Mel Blanc

Name	Mel Blanc
Image
Caption	Blanc in 1959
Birth Name	Melvin Jerome Blank
Birth Date	1908-5-30
Birth Place	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Death Place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting Place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Occupation	Voice actor ⋅ radio personality
Other Names	"The Man of 1,000 Voices"
Years Active	1927–1989
Known For	Original voice of various Looney Tunes characters
Awards	Inkpot Award (1976)
Spouse	Estelle Rosenbaum (1933 – now)
Children	Noel Blanc

Early life

Blanc was born on May 30, 1908, in San Francisco, California. Blanc's birth name was Melvin Jerome Blank and his Jewish-American parents were Eva and Frederick Blank. He grew up in San Francisco's Western Addition neighborhood, and later in Portland, Oregon, where he attended Lincoln High School. He had an early fondness for voices and dialect, which he began practicing at the age of 10. He claimed that he changed the spelling of his name when he was 16, from Blank to Blanc, because a teacher told him that he would amount to nothing and be like his name, a "blank". He joined the Order of DeMolay as a young man, and was eventually inducted into its Hall of Fame. After graduating from high school in 1927, he divided his time between leading an orchestra, becoming the youngest conductor in the country at the age of 19; and performing shtick in vaudeville shows around Washington, Oregon and northern California.

Career

Radio work

Blanc began his radio career at the age of 19 in 1927, when he made his acting debut on the KGW program The Hoot Owls, where his ability to provide voices for multiple characters first attracted attention. He moved to Los Angeles in 1932, where he met Estelle Rosenbaum (1909–2003), whom he married a year later, before returning to Portland. He moved to KEX in 1933 to produce and co-host his Cobweb and Nuts show with his wife Estelle, which debuted on June 15. The program played Monday through Saturday from 11:00 pm to midnight, and by the time the show ended two years later, it appeared from 10:30 pm to 11:00 pm.With his wife's encouragement, Blanc returned to Los Angeles and joined Warner Bros.–owned KFWB in Hollywood in 1935. He joined The Johnny Murray Show, but the following year switched to CBS Radio and The Joe Penner Show.

Animation voice work during the golden age of Hollywood

Private Snafu: Spies, voiced by Blanc in 1943
In December 1936, Mel Blanc joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, which was producing theatrical cartoon shorts for Warner Bros. After sound man Treg Brown was put in charge of cartoon voices, and Carl Stalling became music director, Brown introduced Blanc to animation directors Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, and Frank Tashlin, who loved his voices. The first cartoon Blanc worked on was Picador Porky (1937) as the voice of Porky's drunken friends who dress up as a bull. He soon after received his first starring role when he replaced Joe Dougherty as Porky Pig's voice in Porky's Duck Hunt, which marked the debut of Daffy Duck, also voiced by Blanc.

Following this, Blanc became a very prominent vocal artist for Warner Bros., voicing a wide variety of the Looney Tunes characters. Bugs Bunny, as whom Blanc made his debut in A Wild Hare (1940), was known for eating carrots frequently (especially while saying his catchphrase "Eh, what's up, doc?"). To follow this sound with the animated voice, Blanc would bite into a carrot and then quickly spit into a spittoon. One often-repeated story is that Blanc was allergic to carrots, which Blanc denied.

In Disney's Pinocchio, Blanc was hired to perform the voice of Gideon the Cat. However, it was eventually decided to have Gideon be a mute character (similar to Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), so all of Blanc's recorded dialogue was deleted except for a solitary hiccup, which was heard three times in the finished film.

Blanc also originated the voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker for the theatrical cartoons produced by Walter Lantz for Universal Pictures, but stopped voicing Woody after the character's first four shorts when he was signed to an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. Blanc had recorded some of Woody's lines for Pantry Panic, but had already left the Lantz studio before the short was released, so Danny Webb was hired to finished Woody's remaining lines for that particular short. Despite this, his laugh was still used in the Woody Woodpecker cartoons until 1951, when Grace Stafford recorded a softer version, while his "Guess who!?" signature line was used in the opening titles until the end of the series and closure of Walter Lantz Productions in 1972.

During World War II, Blanc served as the voice of the hapless Private Snafu in a series of shorts produced by Warner Bros. as a way of training recruited soldiers through the medium of animation.

