You can watch episode 3 of Voice Over Histories (Behind the Mic with Eartha Kitt) here! The transcript of the episode is below (without transcription of footage of interviews/clips that feature in the episode).
Transcript of Behind the Mic with Mel Blanc
Welcome to episode 3 of Voice Over Histories, I’m Katie Aitken and this is the docu-series that shines a light on the people, the projects and the stories from the voice over industry of days gone by.
In this episode, we’re going back behind the mic to discover a bit more about a voice legend, the man of a thousand voices - Mel Blanc.
You may well already be familiar with the name Mel Blanc considering that he is one of the most prolific, iconic and versatile voice over artists the world has ever seen. But, as is often the case with the greats of the past, his legacy is shrouded in elements of myth - but don’t worry, there’s also bucket loads of legend too!
He was born in 1908 in San Francisco but grew up in Portland, Oregon. Stories of Blanc’s youth suggest that although he was certainly always quite a character, he had a rebellious streak.
At the age of 9, he started smoking - maintaining a packet a day habit until he was 77. There are also tales from his formative years that suggest he was not exactly every teacher’s star pupil.
One such example of this, which is rather pleasingly foretelling, was an over-the-top laugh that Mel Blanc developed, expressly to annoy his high school principal. This distinctive laugh that he cultivated as a school boy would later become the iconic laugh... of Woody Woodpecker.
At the age of 16, Blanc changed the spelling of his surname from ‘Blank’ with a ‘K’ to ‘Blanc’ with a ‘C’. Allegedly, this came after a teacher told him that he would amount to nothing and be much like his name, a “blank”. As weak a pun as it is, it obviously rubbed him up the wrong way.
However, despite perhaps being a bit of a wind-up merchant, he obviously showed early creative talent, both in creating characters with his voice and also as a musician, being proficient on various instruments including the bass, violin and sousaphone.
After school, Mel Blanc spent years progressing his way through radio. Starting in local stations in Portland in 1927, working all the way up to regular spots on network radio from the mid 1930’s onwards, including the highly acclaimed comedy series, The Jack Benny Program.
However, his big break into motion pictures and the beginning of his voice over career with his estimated range of 400 characters came in 1936 when he took over the voice of Warner Bros cartoon star, Porky Pig.
In Blanc’s 1941 contract with Leon Schlesinger Productions (which later became Warner Bros Cartoons) his wage was $65 per week which increased up to $75 per week in his 1943 contract. It was between this and his contract the following year, in 1944, that the issue of him receiving a screen credit had been discussed and agreed to… to a degree.
In 1944 - Mel Blanc was credited as providing “Voice Characterization” to Bugs Bunny.
In 1945 - his credits were extended to include Daffy Duck and Porky Pig
And in 1946 - his credits were extended to appear “in all pictures in which (Blanc’s) voice characterization is used for a major portion of the motion picture.”
These screen credits were gradually woven into his contracts under an ‘optional paragraph’ section, no doubt after various meetings and discussions - although Mel Blanc enjoyed recalling a rather more Hollywood version of events!
Animation historian and voice over artist, Keith Scott, explains and quotes Blanc like this:
“At my better half’s urging, I marched into Leon Schlesinger’s office to demand a salary increase. It wasn’t going to be easy because the producer was notoriously tightfisted with money.” He goes on with his patented narrative: Leon’s response was, “What do you want more money for, Mel? You’ll only have to pay more taxes.” To which Mel counters, “Well, if you won’t give me a raise, how about at least giving me a screen credit?”
As great a story as this is, and one that Blanc repeated in interviews and his autobiography, it is a bit of a tall tale.
So the myth, or perhaps assumption, perpetuated by Blanc himself, was that he was credited for every role that he performed during this time - which is incorrect. The old ways of doing things didn’t change overnight, they took time and Blanc receiving a screen credit was partially dependent on the particular character’s star success - in other words, their importance as a commodity.
Before this, Hollywood studios had followed Disney’s established policy of keeping voice actors anonymous under the pretence that it would destroy the magic for audiences if they were aware of the actor behind the mic. In this sense, Blanc was the first to be in a position to make the request and have it granted which in turn, paved the way for future voice over artists being credited for their work. This part of the story is true and rightfully a celebrated aspect of Mel Blanc’s legacy.
Another myth related to the issue of Blanc’s screen credits, was that some believed that he made this request in order to obtain more work for himself and squeeze other voice actors out of the business. However, considering his status, reports of his popularity and the amount of work that he was already getting at that point being one of the top voice artists at the time, it seems highly unlikely that this was the case.
In 1961, Mel Blanc was involved in a near fatal car accident. Following the head on collision on Sunset Boulevard, he sustained multiple broken bones (including 39 fractures in his right leg alone), triple skull bone displacements, severe concussion, he lost 9 pints of blood and was in a coma for somewhere between 2 to 3 weeks. However, apparently after many attempts to bring him out of the coma, one neurologist tried a different approach. He asked “How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?” to which a miraculously roused Blanc responded “Eh, just fine Doc. What’s up?” The doctor followed up by asking after Tweety Pie and Blanc replied with the character’s catchphrase “I tot I thaw a puddy cat.”
As a result of being hospital bound, this remarkable story is followed by another one. As Blanc was the voice of Barney Rubble in the Flintstones and the season was still in production, he continued to record from his bed while in a full body cast. Since he obviously could'nt go into the studio, the studio came to him with all the necessary recording equipment and his co-stars recording together from his hospital room.
Following his release from hospital, Mel Blanc increased the amount of charity work he already did at Shrine hospitals where he entertained children with his characters and voices. He also went on to voice characters for various Hanna Barbera cartoon characters throughout the 60’s as well as notable brand characters in adverts such as Toucan Sam for Kellogg’s Fruit Loops.
But Blanc regularly returned to the classic Looney Tunes characters that he cherished. In 1976, the State of California hired him to produce 10 radio announcements using his gaggle of beloved characters, including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, to warn residents how to prepare for and survive an earthquake. In fact, during the 70s, Mel Blanc was recognised enough himself, in addition to his voice, to feature in an advert for American Express.
And the TV commercial work steadily continued over the decades, with Blanc voicing some of his most popular characters.
In the 1980s, he lent his voice to a McDonalds ad as Pepe LePew and a Kentucky Fried Chicken ad as Foghorn Leghorn and Chicken Hawk. Then in the 90s, he posthumously appeared in an ad for Holiday Inn as various Looney Tunes characters.
In 1988, he was able to rejuvenate the characters for the hit film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
The last production Mel Blanc worked on was ‘Jetsons: The Movie’. He worked right up until his death in 1989, proving his affection for the characters he brought to life with his voice. So much did he cherish the characters he brought to life, that he actually credits them with having brought him back to life when he was in that hospital bed in 1961. From his regular charity work entertaining children in Shrine hospitals to helping incite lasting change in the voice over industry to bringing a huge amount of the world’s favourite characters to life, Blanc made an indelible, positive mark on the world and left it a better place.
And on that note, that’s all folks!
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