Articles and Stories

July 29, 2014

“That’s All Folks” – Mel Blanc

It wasn’t until I started watching the Gold Collection of Looney Tunes that I realized that only one voice was used for all characters, the incredible voice artist being Mel Blanc, also known as “The Man of 1000 Voices”.  A true king of voiceovers!

He voiced over 3000 characters, many of them within the same show, such as Bugs Bunny and Bruno the Magnificent, the Slobokian circus bear; check out the accent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woH0Nhbc-fc

Not easy to pull off a foreign accent as an English-only speaker, then switch back to Bug’s nasal high pitched voice. Growing up I would watch this dubbed into Italian, what a loss! Though not that bad when you are 8 years old, take a look at Bugs Bunny and Duffy Duck speaking Italian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Bbdkzsd88

One of my favorites, though probably not a showpiece when thinking American diplomatic efforts in French circles, is Pepé Le Pew, may be a rudimentary, early cartoon version of Luc Teyssier (Kevin Kline) in French Kiss?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP7k4LXM1rE

Mr. Blanc’s voice was also given to Porky Pig, Tweedy Pie, Sylvester, Daffy Duck, Road Runner, Barney Rubble and Dino as well as various radio shows. And he was still recording their voices when he approached the age of 80.

Not only was Mr. Blanc able to voice a wide range of characters, he was also co-producer of the Bugs Bunny Show for ABC-TV in the sixties, worked on TV commercials for the American Cancer Society and American Express and composed his own music (”I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat” and ”The Woody Woodpecker Song”) as he was a gifted musician as well.

Mr. Blanc lived Hollywood’s golden age and had a significant part in it. He is regarded as the most prolific voice actor in the history of the industry and was the first to receive on-screen credit. The artist’s death was considered a significant loss to the cartoon industry because of his skill, expressive range, and the sheer volume of continuing characters he portrayed, unparalleled by other voice talents in the industry.

Upon examination of Mr. Blanc’s throat, doctors found that he possessed unusually thick, powerful vocal cords that gave him an exceptional range. They reported that his cords rivaled those of famed opera singers. A regular smoker since an early age, he was diagnosed with emphysema at age 77.

He died at age 81 in Los Angeles, and while his voice always lives on, his gravestone carries the Jewish star and reads:

“THAT’S ALL FOLKS”
MEL BLANC
MAN OF 1000 VOICES
BELOVED HUSBAND AND FATHER
1908 — 1989