Throughout his career, Blanc, aware of his talents, protected the rights to his voice characterizations contractually and legally. He, and later his estate, never hesitated to take civil action when those rights were violated. Voice actors at the time rarely received screen credits, but Blanc was an exception; by 1944, his contract with Warner Bros. stipulated a credit reading "Voice characterization(s) by Mel Blanc". According to his autobiography, Blanc asked for and received this screen credit from studio boss Leon Schlesinger after he was denied a salary raise. Initially, Blanc's screen credit was limited only to cartoons in which he voiced Bugs Bunny. This changed in March 1945 when the contract was amended to also include a screen credit for cartoons featuring Porky Pig and/or Daffy Duck. This however, excluded any shorts with the two characters made before that amendment occurred, even if they released after the fact (Book Revue and Baby Bottleneck are both examples of this). By the end of 1946, Blanc began receiving a screen credit in any subsequent Warner Bros. cartoon for which he provided voices.

Voice work for Hanna-Barbera and others

In 1960, after the expiration of his exclusive contract with Warner Bros., Blanc continued working for them, but also began providing voices for the TV cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera; his roles during this time included Barney Rubble of The Flintstones and Cosmo Spacely of The Jetsons. His other voice roles for Hanna-Barbera included Dino the Dinosaur, Secret Squirrel, Speed Buggy, and Captain Caveman, as well as voices for Wally Gator and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.

Blanc also worked with former Looney Tunes director Chuck Jones, who by this time was directing shorts with his own company Sib Tower 12 (later MGM Animation/Visual Arts), doing vocal effects for the Tom and Jerry series from 1963 to 1967. Blanc was the first voice of Toucan Sam in Froot Loops commercials.

Blanc reprised some of his Warner Bros. characters when the studio contracted him to make new theatrical cartoons in the mid- to late 1960s. For these, Blanc voiced Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales, the characters who received the most frequent use in these shorts (later, newly introduced characters such as Cool Cat and Merlin the Magic Mouse were voiced by Larry Storch). Blanc also continued to voice the Looney Tunes for the bridging sequences of The Bugs Bunny Show, as well as in numerous animated advertisements and several compilation features, such as The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979). He also voiced Granny on Peter Pan Records in 4 More Adventures of Bugs Bunny (1974) and Holly-Daze (1974), in place of June Foray, and replaced the late Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd's voice during the post-golden age era.

Car accident and aftermath

On January 24, 1961, Blanc was driving alone when his sports car was involved in a head-on collision on Sunset Boulevard; his legs and his pelvis were fractured as a result. He was in a coma and completely non-responsive. About two weeks later, one of Blanc's neurologists at the UCLA Medical Center tried a different approach than just trying to address the unconscious Blanc—address his characters instead. Blanc was asked, "How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?" After a slight pause, Blanc answered, in a weak voice, "Eh ... just fine, Doc. How are you?" The doctor then asked Tweety if he was there, too. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat", was the reply. Blanc returned home on March 17. Four days later, Blanc filed a US$500,000 lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. His accident, one of 26 in the preceding two years at the intersection known as Dead Man's Curve, resulted in the city funding the restructuring of curves at the location.

Later years

On January 29, 1962, Mel and his son Noel formed Blanc Communications Corporation, a media company which produced over 5,000 commercials and public service announcements, which remains in operation. Mel and Noel appeared with many stars, including: Kirk Douglas, Lucille Ball, Vincent Price, Phyllis Diller, Liberace and The Who.

In the 1970s, Blanc gave a series of college lectures across the US and appeared in commercials for American Express. In 1972, Chuck McKibben started working as Blanc's personal recording engineer/producer and studio manager. His daily responsibilities at Mel Blanc Audiomedia in Beverly Hills, California included recording Blanc's voice for a variety of film, advertising and theme park projects. In 1982, Mel's production company, Blanc Communications Corporation, collaborated on a special with the Boston-based Shriners' Burns Institute called Ounce of Prevention, which became a 30-minute TV special.

Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, Blanc performed his Looney Tunes characters for bridging sequences in various compilation films of Golden Age-era Warner Bros. cartoons, such as: The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie, Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales, Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island and Daffy Duck's Quackbusters. His final performance of his Looney Tunes roles was in Bugs Bunny's Wild World of Sports (1989). After spending most of two seasons voicing the diminutive robot Twiki in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Blanc's last major original character was Heathcliff, who he voiced from 1980 to 1988.

In the live-action film Strange Brew (1983), Blanc voiced the father of Bob and Doug McKenzie, at the request of comedian Rick Moranis. In the live-action/animated movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Blanc reprised several of his roles from Warner Bros. cartoons (Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety, and Sylvester), but left Yosemite Sam to Joe Alaskey (who later became one of Blanc's regular replacements until his death in 2016). The film was one of the few Disney projects in which Blanc was involved. Blanc died just a year after the film's release. His final recording session was for Jetsons: The Movie (1990).

