Good Morning...Happy Birthday Mel Blanc

[Okla-homey]

May 30, 1908 Mel Blanc born



99 years ago on this day, Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and countless other Warner Bros. cartoon characters, is born in San Francisco.

His parents, who ran a women's clothing business, moved with their son to Portland, Oregon, when Blanc was a child. Blanc began performing as a musician and singer on local radio programs in Portland before he was 20. In the late 1920s, he and his wife, Estelle, created a daily radio show called "Cobwebs and Nuts," which became a hit.

Blanc made many other radio appearances and became a regular on Jack Benny's hit radio show, providing the sounds of Benny's ancient car and playing several other characters.



In 1937, Blanc made his debut with Warner Bros., providing the voice for a drunken bull in a short cartoon called "Picador Porky." Another actor provided the pig's voice, but Blanc later replaced him.

In 1940, Bugs Bunny debuted in a short called "A Wild Hare." Blanc said he wanted the rabbit to sound tough and streetwise, so he created a comic combination of Bronx and Brooklyn accents.

Other characters Blanc created for Warner Bros. included the Road Runner, Sylvester, and Tweety Bird. He performed in some 850 cartoons for Warner Bros. during his 50-year career. For other studios, he provided the voices of Barney Rubble and Dino the dinosaur in The Flintstones, Mr. Spacely for The Jetsons, and Woody Woodpecker's laugh.



In his 1988 autobiography, That's Not All Folks, Blanc described a nearly fatal traffic accident that left him in a coma. Unable to rouse him by using his real name, a doctor finally said, "How are you, Bugs Bunny?" and Mel replied, in Bugs' voice, "Ehh, just fine, doc. How are you?"



Blanc continued to provide voices until the late 1980s, most memorably voicing Daffy Duck dueling with Donald Duck in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). After Mel Blanc died of complications from heart disease, his son Noel, trained by his father, provided the voices for the characters the elder Blanc had helped bring to life.


Mel is buried in Hollywood

[AlbqSooner]

Thanks for the post Homey but 2006 minus 1908 does not equal 99. You are makin me older than I feel.

[Sooner24]

[Okla-homey]

Thanks for the post Homey but 2006 minus 1908 does not equal 99. You are makin me older than I feel.

it was early, sheesh. 98 already.

[slickdawg]

I've got that print. Mel was extremely talented and was the voice of all of
my favorite cartoon characters.

[TUSooner]

This edition of Homey's Hx is so BRILLIANT that it brings a tear to my eye. Mel Blanc was the voices of the greatest cartoons EVAR.
Good times indeed.

[TUSooner]

Thanks for the post Homey but 2006 minus 1908 does not equal 99. You are makin me older than I feel.

You don't look 98

[frankensooner]

I never knew his Birthday was May 30th, Thanks Homey.

[Widescreen]

It's amazing the # of characters he voiced. He's pretty much synonymous with classic cartoons.

[TexasLidig8r]

Mel was genius.

I have a Foghorn Leghorn cartoon cel. Snagged it in the Chuck Jones store in Santa Fe.

"Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball boy.. Eye.. ball.. Eyeball... That's a joke son.. a gag that is."