BLANC, MEL

BLANC, MEL (1908–1989), U.S. voice actor. Born in San Francisco, California, Blanc was one of America's most distinguished and versatile voice actors during his long career with Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Blanc was the voice of a number of Warner Brothers' and Hanna-Barbera's most famous cartoon characters, including such favorites as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker, Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzalez, and Sylvester the Cat. Blanc's talents first gained recognition when he worked as a regular on the Jack Benny Program, on which he served as the voice of Benny's automobile, violin teacher Professor LeBlanc, Polly the Parrot, and Benny's pet polar bear, Carmichael. Blanc appeared on various national radio programs including Burns and Allen, Point Sublime and G.I. Journal, before joining Warner Brothers' renowned cartoon studio, the Leon Schlesinger Studios, in 1936. It was at Warner Brothers that Blanc became the voice of his most celebrated characters. In addition to the aforementioned roles, Blanc was also responsible for the voices of Yosemite Sam, Pepe Lepew, Foghorn Leghorn, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, Marvin the Martian, the Tasmanian Devil, and Elmer Fudd, a role inherited from Arthur Q. Bryan. During the early 1960s, Blanc began working at Hanna-Barbera studios, where he worked alongside the prominent vocal actors Daws Butler and Don Messick. Blanc's best-known characters from the Hanna-Barbera era are Barney Rubble, Cosmo G. Spacely, Hardy Harr Harr, and Captain Caveman. His last original character was Heathcliff the Cat, who first appeared in 1981. Blanc's tombstone and autobiography both bear his signature phrase, "That's all, folks\!" (Walter Driver (2nd ed.)