Personal life

Blanc and his wife Estelle Rosenbaum were married on January 4, 1933, and remained married until his death in 1989. Their son, Noel Blanc, was also a voice actor.

Blanc was a Freemason as a member of Mid Day Lodge No. 188 in Portland, Oregon. He held membership at the lodge for 58 years. Blanc was also a Shriner.

Death

Legacy

Blanc is regarded as the most prolific voice actor in entertainment history. He was the first voice actor to receive on-screen credit.

Blanc's death was considered a significant loss to the cartoon industry because of his skill, expressive range, and the sheer number of the continuing characters he portrayed, whose roles were subsequently assumed by several other voice talents. As film critic Leonard Maltin observed, "It is astounding to realize that Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam are the same man!" Darrell Van Citters drew a lithograph titled "Speechless" in tribute to Blanc, which showed a spotlight on a microphone while the Looney Tunes characters somberly bowed their heads in a moment of silence.

Blanc said that Sylvester the Cat was the easiest character for him to voice, because "he's just my normal speaking voice with a spray at the end"; and that Yosemite Sam was the hardest, because of his loudness and raspiness. A doctor who examined Blanc's throat found that he possessed unusually thick, powerful vocal cords that gave him an exceptional range, and compared them to those of opera singer Enrico Caruso.

After his death, Blanc's voice continued to be heard in newly released productions, such as recordings of Dino the Dinosaur in the live-action films The Flintstones (1994) and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000). Similarly, recordings of Blanc as Jack Benny's Maxwell were featured in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). In 1994, the Blanc estate and Warner Bros. created the Warner-Blanc Audio Library, consisting of 550 songs and voices of Blanc's Looney Tunes characters, which he had begun setting down at his multi-track studio in 1958. 15 hours of new tapes of Mel's material were discovered in 1996. Noel Blanc stated that they could also rearrange "syllables" of the new recordings to create custom dialogue for the characters. These recordings were also used for toys, watches, video games, commercials, and websites. Later archive recordings of Blanc were featured in computer-generated imagery-animated Looney Tunes theatrical shorts; I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat (shown with Happy Feet Two) and Daffy's Rhapsody (shown with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island).

For his contributions to the radio industry, Blanc has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard. His character Bugs Bunny was also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 10, 1985.

Blanc trained his son Noel in the field of voice characterization. Noel performed his father's characters (particularly Porky Pig) on some programs, but did not become a full-time voice artist. Warner Bros. expressed reluctance to have a single voice actor succeed Blanc, and employed multiple new voice actors to fill the roles since the 1990s, including Noel Blanc, Jeff Bergman, Joe Alaskey, Greg Burson, Bob Bergen, Billy West and Eric Bauza.

On September 19, 2017, publisher Penguin Random House released the picture book Melvin the Mouth, written by Mel's daughter-in-law Katherine Blanc and illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler. The book follows the daily life of Blanc (here named "Melvin") during his childhood, in which he makes his comical noises and sound effects. An audiobook adaptation was released on December 15, 2017, narrated by Ramón De Ocampo.

