Background
Blanc was born in San Francisco, California, in 1908 to Russian-Jewish parents Frederick and Eva Blank, the younger of two children.
(The legendary cartoon and radio voice man offers a behind...)
The legendary cartoon and radio voice man offers a behind-the-scenes chronicle of his many-voiced career, detailing his creation of world-famous voices and his work with the best-loved cartoon characters and radio personalities
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recording artist voice actor radio comedian
Blanc was born in San Francisco, California, in 1908 to Russian-Jewish parents Frederick and Eva Blank, the younger of two children.
Blanc studied music, becoming proficient on the bass, violin, and sousaphone. But he discovered a more amazing instrument in his own voice. "I used to look at animals and wonder, how would that kitten sound if it could talk, " he said in the New York Times. " I'd tighten up my throat and make a very small voice, not realizing I was rehearsing. "
After working for a short time as a radio actor, Blanc moved to Los Angeles and joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, a cartoon workshop that eventually developed the Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies characters for Warner Bros. While playing the part of a drunken bull in "Porky Picador, " Blanc relates in his autobiography That's Not All Folks, the actor who was then portraying Porky actually did stutter. When Blanc was later asked to play Porky, he left the stutter in the act, and his first major character was born. Blanc next developed the character who was to become his favorite, Happy Hare, in another Warner Bros. short. He lent a brash, Bronx accent to the wiseguy rabbit that eventually became Bugs Bunny. "He's a little stinker, " Blanc told the New York Times. "That's why people love him. He does what most people would like to do but don't have the guts to do. " More famous characters followed, including Pepe LePew, Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, Speedy Gonzales, and Yosemite Sam.
Despite his proficiency, Blanc did not own the rights to any of his characters and never earned more than $20, 000 in a single year from Warner Bros. , so he, was forced to pursue other activities. In the 1960s he was co-producer and voice animator for ABC's "The Bugs Bunny Show, " a Saturday morning series that featured Looney Tunes characters in new cartoons designed for television. He also provided the voices for Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone's pet dinosaur, Dino, for the first prime-time cartoon series, "The Flintstones. " Through the years, Blanc also kept up his work in radio, primarily as an actor and special effects creator for "The Jack Benny Show, " on which he portrayed Benny's mexican gardener, Sy; his violin teacher, Mr. LeBlanc; his wise-cracking parrot; and his pet polar bear. Blanc also formed his own company to produce radio and television advertising. His last cartoon contribution came in the popular 1988 mixed-animation film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit, " in which he performed the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, and Porky Pig. In assessing why his characters have become so endearing to all age-groups, Blanc told the New York Times: " What we tried to do was amuse ourselves. We didn't make pictures for children. We didn't make pictures for adults. We made them for ourselves. " Mel Blanc died in 1989.
(The legendary cartoon and radio voice man offers a behind...)
Quotations: "Today was tomorrow yesterday so don't inhale. "
Blanc began smoking cigarettes when he was nine years old. He continued his pack-a-day habit until he was diagnosed with emphysema.
Quotes from others about the person
"Mel Blanc is a hero because of what he could do with his voice for all the Looney Tunes, the Warner Brothers cartoons, to be the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig. To me, he's a great actor. "
Nicolas Cage
"I always used to sit next to Mel Blanc when we'd do the shows. When you have Jack Benny on one side and Mel Blanc on the other, you're not going to go far wrong. "
Harry Shearer
"There's only five real people in Hollywood. Everyone else is Mel Blanc. "
Jack Benny
"Obviously as a kid, for probably anybody who chose animation voiceover as a career in their adult life, Mel Blanc was the touchstone for everybody. He kind of invented the job and was the first voice actor to get onscreen credit. "
Tom Kenny
"I remember as a kid watching TV and seeing Mel Blanc doing his voices and Paul Winchell doing his ventriloquism and thinking, 'Those guys are having a good time. I want to do that. '"
Jim Cummings
He moved to Los Angeles in 1932, where he met Estelle Rosenbaum, whom he married a year later, before returning to Portland.