Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, Burns and Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, and Judy Canova.[5]
Blanc was nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Voices",[6] and is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice acting industry.[7]
Early life
Blanc was born in San Francisco, California, to Eva (née Katz), a Russian Jewish immigrant, and Frederick Blank (born in New York to Russian Jewish parents), the younger of two children. He grew up in the Western Addition neighborhood in San Francisco, and later in Portland, Oregon, where he attended Lincoln High School. Growing up, he had a fondness for voices and dialect, which he began voicing at the age of 10. He claimed that he changed the spelling of his name when he was 16, 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. 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 19, and performing shtick in vaudeville shows around Washington, Oregon, and northern California.
Career
Radio work
Blanc began his radio career at the age of 19 in 1927, when he made his acting debut on the KGW program The Hoot Owls, where his ability to provide voices for multiple characters first attracted attention. He moved to Los Angeles in 1932, where he met Estelle Rosenbaum (1909–2003), whom he married a year later, before returning to Portland. He moved to KEX in 1933 to produce and co-host his Cobweb and Nuts show with his wife Estelle, which debuted on June 15. The program played Monday through Saturday from 11:00 pm to midnight, and by the time the show ended two years later, it appeared from 10:30 pm to 11:00 pm.
With his wife's encouragement, Blanc returned to Los Angeles and joined Warner Bros.–owned KFWB in Hollywood in 1935. He joined The Johnny Murray Show, but the following year switched to CBS Radio and The Joe Penner Show.
The cast of The Jack Benny Program, from left to right: Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone, Jack Benny, Don Wilson, and Mel Blanc
Blanc was a regular on the NBC Red Network show The Jack Benny Program in various roles, including voicing Benny's Maxwell automobile (in desperate need of a tune-up), violin teacher Professor LeBlanc, Polly the Parrot, Benny's pet polar bear Carmichael and the train announcer. The first role came from a mishap when the recording of the automobile's sounds failed to play on cue, prompting Blanc to take the microphone and improvise the sounds himself. The audience reacted so positively that Benny decided to dispense with the recording altogether and have Blanc continue in that role. One of Blanc's characters from Benny's radio (and later TV) programs was "Sy, the Little Mexican", who spoke one word at a time. He continued to work with Benny on radio until the series ended in 1955 and followed the program into television from Benny's 1950 debut episode through guest spots on NBC specials in the 1970s.
Radio Daily magazine wrote in 1942 that Blanc "specialized in over fifty-seven voices, dialects, and intricate sound effects", and by 1946, he was appearing on over fifteen programs in various supporting roles. His success on The Jack Benny Program led to his own radio show on the CBS Radio Network, The Mel Blanc Show, which ran from September 3, 1946, to June 24, 1947. Blanc played himself as the hapless owner of a fix-it shop, as well as his young cousin Zookie. Blanc also appeared on such other national radio programs as The Abbott and Costello Show, the Happy Postman on Burns and Allen, and as August Moon on Point Sublime. During World War II, he appeared as Private Sad Sack on various radio shows, including G.I. Journal. Blanc recorded a song titled "Big Bear Lake".
Animation voice work during the golden age of Hollywood
File:Private Snafu - Spies.ogv
Private Snafu: Spies, voiced by Blanc in 1943
Amanda S. Stevenson 
Michelle Cassidy 