Filmography

Radio

Film

Television

Video games

Theme park attractions

Discography

• Yah, Das Ist Ein Christmas Tree and I Tan't Wait Til Quithmuth Day (Capitol, 1950, Album CAS-3191)
• Clink, Clink, Another Drink (Bluebird, 1942) as Drunk
• Bugs Bunny Stories for Children (Capitol, 1947) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, additional voices
• The Woody Woodpecker Song (Capitol, 1948) as Woody Woodpecker
• Bugs Bunny and the Tortoise (Capitol, 1948) as Bugs Bunny, Cecil Turtle, Daffy Duck, Henery Hawk, additional voices
• That's All Folks! (Capitol, 1948) as Porky Pig
• Won't You Ever Get Together With Me (Capitol, 1948) as Tweety, Sylvester
• Bugs Bunny in Storyland (Capitol, 1949) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Beaky Buzzard, Old King Cole, Fiddlers Three, Mary's Lamb, Bo Peep's Sheep, Big Bad Wolf
• "Clink, Clink, Another Drink" (with Spike Jones and His City Slickers) (Bluebird Records, 1949), sings the bridge and hiccups
• Woody Woodpecker and His Talent Show (Capitol, 1949) as Woody Woodpecker, Stanley Squirrel, Billy Goat, Plato Platypus, Fido, Happy Hedgehog, Harry Humbug
• Bugs Bunny Sings with Daffy Duck, Tweety Pie, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester (Capitol, 1950) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Tweety, Sylvester
• Bugs Bunny Meets Hiawatha (Capitol, 1950) as Bugs Bunny
• Daffy Duck Meets Yosemite Sam (Capitol, 1950) as Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam
• Tweety Pie (Capitol, 1950) as Tweety, Sylvester
• Woody Woodpecker's Picnic (Capitol, 1951) as Woody Woodpecker, Tommy Turtle, English Bulldog, German Shepherd, Irish Setter, Scotty
• Henery Hawk (Capitol, 1951) as Henery Hawk, Foghorn Leghorn, Daffy Duck
• Tweety's Puddy Tat Twouble (Capitol, 1951) as Tweety, Sylvester
• Tweet, Tweet, Tweety (Capitol, 1952) as Tweety, Sylvester
• Bugs Bunny and the Grow-Small Juice (Capitol, 1952) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck
• Henery Hawk's Chicken Hunt (Capitol, 1952) as Henery Hawk, Foghorn Leghorn, additional voices
• Bugs Bunny and Aladdin's Lamp (Capitol, 1952) as Bugs Bunny, Genie
• Woody Woodpecker and the Scarecrow (Capitol, 1952) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Daffy Duck's Feathered Friend (Capitol, 1952) as Daffy Duck
• Sylvester and Hippety Hopper (Capitol, 1952) as Sylvester, Sylvester Jr., additional voices
• Woody Woodpecker and the Animal Crackers (Capitol, 1953) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Woody Woodpecker and the Lost Monkey (Capitol, 1953) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Bugs Bunny and Rabbit Seasoning (Capitol, 1953) as Bugs Bunny
• Snowbound Tweety (Capitol, 1953) as Tweety, Sylvester
• Woody Woodpecker and His Spaceship (Capitol, 1953) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Wild West Henery Hawk (Capitol, 1953) as Henery Hawk, Foghorn Leghorn, additional voices
• Pied Piper Pussycat (Capitol, 1953) as Sylvester, additional voices
• Daffy Duck's Duck Inn (Capitol, 1954) as Daffy Duck, Dog
• Bugs Bunny and the Pirate (Capitol, 1954) as Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam
• Woody Woodpecker and the Truth Tonic (Capitol, 1954) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Tweety's Good Deed (Capitol, 1954) as Tweety, Sylvester, additional voices
• Woody Woodpecker's Fairy Godmother (Capitol, 1955) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Woody Woodpecker in Mixed-Up Land (Capitol, 1955) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Woody Woodpecker Meets Davy Crockett (Capitol, 1955) as Woody Woodpecker, additional voices
• Woody Woodpecker's Family Album (Decca, 1957) as Pepito, sailor, Malamute, Andy Panda, Fluten Bluten, Heinie the Hyena, Homer Pigeon, Cuckoo, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
• "There's a Hole in the Iron Curtain" (with Mickey Katz and His Orchestra) (Capitol, 1960, Album 45-5425)
• Bugs Bunny Songfest (Golden, 1961) as Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Tweety, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Henery Hawk, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Hippety Hopper, Foghorn Leghorn, Cicero Pig
• Speedy Gonzales (Dot, 1962) as Speedy Gonzales
• Magilla Gorilla and His Pals (Golden, 1964) as Droop-A-Long
• The Flintstones: Flip Fables (Hanna-Barbera, 1965) as Barney Rubble, Chubby, Tubby, Stubby, Landlord, Beowolfe
• The Flintstones: Hansel and Gretel (Hanna-Barbera, 1965) as Barney Rubble, Hansel, Gretel, Strudelmeyer, Fang, Witch, Reporter
• Treasure Island Starring Sinbad, Jr. (Hanna-Barbera, 1965) as Salty
• Secret Squirrel and Morocco Mole in: Super Spy (Hanna-Barbera, 1965) as Secret Squirrel, Tyrone
• The New Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (Hanna-Barbera, 1966) as Barney Rubble, March Hare, Prosecuting Attorney/King's Son
• The Flintstones Meet the Orchestra Family (Sunset, 1968) as Barney Rubble
• The New Adventures of Bugs Bunny (Peter Pan, 1973) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Petunia Pig, Speedy Gonzales, Pablo, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, additional voices
• Four More Adventures of Bugs Bunny (Peter Pan, 1974) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Petunia Pig, Speedy Gonzales, Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, Road Runner, additional voices
• Holly Daze (Peter Pan, 1974) as Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzales, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Granny, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester, Junior, Santa Claus, narrator, Radio Announcer
• Bugs Bunny Goes To Sea (Fisher-Price, 1978) as Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, additional voices
• The Desert Island (Fisher-Price, 1978) as Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam
• Looney Tales (Fisher-Price, 1978) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, additional voices
• Looney Tunes Learn About Numbers (Warner Audio Publishing, 1986) as Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, additional voices
• Looney Tunes Learn About The Alphabet (Warner Audio Publishing, 1986) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, additional voices
• Looney Tunes Learn About Going To School (Warner Audio Publishing, 1986) as Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Sylvester Jr., Tweety, additional voices
• Looney Tunes Learn About Sing-Along Songs (Warner Audio Publishing, 1986) as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, additional voices
• Looney Tunes Learn About Colors (Warner Audio Publishing, 1986) as Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, additional voices
• Looney Tunes Learn About Shapes and Sizes (Warner Audio Publishing, 1986) as Bugs Bunny, Cecil Turtle, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, additional voices
• Space Jam: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture (Warner Sunset/Atlantic, 1996) as Porky Pig (archive recording)

