As the evening sets on today, let's remember the man of 1000 voices...
Melvin Jerome Blanc (Blank)
Born May 30th in 1908 to a Jewish family in San Francisco, California, Mel developed a fondness for voices throughout his youth which really developed at age 10. This fondness most likely derived from the Yiddish he would hear on the daily.
From there, he'd become a radio darling jumping from The Johnny Murray Show, The Jack Benny Program, The Abbot and Costello Show, to even one for himself.
He'd eventually begin his most famous and beloved career at the Leon Schlesinger Productions Cartoon Studio which was making Looney Tunes and Merrie Melody theatrical shorts for Warner Bros, starting with "Picador Porky" (1937) as a drunken bull. He would eventually gain a starring role as Porky, replacing the original actor (Joe Dougherty) and starting the long legacy of cartoon stars such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester, Tweety Pie, Woody Woodpecker, Barney Rubble, Dino the Dinosaur, Captain Caveman, Toucan Sam, Heathcliff, and obviously hundreds upon hundreds of more.
Along with a slew of live action appearances, commercials, and even a car accident that resulted in Bugs himself reviving Mel from a coma, Mel's over 60 year career in Hollywood was filled with tons of cartoonish occurances.
He would sadly leave our lives on July 10, 1989 at the age of 81. This was due to emphysema, caused by a life of smoking staring when he was just 9.
Mel's legacy in animation and in Hollywood in general is nothing to scoff at. A loving husband to Estelle Rosenbaum, father to Noel Blanc, fellow looney character to his comrades such as Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng, and general blessing to the world.
His legacy is continued by the likes of the wonderful @bauzilla , @jeffbergmanofficial , @billywestpodcast and the late @joe_alaskey .
I drew this inspired by the following image of one of his characters (and my personal favorite) laying aloft his tombstone.
Happy 115th Birthday, Mel.
titsay
vaporwave
jbbartram-illu
andulkaphoto
