Mel Blanc was born May 30, 1908 and passed away July 10th, 1989. Certainly he is one of the most prominent voice artists of all time and the first to receive an on-screen credit for his work.
While perhaps best known for his work on the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes characters like Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, he also originated the voice and laugh for Woody Woodpecker, voiced Barney Rubble for The Flintstones, Heathcliff the cat and so many others over a decades long career. The voices he created are still instantly recognizable.
Blanc also frequently performed on the radio programs of famous comedians especially Jack Benny where he was responsible for many memorable moments like the train conductor proclaiming, “Anaheim, Azusa and Cuc-a-monga” as well as Benny’s exasperated violin teacher Prof. LeBlanc, and Cy from Tijuana, who answered most questions with “Si.”
Shortly before his death, the executives of Time-Warner (owners of Warner Bros.) asked Blanc if there was anything, literally anything, that they could give him to thank him for his life’s body of work. He asked for, and received, a Ford Edsel.
Epitaph on headstone at his burial site in Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood reads, “That’s All Folks! Mel Blanc. Man Of 1000 Voices. Beloved Husband And Father 1908-1989.”
Blanc kept busy during his later years with his favorite hobby, collecting antique watches. His voluminous collection, insured for over $200,000 contained items dating to 1510.
Perhaps the last public interview with voice artist Mel Blanc took place in January 1989 at the Third Los Angeles International Animation Celebration. He was interviewed on stage by the talented Will Ryan and I was lucky enough to be in the audience.
Here are a few excerpts and gives you a taste of how Blanc told stories:
Blanc: I tried to get into Warner Bros. cartoons. Even though I did many different dialects and voices when I tried to get in, I went to this one man who was in charge of hiring voices. I said, “Will you listen to me and what I can do?”
He said, “I’m sorry, we have all the voices we need.”
Well, I was a stubborn as he was and I went back in two weeks and said, “Won’t you just listen to me? I do dialects and voices.” He said, “I’m sorry we have all the voices we need.” I was still as stubborn as he was. I went back every two weeks for a year and a half. He still wouldn’t see me.
Finally this guy died! I went to Treg Brown, he was next in charge. I told him that I’d been trying for a year and half to get an audition here and he always told me that he had all the voices he needed, didn’t want anyone else. He said, “You shouldn’t have paid attention to him. He didn’t know what in the hell he was doing.”
I said, “NOW you tell me! Who’s in charge of voices?” He said, “I am.” So Treg actually gave me my start in the cartoon business. And perhaps you’ve heard of Frank Tashlin? He’s one of the top directors. He said, “I’ve got a picture coming up with a drunken bull. Do you think you can do a voice of a drunken bull? I looked around and said, “I think I can do that.”
He said, “What would he sound like?” (Blanc does voice imitation.) I think he would sound a little (hic) loaded with sour mash (hic). He said, “Meet me at the studio next Tuesday.” So that’s how I got started, with a drunken bull. (Korkis note: It was Picador Porky (1937).)
I got the Woody Woodpecker voice from a high school I went to in Portland, Oregon. We had a hall that had a terrific echo. I thought I’d see what it would do with a laugh. So I did this laugh. (Blanc does Woody laugh.)
I ran down the hall and ran right into the principal. He said, “What are you doing, running and laughing like crazy?” I said, “I just wanted to hear my echo.”
He said, “Don’t do that again or I’m going to take you out of school.” Little did he know that would later be Woody Woodpecker’s laugh. But I’m glad he didn’t kick me out of school. The kids would all laugh at my stories; the teachers would all laugh; and then give me lousy marks.
The Roadrunner did not speak, and the coyote that chased him had only spoken about twice in all the pictures they had made. I had to give a voice to this Wile E. Coyote. So I thought, why not make him an English actor (Blanc does voice).
And they used a horn, actually a klaxon, to do the voice of the Roadrunner. One day they couldn’t find the horn. Chuck Jones came to me. He said, “Do you think you can do the voice of a horn?”
I said, “Sure.” He said, “Let me hear it.” I did “Beep beep”. He said, “Great. We’ll get you when we can’t find the horn.” So I actually became the sound of the horn, too.
Jack Benny was not only my boss, he was one of my best friends. I gotta tell you a short story about his being so cheap. That’s what he lived on, the sense that he was a cheapskate.