References

• Inkpot Award, December 6, 2012, Comic-con.org, February 27, 2022
• Blanc, June 1, 2019
• Blanc, June 1, 2019
• Mel Blanc, Who Provided Voices For 3,000 Cartoons, Is Dead at 81, The New York Times, July 11, 1989, June 26, 2008, Peter B., Flint
• Harmetz, Aljean, Aljean Harmetz, November 24, 1988, Man of a Thousand Voices, Speaking Literally, July 8, 2016, The New York Times
• Mel Blanc's bio at Ochcom.org, October 20, 2014
• Mel Blanc, February 5, 2013, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US
• Mel Blanc, pdxhistory.com, July 11, 2017
• DeMolay Hall of Fame, DeMolay International, July 10, 2017, July 11, 2017
• That's Not All, Folks!, 1988, Mel, Blanc, Philip, Bashe, Warner Books, registration
• 57 Variety Blanc, Betty, Mills, Radio Daily, August 7, 1942, January 26, 2020
• Tim Lawson (writer), Tim, Lawson, Alisa, Persons, The Magic Behind The Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors, University Press of Mississippi, 2004
• Scott, Keith, Keith Scott (voice actor), 'GUESS WHO??' Voice Artists in the Woody Woodpecker Cartoons, September 20, 2021, Cartoon Research, August 13, 2025
• Situation Normal All Fouled Up: A History of Private Snafu, Misce-Looney-Ous, June 20, 2020, May 12, 2008
• Scott, Keith, Keith Scott (voice actor), Mel Blanc: From Anonymity To Offscreen Superstar (The advent of on-screen voice credits), September 13, 2016, Cartoon Research, July 18, 2017
• Mel Blanc: filmography, The New York Times, November 25, 2014, October 13, 2007
• Ehrbar, Greg, Bugs Bunny's High-Fructose Christmas Record, November 24, 2015, Cartoon Research, August 6, 2018
• January 25, 1961, Mel Blanc, Man of Many Voices, Badly Injured, The Terre Haute Tribune, United Press International, Newspapers.com, February 16, 2019, February 17, 2019
• That's Not All, Folks!, 1988, Mel, Blanc, Philip, Bashe, Warner Books, registration, 1, 84, 235–237, 239
• What's Up, Doc?, November 6, 2012, October 27, 2014, Radiolab, Horowitz, Daniel
• The Strange Day When Bugs Bunny Saved the Life of Mel Blanc, May 6, 2013, OpenCulture.com, Rix, Kate
• Mel Blanc visits Gadgets in the Eastwood Mall (Home of The Looney Tunes Revue and Sammy Sands) (1982), January 15, 2025, YouTube, May 5, 2025
• Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices, Ohmart, Ben, November 15, 2012, April 22, 2025, According to one report, Noel, by then a fair imitator of his father's characters, was asked by Warner Bros. to loop a series of cartoons, ones which needed an extra phrase or word redone. He would still pinch-hit for Mel later on occasion too, but "about 99% of what the public hears is my dad. My voice is basically used in public service announcements and on Armed Forces broadcasts."
• Creating The Filmation Generation, We used a lot of the main Warner characters, except Bugs Bunny and the little mouse guy, Speedy Gonzales. And I think it's one of the few times we used that wonderful voice actor, Mel Blanc, although he may have been ill then. He had a terrible accident, and that may be the time his son , Blanc, did some stuff for us, imitating his dad., April 22, 2025, Scheimer, Lou, Mangels, Andy, December 15, 2012, TwoMorrows
• Evanier, Mark, IAQ03, March 23, 2013, News From ME, December 25, 2025
• Nydell, Tim, Noel Blanc Interview (Son of Mel Blanc - The Man of a Thousand Voices), May 1, 2022, YouTube, April 22, 2025
• Stan Freberg - The Complete "Pioneers of Television" Interview, January 29, 2022, YouTube, February 1, 2025
• Evanier, Mark, Bugs Bunny on Record, November 9, 2004, News From ME, November 24, 2024
• Scott, Keith, Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2, October 3, 2022, BearManor Media, en
• Komorowski, Thad, The Thad Review: "Looney Tunes Collector's Choice" Vol. 4, November 18, 2024, Cartoon Research, November 24, 2024
• July 12, 2012, Blanc laments lack of cartoon quality, Anchorage Daily News, Craig, Paul, Mcclatchy News Service, September 4, 1988, June 20, 2020
• Keoghan, Phil, BUCKiT #6-Noel Blanc: The Son of Mel Blanc, Voice of the Looney Tunes, July 25, 2018, YouTube, May 30, 2020, December 20, 2021
