#joe dougherty

[thinkbolt]

Joe Dougherty (1898-1979) - the original voice of Porky Pig, starting in 1935. His recording sessions took hours because of his debilitating stutter. Other actors sometimes had to finish for him. After 2 years and only 12 cartoons, he was replaced by Mel Blanc, who voiced Porky for the next 50 years, imitating Joe Dougherty the whole time.

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[dailylooneys]

Happy 125th Birthday Joe Dougherty

The original voice of Porky Pig!

Ah, yes! Before Mel Blanc did Porky, there was Joe Dougherty, who, unlike Blanc, ACTUALLY stuttered! 

This was part of Friz Freleng’s intention, as when he given the opportunity to direct the landmark Merrie Melodies short I Haven’t Got A Hat (1935), he decided to give Porky a stutter to differ the character from other cartoon characters of the time who commonly spoke with falsetto voices (Mickey Mouse, Bosko, Buddy). Friz called Warner’s casting for any actor that actually stutter, and that someone turned out to be Joe Dougherty. 

Dougherty would voice Warner Bros. first cartoon star for about 12 shorts from 1935 to 1937, along with some additional one-shot characters in the Merrie Melodies shorts (Into Your Dance (1935), I Love to Singa (1936) to name a couple).

The reason his voice acting career ended quickly was due Dougherty was unable to control his stutter, leading to long hours in voice recording session, increasing budget issues, in addition to overuse of sound-on-film that was used back then, instead of tape. Dougherty’s final voice of Porky was Porky’s Romance (1937) directed by Frank Tashlin.

Well, I had trouble with, Porky, because he stuttered, and a lot of people said, "you can't do that". That's why I did it, because everybody was using falsetto voices, everything sounded the same. And I said, what can I do to make this character different? So I called up Warners' casting and said, do you got anybody who stutters? And they had this [Joe] Dougherty guy, who stuttered, and the guy could not just get through a line. And we were doing all of our sound on film then, there wasn’t any tape. If Jack Warner knew how much film I was using, I was through with animation. So I had to get somebody to mimic, and that was Mel [Blanc]. And of course, Mel can do anything. - Friz Freleng (”Friz on Film” documentary)

Of course, there is also a recently discovered story that in between Dougherty and Blanc, was Count Cutelli, who was said to work closely with Termite Terrace Warner Bros. cartoon producer, Leon Schlesinger and Disney.

Cutelli did the voice of Disney’s own Mickey Mouse, he would did some additional lines for Porky Pig to cut down costs.

Jim Korkis claims that Cutelli did the famous “That’s All Folks!” tag featuring Porky

Anyways, what do you people think of Mr. Dougherty himself? Do you believe he did a better Porky did Blanc did? Or was Blanc THE better Porky?

[dailylooneys]

I found that the reason for this was that the actor, Joe Dougherty, actually did stutter, but was not able to control it. During recording sessions, he became very frustrated and the directors and sound editor almost went crazy. They worked with him for almost two years until the fabulous voice actor Mel Blanc came along and took over Porky's voice. Mel was not only able to master the stuttering perfectly, but in doing so, gave Porky a more likeable personality at the same time.

Martha Sigall

[jeffcbliss]

Joe Dougherty (left) and Mark Dawson of The Grass Roots - Pacific Amphitheatre; Costa Mesa, CA (8-3-22). @makingnoiseshow #JoeDougherty #thegrassroots

Photo: Jeff Bliss

[sheilamlinva]

Joe Dougherty. The original voice of Porky Pig from 1935-1937. Joe had a real stutter and couldn’t keep it under control, so Mel Blanc took over. I feel bad for Joe. He couldn’t help it but I understand why WB did what they did. At least we got to hear Joe Dougherty not only as Porky Pig but as Simple Simon from I Love to Singa (one of my favorite Merrie Melodies shorts).

[dailylooneys]

Well, I had trouble with, Porky, because he stuttered, and a lot of people said, "you can't do that". That's why I did it, because everybody was using falsetto voices, everything sounded the same. And I said, what can I do to make this character different? So I called up Warners' casting and said, do you got anybody who stutters? And they had this [Joe] Dougherty guy, who stuttered, and the guy could not just get through a line. And we were doing all of our sound on film then. If Jack Warner knew how much film I was using, I was through with animation. So I had to get somebody to mimic, and that was Mel [Blanc]. And of course, Mel can do anything.

Friz Freleng on Porky Pig’s voice