The Legendary June Foray
It’s the ninety-second birthday of the legendary voice actress from the Golden Age of theatrical cartoons, June Foray. With a career spanning from the early 1940’s to today, it is easy to see, and hear, how she earned the title: “First Lady of Voice Acting.” Foray’s roles are numerous: Sylvester and Tweety’s Granny, Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Grandmother Fa from Mulan, Jokey Smurf and Mother Nature in The Smurfs, Grammi Gummi on Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears, and the list goes on (see the Internet Movie Database for a complete listing).
While known more recently for her grandmotherly roles, Foray also spent much time bringing villainous characters to life. The two most notable are Natasha Fatale from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (where she also voice virtually every other female character and Rocky himself) and Magica De Spell in Disney’s DuckTales (where she also voiced Ma Beagle).
Coincidentally, today is also the anniversary of the premier of Disney’s DuckTales. This animated television series, based on the comic book series Uncle Scrooge, by Carl Barks, was first released on September 18, 1987. The show features the wealthy Scrooge McDuck caring for his great-nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Donald Duck’s nephews) and his fortune; trying to build it up, with antagonists trying to take it away. Magica De Spell is particularly focused on stealing the first dime Scrooge earned, his “Number One Dime,” which she believes will bring her wealth equal to his.
Birthday wishes to June Foray who have given us a wealth of entertainment worth more than Scrooge’s money and his “Number One Dime.”
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As an important device in the world of audio engineering and voice-over (VO), the VU Meter serves as the inspiration for monitoring and measuring the voice-over industry over time via the "VO Meter" blog. Subscribe to the “VO Meter” via RSS feeds or receive email updates and be treated to a bit of voice-over history and trivia with each entry.
Blog Author: Kevin Readdean, Voice Talent, KevinsVoice.com
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