One day, he said, “Mel, let’s go get a cup of coffee.” I said, “Fine.” Coffee was only ten cents then. He got the bill. The bill was only twenty cents. He laid down a dollar and said, “Let’s go, Mel.” I said, “Jack, aren’t you going to wait for your change? You got eighty cents coming.” He said, “Oh no, no one’s going to call me a cheapskate. That’s a tip for that girl.
On the show, he had a Maxwell 1927. It was an automobile for those of you who can’t remember. And the sound effects men would play the sound of a motor on a phonograph record, then they’d hold their finger on it to slow it down and make it stop.
Then one day they came to the cue and the sound man didn’t have the electricity plugged in. I ran up to the mike and did this (Blanc makes coughing and sputtering sounds.). Jack Benny said, “You’re now my Maxwell!”
I think Bugs Bunny has always been my favorite character. He was a tough little stinker. I thought, “Should I give him a voice from Brooklyn or from the Bronx?” I put them together and that’s Bugs Bunny. In other words, he’s more or less of the suppressed desire of what men would like to do that don’t have guts enough to do.
Jim Korkis is an internationally respected animation historian who in recent years has devoted his attention to the many worlds of Disney. He was a columnist for a variety of animation magazines. With his former writing partner, John Cawley, he authored several animation related books including The Encyclopedia of Cartoon Superstars, How to Create Animation, Cartoon Confidential and Get Animated’s Animation Art Buyer’s Guide. He taught animation classes at the Disney Institute in Florida as well as instructing classes on acting and animation history for Disney Feature Animation: Florida.
I thought Paul Julian did the “Meep Meep”.
He did, though I believe Blanc may have filled in occasionally for records and such.
The bird’s signature “Beep Beep!” was done by sound effects artist Paul Julian. His vocal (actually “Meep! Meep!”) was recorded once and used throughout the series.
A Ford Edsel. Perfect.
I was lucky to see him once as an added attraction at a boat show in Omaha. I guess he did personal appearances on occasion. I was a teenager at the time (mid-60s), and it seemed an odd venue. I wondered if the crowd even knew who he was, but in fact they mobbed the staged; they knew. He did a half hour set, voiced nearly every character, and told genuinely funny stories.
The crowd went crazy.
I’ll say it if no one else will. There are many classic animation voice actors, and all should be acknowledged. But, at the top of the pyramid, there has always been, and will always be, Mel Blanc.
I was in high school when Mel died. My best friend and I worshipped the man. The day we heard the news, my buddy showed up at my house with a tear in his eye and we both just stood on the front porch and gave each other a huge hug. As good as some of the imitators can be at getting the sound of the voices right, none of them have ever been able to “inhabit” Bugs, Daffy, etc. in such a way as to make me believe they were real the way Mel Blanc did.
Joe Alasky came pretty close in my opinion.
Will Ryan has such an extraordinary career and knows (and has known) so many hundreds of the famous (and should-be-better-remembered) of Hollywood, it should have come as no surprise that he did Mel Blanc’s last interview.
But thankfully Will isn’t the boastful type. Allow me to suggest checking out Will as one half of the faux-vintage comedy team, “Biffle and Shooster.” His partner in mirth is Nick Santa Maria, who among endless stage credits is the first live actor to play the Genie in Aladdin on stage. Cameos in the comedy shorts include Robert Picardo and Daniel Roebuck. You can stream Biffle and Shooster but the DVD is loaded with extras.
https://smile.amazon.com/Misadventures-Biffle-Shooster-Michael-Schlesinger/dp/B07BF25TB8/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2UAFYJJ0HXTDV&dchild=1&keywords=biffle+and+shooster&qid=1614625816&sprefix=biffle+and%2Caps%2C232&sr=8-2
Will also just started podcasting with fellow cartoon voice actor Katie Leigh (Gummi Bears) on a (highly) free-form show called Tell Ya Later.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbADsB9codc_KPDUgf34Dlw
The only thing I still wonder about Mel Blanc is why he changed Barney Rubble’s voice.
I think I read somewhere that when Mel was in the car crash and Daws Butler took over doing the voice of Barney, when Mel returned he continued doing the voice like Daws.
Not quite, Tim. Mel’s original Barney was akin to a dopey voice he used on the Jack Benny radio show. When he came back, it was a little less clueless, more friendly and a bit lower.