• November 24, 1961, Mel Blanc Is Back at Work, The Vernon Daily Record, Associated Press, Newspapers.com, December 11, 2016
• Blanc, Mel, 1988, That's Not All Folks!, Warner Books, 228, 252
• Blanc Communications Corporation, California, US, Open Corporates, June 21, 2021
• Blanc Communications Corporation official site, October 8, 2017
• Korkis, Jim, In His Own Words: Mel Blanc's Last Interview, March 1, 2021, Cartoon Research, October 25, 2024
• Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices, August 13, 2012, YouTube, May 11, 2025
• Ounce of prevention, October 8, 2017, Charles S. Morgan Technical Library, October 8, 2018
• Mel Blanc, Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon, July 16, 2023, December 24, 2022
• Tribe, Ivan, Brother Mel Blanc: "The Man of a Thousand Voices", July 16, 2023, May 19, 2023
• Famous Freemasons (A – Z) – Freemasons Community, May 19, 2023, freemasonscommunity.life
• Baum, Gary, May 25, 2017, Inside Hollywood's Secret Masonic History, From Disney to DeMille, May 19, 2023, The Hollywood Reporter, en-US
• Brother Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices, May 19, 2023, www.knightstemplar.org, May 19, 2023
• Mel Blanc: His Voice Is His Fortune, Aljean, Harmetz, November 27, 1988, Sun-Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale, July 19, 2013, November 8, 2013
• Feldman, Paul, Mel Blanc Dies; Gave Voice to Cartoon World, Los Angeles Times, July 13, 2016, July 11, 1989
• Wilson, Scott, 2016, Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3, Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarland
• Grave Hunter finds Mel Blanc burial place, Gravehunter.net, September 4, 2019, August 4, 2020
• Raised by the Stars: Interviews with 29 Children of Hollywood Actors, Thomas, Nick, McFarland, 2011
• Look Who's Talking!, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Suzanne V., Horvath, October 13, 1946, January 20, 2020
• Legacy dot com on Mel Blanc, Legacy.com, May 30, 2013
• Levy, Rochelle, One Picture Is Worth a Thousand Voices, 1990, Bugs Bunny: He's 50 Folks!, 1, Custom Publishing, December 25, 2025
• Speechless Cel - Tribute to Mel Blanc Newest Tribute to Mel Blanc, Fascination St. Gallery - Animation Art & Collectibles, July 31, 2025, February 7, 2006
• Albany Herald editorial staff, Blanc's voice to live on through tapes, November 23, 1996, September 13, 2024, The Albany Herald
• Daily Sentinel editorial staff, People in the news, November 24, 1996, September 13, 2024, The Daily Sentinel
• Calvo, Dana, Lamb Chop, the Next Generation, Los Angeles Times, June 4, 2000
• Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices, Ohmart, Ben, November 15, 2012, November 23, 2023, In 1994, the Blanc estate and Warner Bros. forged a new alliance: the Warner-Blanc Audio Library, which consisted of approximately 550 songs and voices of every character in Mel's repertoire, which he had begun setting down at his multi-track studio in 1958 amid fears of a future when he'd be around no longer to record. 15 hours of new tapes of Mel's material had been discovered in 1996, and Noel expected to find more soon. Of course Mel's death never did diminish his impact on society as a cult icon. New technology has made him fresh for each generation. Around 1998 a line of talking watches featuring Warner characters where released under a joint venture from Warner-Blanc, digitizing some of Mel's vast back catalog to use in new items. The Mel Blanc Voice Watch Collection by Armitron was produced to celebrate what would have been his 90th birthday. Daffy spitting, "You're desthpicable", Tweety chirping, "I tawt I taw a puddy tat", and the ever popular Bugs asking the eternal question, "What's up, doc?" were a few choices emanating for 10 or 15 seconds from a small computer chip and miniature speaker at the press of a button. The price for each: $50.
• Shamray, Gerry, SHOW ME THE BUNNY - Part 1 of a 2-part interview with Noel Blanc, October 24, 2000, DVDFile, July 31, 2025, October 24, 2000
• Noel Blanc, Hot Rod & Restoration Trade Show, November 12, 2017, YouTube, April 23, 2025
• Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices, Ohmart, Ben, November 15, 2012, November 23, 2023, Mel and WB were/are inseparable. In 1982 he and Noel began a massive recording project at JEL Recording Studios in which Mel recorded the audio for fifty automated stage shows featuring Bugs, Daffy, and the gang, full of dialogue and song. It stemmed from a long-term contract between Warner-Blanc Audio Associates and JEL, under the direction of Noel and Bill Baldwin, Jr. For years, on a weekly basis, these new recordings of Mel's voices were also given to a variety of toys, watches, video games, websites, etc.
• More 3D Looney Tunes Shorts On The Way, June 8, 2011, ComingSoon.net, October 29, 2012, August 25, 2012
• Vary, Adam B., Looney Tunes short with Tweety Bird, Sylvester, Entertainment Weekly, November 14, 2011, October 29, 2012
• Bugs Bunny, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, June 28, 2012
• That's Not All, Folks!, 1988, Mel, Blanc, Philip, Bashe, Warner Books, registration, 272, 274
• That's Still Not All Folks!, 2009, Joe, Alaskey, BearManor Media
• Melvin the Mouth by Katherine Blanc (Author); Jeffrey Ebbeler (Illustrator), Penguin Random House Canada, April 24, 2025
• Melvin The Mouth by Katherine Blanc - PenguinRandomHouse.com, September 2, 2017, YouTube, April 25, 2025
• Melvin the Mouth by Katherine Blanc, Google Play, April 25, 2025
• Melvin the Mouth by Katherine Blanc, Audiobooks.com, April 25, 2025
• Melvin the Mouth by Katherine Blanc · Audiobook preview, February 10, 2024, YouTube, April 25, 2025
• Spies, Kamden, Cartoon Characters On Radio, Part IV — More From Mel Blanc, January 13, 2025, Cartoon Research, May 14, 2025
• DataBase, The Big Cartoon, Speaking Of Animals Theatrical Series – Paramount Pictures, July 28, 2024, November 19, 2021, Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB), en-US
• February 18, 2021, A Mel Blanc Discovery, February 20, 2021, Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, en-US
• Champagne for Caesar (1950): Full Credits, dead, July 9, 2017, March 25, 2016, Turner Classic Movies
• Archived copy, November 19, 2021, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US, November 19, 2021
• Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961), The Three Stooges, November 19, 2021
• Alexander, Vincent, The Influence Of Looney Tunes On Live-Action Filmmakers, April 24, 2024, Cartoon Brew, May 30, 2025
• Popular Photography staff, Popular Photography Vol. 88, No. 2, MOVIE FILMS/VIDEOTAPES, February 1981, Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, May 12, 2025
• Weinberg, Scott, NFL Greatest Follies Complete Collection, May 12, 2005, DVD Talk, May 12, 2025, December 17, 2017
• Sports Fans 2.0: How Fans Are Using Social Media to Get Closer to the Game, Sutera, David M., April 25, 2013, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, May 11, 2025
• NFL Super Duper Football Follies, November 28, 2015, YouTube, Special Thanks To: Mel Blanc., Mel Blanc is credited for his voicework in a separate heading in Super Duper Football Follies., May 12, 2025
• Kelleher, Brian, Merrill, Diana, 1987, Episode Guide, The Second Season, The Perry Mason TV Show Book, New York, St. Martin's Press, 105–117
• Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-five Years, 1962-1987, Woolery, George W., 1989, Bloomsbury Academic, May 12, 2025
• American Literature on Stage and Screen: 525 Works and Their Adaptations, Hischak, Thomas S., January 10, 2014, McFarland, May 12, 2025
• A Study Guide for Washington Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Gale Cengage Learning, September 15, 2015, Gale Cengage Learning, May 12, 2025
• Kids' TV: The First 25 Years, Fischer, Stuart, 1983, Facts on File, May 14, 2025
• Sunny Days: The Children's Television Revolution That Changed America, Kamp, David, May 18, 2021, Simon and Schuster, May 14, 2025
• Chickie Baby, January 13, 2022, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US
• Top Five 'Press Your Luck' Moments, September 19, 2017, Programming Insider, March 7, 2025
