Mel Blanc

Known as "the man of a thousand voices," prolific voice actor Mel Blanc gave life to countless classic animated characters over the span of his remarkable career. Starting out as a musician and radio personality, Blanc broke into animation in 1937 at Leon Schlesinger Studios, home of the Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" shorts. After making a star of the stuttering Porky Pig, Blanc proved instrumental in the creation of the wise-cracking rabbit Bugs Bunny. Even as he lent his voice to the creation of such cartoon characters as Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam, the voice actor continued to work in radio, primarily as an ensemble player on "The Jack Benny Program" (NBC, 1932-1948). Blanc broke new ground in his long underappreciated profession when in the mid-1940s, he negotiated onscreen credit for all of his voice work and for years remained the only voice actor accommodated with such recognition. With the end of his exclusive Warner contract in 1960, Blanc branched out and began working with up-and-coming animation studios like Hanna-Barbera on such hit shows as "The Flintstones" (ABC, 1960-66), while still voicing Warner's stable of cartoon stars well into the 1970s and beyond. Late-career efforts like the voice of the robot Twiki on the space adventure "Buck Rodgers in the 25th Century" (NBC, 1979-1981) and several voices in the smash hit feature "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" (1988) found Blanc's unique talents as in demand as ever. As much as any matinee idol, Blanc remained a true Hollywood icon whose gifts were appreciated with each new generation of fans.