Hey, don’t forget the guy who wrote, produced and directed the darn things! 😉
I notice that Mel misremembered who first cast him in a cartoon as “Picador Porky” was directed Fred Avery and not Frank Tashlin.
It seems Mel Blanc wasn’t one to let facts get in the way of a good story. But what stories! Thanks for keeping a record of his last interview. Wish I could have been there.
I remember watching a rerun of the Jack Benny show, and when Frank Nelson came on, my mother said: “Oh look, it’s Mel Blanc!” For years I thought that Mel, in addition to all his other roles, was the guy who said “Yyyyes???” Oh well, even the best mothers make mistakes.
I talk to Noel occasionally and one of the things he always mentioned as his dad’s career in advertising. Noel’s got incredible stories with Mel and Howard Morris, June Foray, Joan Gerber, Lennie Weinrib, Stan Freberg, and Sheldon Leonard doing commercial work for him. Noel told me the last thing that Mel ever did was the Oldsmobile commercial which Mel died the night of the shooting of.
I was lucky enough to see Mel when he spoke at my university in the mid-’70s. His storytelling had the audience engaged, and of course he did all the voices. Although I’m not sure how you can “combine” Brooklyn and The Bronx. I was born in The Bronx and still live in the NYC area, and the accents are very much the same. I guess it was just one of Mel’s stories.
Can someone confirm or debunk?
Blanc declined to take on Elmer Fudd’s voice after Arthur Q. Bryan passed away. Bryan was a friend and Blanc just felt bad about it. He did dub one word in “What’s Opera, Doc”, screaming “SMOG!” because Bryan couldn’t make it big enough in Elmer’s voice. And even there Blanc isn’t imitating Bryan.
I’m sure it’s true Mel didn’t want to (and possibly requested not to be asked to), but he did do Elmer at least twice. In addition to your example, he does Elmer in THE SCARLET PUMPERNICKEL.
Pretty morbid to know that Mel Blanc died exactly seven years before I was born. It’s something I’ve thought about from time to time.
At any rate, Blanc was a true master of his craft. His performances were a major part of what made the WB shorts so memorable, and his death left a gaping hole in the Looney Tunes franchise. At the very least, Eric Bauza has come really close – Bugs’ screams have never sounded so close to Mel’s originals.
I’d like to learn someday the technical details of how the voices in WB cartoons were recorded. In the pre-tape era, they could have used discs (cheaper, easier to manipulate) or optical film (better suited to the film medium). Since some of Mel’s characters like Daffy Duck needed to be sped up somewhat to get the right effect, they no doubt had to do a lot of dubbing. Has anyone ever written about the process?
Hi Peter. I worked as Mel’s recording engineer beginning in 1972 at age 25 (I’m now 77). Early WB voice work was done on sound film. At his own studio, Mel Blanc Audiomedia in Beverly Hills, were were on 1/4″ magnetic tape with Sony C-37a condenser mics. Ampex series 350 tape machines running at 15 IPS, full track (no multitrack). Daffy was sped-up and pitch changed +7%, by recording his lines at -7% on a customized Ampex with variable speed control. Other high-pitched voices, same treatment, but different %. Highest was Tweety, but by then, Mel struggled. EMAIL ME!
I believe Mel Blanc was the the block war warden for Fairview Street in Burbank during World War II. My two brothers and sister and I lived just down the street from his home. At that time, all homes were required to have black drapes which were to be closed at night should undetected enemy planes invade the airspace above the nearby large Lockheed Aircraft facility which was pumping out war planes as fast as they could be assembled. In fact the plant and surrounding streets were covered with a canopy of camouflage material. Our father worked there all the time except a few hours at home to eat a quick meal and catch a few hours of sleep whenever he could. Experiencing the drop and evacuation drills at school added to the fear heightened by being suddenly plunged into pitch blackness with the wail of the sirens in our ears. We wondered if this time we would be bombed. Mel would always knock on our door to ask us if we were all okay. He made us us laugh with his cartoon character voices and he always brought words of cheer. Anticipation of his knock and reassurances really helped. He checked in with everyone on that street. Though time has gone by, and his story has been told to our children and grandchildren, My brother and I still sometimes remember him while talking about growing up on Fairview Street..