41 Facts About Mel Blanc

Mel Blanc grew up in San Francisco's Western Addition neighborhood, and later in Portland, Oregon, where he attended Lincoln High School.

Mel Blanc had an early fondness for voices and dialect, which he began practicing at the age of 10.

Mel Blanc claimed that he changed the spelling of his name when he was 16, from Blank to Blanc, because a teacher told him that he would amount to nothing and be like his name, a "blank".

Mel Blanc joined the Order of DeMolay as a young man, and was eventually inducted into its Hall of Fame.

Mel Blanc began his radio career at the age of 19 in 1927, when he made his acting debut on the KGW program The Hoot Owls, where his ability to provide voices for multiple characters first attracted attention.

Mel Blanc moved to Los Angeles in 1932, where he met Estelle Rosenbaum, whom he married a year later, before returning to Portland.

Mel Blanc moved to KEX in 1933 to produce and co-host his Cobweb and Nuts show with his wife Estelle, which debuted on June 15.

Mel Blanc joined The Johnny Murray Show, but the following year switched to CBS Radio and The Joe Penner Show.

Mel Blanc was a regular on the NBC Red Network show The Jack Benny Program in various roles, including voicing Benny's Maxwell automobile, violin teacher Professor LeMel Blanc, Polly the Parrot, Benny's pet polar bear Carmichael and the train announcer.

The first role came from a mishap when the recording of the automobile's sounds failed to play on cue, prompting Mel Blanc to take the microphone and improvise the sounds himself.

The audience reacted so positively that Benny decided to dispense with the recording altogether and have Mel Blanc continue in that role.

Mel Blanc continued to work with Benny on radio until the series ended in 1955 and followed the program into television from Benny's 1950 debut episode through guest spots on NBC specials in the 1970s.

Radio Daily magazine wrote in 1942 that Mel Blanc "specialize[d] in over fifty-seven voices, dialects, and intricate sound effects", and by 1946, he was appearing on over fifteen programs in various supporting roles.

Mel Blanc played himself as the hapless owner of a fix-it shop, as well as his young cousin Zookie.

In December 1936, Mel Blanc joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, which was producing theatrical cartoon shorts for Warner Bros.

The first cartoon Mel Blanc worked on was Picador Porky as the voice of Porky's drunken friends who dress up as a bull.

Bugs Bunny, as whom Mel Blanc made his debut in A Wild Hare, was known for eating carrots frequently.

One often-repeated story is that Mel Blanc was allergic to carrots, which Mel Blanc denied.

In Disney's Pinocchio, Mel Blanc was hired to perform the voice of Gideon the Cat.

However, it was eventually decided to have Gideon be a mute character, so all of Mel Blanc's recorded dialogue was deleted except for a solitary hiccup, which was heard three times in the finished film.

Mel Blanc originated the voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker for the theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lantz for Universal Pictures, but stopped voicing Woody after the character's first three shorts when he was signed to an exclusive contract with Warner Bros.

Voice actors at the time rarely received screen credits, but Mel Blanc was an exception; by 1944, his contract with Warner Bros.

Mel Blanc worked with former Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones, who by this time was directing shorts with his own company Sib Tower 12, doing vocal effects for the Tom and Jerry series from 1963 to 1967.

Mel Blanc was the first voice of Toucan Sam in Froot Loops commercials.

On January 24,1961, Mel Blanc was driving alone when his sports car was involved in a head-on collision on Sunset Boulevard; his legs and his pelvis were fractured as a result.

Four days later, Mel Blanc filed a US$500,000 lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles.

Years later, Mel Blanc revealed that during his recovery, his son Noel "ghosted" several Warner Bros.

At the time of the accident, Mel Blanc was serving as the voice of Barney Rubble in The Flintstones.

Mel Blanc returned to The Jack Benny Program to film the program's 1961 Christmas show, moving around by crutches and a wheelchair.

Mel Blanc's final recording session was for Jetsons: The Movie.

Mel Blanc was a Freemason as a member of Mid Day Lodge No 188 in Portland, Oregon.

Mel Blanc held membership at the lodge for 58 years.

Mel Blanc began smoking at least one pack of cigarettes per day at the age of nine and continued up through 1985, having quit smoking after being diagnosed with emphysema.

Mel Blanc was later diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, after his family checked him into the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 19,1989 when they noticed he had been coughing profusely while shooting a commercial.

Mel Blanc was originally expected to recover, but after his health had wornesed, doctors discovered that he had advanced coronary artery disease.

Mel Blanc fell from his bed and broke his femur during the stay.

Mel Blanc is regarded as the most prolific voice actor in entertainment history.

Mel Blanc was the first voice actor to receive on-screen credit.

Mel Blanc's death was considered a significant loss to the cartoon industry because of his skill, expressive range, and the sheer number of the continuing characters he portrayed, whose roles were subsequently assumed by several other voice talents.

Mel Blanc said that Sylvester the Cat was the easiest character for him to voice, because "[he's] just my normal speaking voice with a spray at the end"; and that Yosemite Sam was the hardest, because of his loudness and raspyness.

Mel Blanc trained his son Noel in the field of voice characterization.