Mel Blanc

Mel Blanc (1908-1989) was an American actor and radio personality. He is best known for having given voice to many beloved cartoon characters. Blanc has been rightly called “The Man of a Thousand Voices.”

Man of a Thousand Voices

Melvin Jerome Blanc spent his childhood in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. A teacher in high school, angry with him for doing voices in the classroom, said, “You’ll never amount to anything. You’re just like your last name: blank.” Blanc started spelling his last name Blanc from that point on, legally changing it when he became an adult. Blanc got his start in radio in 1927, where he gained attention for doing multiple voices for a show called The Hoot Owls. Blanc moved to Los Angeles in 1935.

In 1937, Blanc got his start with Warner Bros. animated shorts, which were shown in theaters before feature length movies. Blanc began voicing both Porky Pig and Daffy Duck that year. He would later go on to voice many of the Looney Tunes’ characters, including Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, and many more.

Blanc’s exclusive contract with Warner Bros. expired in 1960, so he was free to do other work. He began doing voice work for Hanna-Barbara cartoons, most notably as Barney Rubble on The Flintstones, the first animated television show broadcast during prime time.

Freemason

Mel Blanc’s lifelong association with Freemasonry began in 1925, when he joined DeMolay’s Sunnyside Chapter in Portland, Oregon. Blanc became a Mason at Portland’s Mid Day Lodge No. 188 in 1931. Twenty years later Blanc joined the Scottish Rite’s Valley of Los Angeles and Al Malaikah Shrine Temple.

A 1961 car accident left Blanc in a coma. After weeks of his family trying to reach him, Blanc recalled that he was only finally roused when his doctor asked Blanc how Bugs Bunny was doing, and Blanc responded in the voice of that famous rabbit.

Blanc recalled that during his long recovery he reflected on his life. Blanc recollected that “As soon as I was able to get around, I stepped up my number of appearances at Masonic and Shriners children’s hospitals.”

Blanc died in 1989. His gravestone at Hollywood Forever Cemetery famously reads: “That’s All Folks.”

Photo Caption: Mel Blanc recording Bugs Bunny’s voice, ca. 1945.