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Posted: |
Jul 28, 2017 - 1:44 AM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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June Foray has been called "The First Lady of Cartoon Voices" and it was director Chuck Jones who said, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc is the male June Foray." For over sixty years, Ms. Foray was the most prolific, oft-heard voice in animation, to say nothing of her constant work before and since in radio, commercials, film dubbing and narration.
June Foray was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 18, 1917. The talent she exhibited at an early age was encouraged by her parents and by age 12, she was appearing on local radio dramas playing children's parts. By 15, she was working steadily on a wide array of series and was playing roles that were often older — much older than she was.
When she finally graduated high school, her family moved to Los Angeles, California so that June could break into national radio, which she did in no time. A short list of the programs on which she was heard would include The Cavalcade of America, A Date With Judy, Sherlock Holmes (with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce), Mayor of the Town (with Lionel Barrymore), The Whistler, The Billie Burke Show, The Rudy Vallee Show, Stars Over Hollywood, The Al Pearce Show, This is My Best (with Orson Welles), Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, Baby Snooks (with Fanny Brice), Dr. Christian (with Jean Hersholt), I Deal in Crime (with Bill Gargan), Jack Haley's Sealtest Village Store, Glamour Manor (with Kenny Baker), Phone Again Finnegan (with Stu Erwin), The Charlie McCarthy Show (with Edgar Bergen), The Dick Haymes Show, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Bob Hope Show, The Penny Singleton Show, Presenting Charles Boyer, Tex Williams's All-Star Western Theater, Red Ryder, The Screen Directors' Playhouse, The Screen Guild Theatre, The Lux Radio Theater, The Great Gildersleeve, My Favorite Husband (with Lucille Ball), Richard Diamond: Private Detective (with Dick Powell), and Martin Kane, Private Eye. She was a regular on the popular comedy series, Smile Time, which introduced her longtime friend Steve Allen to much of America.
When television came along, June was there with roles on Johnny Carson's first TV series, Carson's Cellar, and dozens of other programs including Andy's Gang, where she worked with the man she'd soon marry, Hobart Donavan. They were married until his death in 1976.
Experts disagree as to when June did her first animation work. She usually cited the role of the cat Lucifer in Disney's Cinderella (1950) and she did much work for Mr. Disney, both in front of the microphone and also posing occasionally as a model to aid the animators. In 1955, she began voicing dozens of characters — including Granny, the owner of Tweety and Sylvester — for Warner Bros. cartoons, and then in 1959 came Rocky and His Friends, the show on which she first played Rocky the Flying Squirrel. In fact, she not only voiced the plucky squirrel but most of the female (and even a few male) voices for the many cartoon shows produced by Jay Ward. She played Natasha Fatale, the comely sidekick of super-spy Boris Badenov, and when Rocky and his friend Bullwinkle went to prime-time on NBC, she played Nell Fenwick, love interest to the intrepid Mountie, Dudley Do-Right.
June was in fact heard in the cartoons of every major animation producer located on the West Coast for years, including MGM, UPA, Walter Lantz, and Hanna-Barbera. For H-B, she would later be a featured player on The Smurfs. And though she had but two lines in it, people will never forget her role as Cindy Lou Who in the Chuck Jones TV special adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. She continued to work in animation and in 2012 won her first Emmy Award for her role as Mrs. Cauldon, a witch seen around the world on The Garfield Show. Some claim that victory made her the oldest performer to ever win an Emmy.
Her voice was also heard on hundreds of live-action TV shows, including Baretta, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Green Acres and The Twilight Zone. For the latter, she was the voice of "Talking Tina" in a memorable episode that called for June to play the evil side of the popular talking doll she voiced for Mattel Toys, Chatty Cathy. She has been heard (but not seen) in dozens of motion pictures including Jaws, Bells Are Ringing, The Hospital and The Comic.
June was active in the film community, having founded the Los Angeles chapter of Association Internationale du Film d'Animation (the International Animated Film Association) and serving multiple terms on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2013 the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded her the Governor's Award for her outstanding career.
June released her autobiography, "Did You Grow Up With Me, Too?", in 2009.
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