Everyday I check out the birthdays
on IMDB.com
Today Mel Blanc
would have been 100 years old
- so I dedicate this post to him -
(1908-1989)
Who's Mel Blanc??
You're kidding me.. right?
For christ's sake! The man is an icon!
The voice behind the great Bugs Bunny!
and virtually every major character in the Warner Bros.
cartoon pantheon, including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck,
Tweety & Sylvester, Yosemite Sam,
Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew
and Hanna-Barbera's - Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely,
not to mention hundreds of others.
How He Created the Warner Bros.Cartoon Voices
-- video clicky here
Mel on Letterman -- video clicky here
Just Some Mel Blanc Facts:
According to his son Noel Blanc, of all the cartoon characters he voiced,
the one that was the closest to his actual voice was "Sylvester the Cat",
only without the lisp.
Nickname - The Man of a Thousand Voices
Blanc said his most challenging job was voicing Yosemite Sam;
it was rough on the throat because of Sam’s sheer volume
Blanc legally changed his last name from Blank to Blanc because of
a nasty school teacher who used to make fun of it.
Shortly before his death, executives of Time-Warner (owners of Warner Bros.)
asked him 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.
In high school, he used to laugh down the hall and hear the echo coming,
"you know. . . . So that's the Woody Woodpecker laugh," he once told an interviewer.
One of Blanc's favored charities was the Shrine Hospital Children's Burn Center
where the family asks contributions in his name.
While in a coma after a cataclysmic automobile accident, doctors
unsuccessfully tried to get Mel to talk. Finally, a doctor, who was also a fan
of his cartoon characters, asked Mel, "Bugs? Bugs Bunny? Are you there?".
Mel responded, in Bugs Bunny's voice, "What's up, Doc?"
After talking with several other "characters",
the doctors eventually led Mel out of his coma.
Epitaph on headstone at his burial site in
Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood reads,
"That's All Folks"
I remember cutting this pic out of a magazine when
I was a kid and hanging on my wall
Thanks Mel - You Rocked
Sufferin' Succotash..
on IMDB.com
Today Mel Blanc
would have been 100 years old
- so I dedicate this post to him -
(1908-1989)Who's Mel Blanc??
You're kidding me.. right?
For christ's sake! The man is an icon!
The voice behind the great Bugs Bunny!
and virtually every major character in the Warner Bros.
cartoon pantheon, including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck,
Tweety & Sylvester, Yosemite Sam,
Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew
and Hanna-Barbera's - Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely,
not to mention hundreds of others.
How He Created the Warner Bros.Cartoon Voices
-- video clicky here
Mel on Letterman -- video clicky here
Just Some Mel Blanc Facts:According to his son Noel Blanc, of all the cartoon characters he voiced,
the one that was the closest to his actual voice was "Sylvester the Cat",
only without the lisp.
Nickname - The Man of a Thousand Voices
Blanc said his most challenging job was voicing Yosemite Sam;
it was rough on the throat because of Sam’s sheer volume
Blanc legally changed his last name from Blank to Blanc because of
a nasty school teacher who used to make fun of it.
Shortly before his death, executives of Time-Warner (owners of Warner Bros.)
asked him 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.
In high school, he used to laugh down the hall and hear the echo coming,
"you know. . . . So that's the Woody Woodpecker laugh," he once told an interviewer.
One of Blanc's favored charities was the Shrine Hospital Children's Burn Center
where the family asks contributions in his name.
While in a coma after a cataclysmic automobile accident, doctors
unsuccessfully tried to get Mel to talk. Finally, a doctor, who was also a fan
of his cartoon characters, asked Mel, "Bugs? Bugs Bunny? Are you there?".
Mel responded, in Bugs Bunny's voice, "What's up, Doc?"
After talking with several other "characters",
the doctors eventually led Mel out of his coma.
Epitaph on headstone at his burial site in
Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood reads,
"That's All Folks"
I remember cutting this pic out of a magazine whenI was a kid and hanging on my wall
Thanks Mel - You Rocked
Sufferin' Succotash..
15 comments:
A beautiful tribute to a great entertainer. Nicely done, Jen.
That, my friend, was the BEST POST. EVER!!!!
But really, who is Mel Blanc???
Just kidding. I was born in 1966 for Christ's sake, I know who the man is!
i knew who her was. cause thats how i roll baby
thanks kids
=)
right on cat!
I loved this post, great job Jen!
Bravo Jen!
Thanks Mel, for all the laughs.
What a great tribute to an obviously wonderful man!
I grew up on these cartoons, and these were cartoons worth watching,
I said I said these were cartoons worth watching boy, pay attention son.
Happy Birthday Mel & Rest in Peace.
Thanks Jen, awesome post.
I remember that picture you cut out very well, it says it all.
Great post!
Missed it yesterday, but thanks for posting that.
I saw that last picture you posted, framed and full size in a Warner Bros. store (before they closed them all) and wanted it soooo bad, but they wanted an obscene amount of money for it.
Bugs Bunny has been my all time favorite cartoon character since I was 2 years old. Blanc was a genius.
FANTASTIC!
Memories a-plenty, thanks to this mention.
Nice one.
Are you going to do Mr. Rogers? You have a lot of time on your hands. :)
Hi, Jen. Those of us who are really old ... really, really old ... remember Mel Blanc on the Jack Benny Show. Every year on his Christmas show, Mel played a sales clerk at Macy's, and Jack would drive him nuts changing his mind. It was the funniest stuff on television. Here's the clip where Jack drives Mel to suicide.
- Cooper
I loved that clip, Jen. It was just effortless for him to do all those voices! Even when he was much older, he could do them easily. And there were so many of them too!
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