• Zeta Minor staff, James Doohan 1920-2005, July 21, 2005, Zeta Minor, Revelation will release the 1987 animated film , Sparky's Magic Piano, on DVD on September 26th. The film, which features the vocal talents of Mel Blanc, Tony Curtis and Vincent Price, will be in 4:3 format, with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio., May 13, 2025
• The New York Times Guide to the Best Children's Videos, Kids First!, November 1999, Simon and Schuster, May 11, 2025
• The Piano on Film, Huckvale, David, March 2, 2022, McFarland, May 11, 2025
• Rachmaninoff and His World, Bullock, Philip Ross, August 12, 2022, University of Chicago Press, May 11, 2025
• Mel Blanc Phone Interview as Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, February 28, 2018, YouTube, March 7, 2024
• Lear, Len, Hill ex-TV personality sliding up the pole of success, March 8, 2018, The Chestnut Hill Local, March 7, 2025
• 'May the century begin': History behind Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, September 27, 2021, ClickOrlando, Since 1964, Uncle Orville has been voiced by the one and only Mel Blanc. Blanc originally voiced the cuckoo clock in the Carousel, and a few other odds and ends but those were re-voiced for 1993 by his son, Noel Blanc., September 10, 2024
• The Bugs Bunny Merrie Holiday Revue, May 15, 2025, Behind The Voice Actors, en-US
• Dazzling New Shows Catch Great America's Spotlight, March 12, 2018, Great America Parks, February 21, 2025
• Foghorn Leghorn show, Great America Parks, February 21, 2025, January 22, 2021
• Foghorn Leghorn - Show guide front and back, Great America Parks, February 21, 2025
• Pasq, Animatronic Analysis - Creative Presentations, January 16, 2023, YouTube, March 9, 2024
• Gadgets Restaurant, December 28, 2018, Berks Nostalgia, March 9, 2024
• Scott's World; NEWLN: Restaurants serve up Mel Blanc characters, United Press International, March 9, 2024
• NOW, A ROBOT AT THE PIANO, The New York Times, July 27, 1984, March 9, 2024, Schmidt, William E.
• Larry Nikolai on Gadgets, Facebook, March 9, 2024
• Korkis, Jim, Eating at Bullwinkle's, November 1, 2021, Cartoon Research, May 5, 2025
• Looney Tunes Goin' Hollywood, September 28, 2008, YouTube, November 19, 2023
• Ehrbar, Greg, 'Bugs Bunny in Storyland': The Good, The Bad, and the Bugs, January 7, 2014, Cartoon Research, October 9, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, Bugs Bunny and His Friends on Capitol Records, July 12, 2016, Cartoon Research, October 9, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, Woody Woodpecker on Records, September 30, 2014, Cartoon Research, October 9, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, Golden Records' "Bugs Bunny Songfest" (1961), November 1, 2016, Cartoon Research, October 9, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, Hanna Barbera's "Magilla Gorilla" on the Record, January 27, 2015, Cartoon Research, October 14, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, Flintstone Bedtime Stories, May 13, 2014, Cartoon Research, October 14, 2019
• Sam Singer and Hanna-Barbera's "Sinbad Jr." on Records, Cartoon Research, October 14, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, Hanna-Barbera's "Secret Squirrel" on Records, July 5, 2016, Cartoon Research, October 14, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, The Day "Alice" Fell Through Her TV: The 1966 HB Special, March 25, 2014, Cartoon Research, October 14, 2019
• Ehrbar, Greg, "The Flintstones' Meet The Orchestra Family" (1968), November 11, 2014, Cartoon Research, October 14, 2019
• #13 Book - Warner Brothers "Bugs Goes To Sea", This Old Toy, February 21, 2025
• #14 Book - Warner Brothers "The Desert Island", This Old Toy, February 21, 2025
• #15 Book - Warner Brothers "Looney Tales", This Old Toy, February 21, 2025
• Ehrbar, Greg, Mel Blanc Presents Listening and Learning with Bugs & Friends, May 28, 2019, Cartoon Research, February 27, 2022
• Various – Space Jam (Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture) (1996, CD), 1996, Discogs, December 25, 2025

Bibliography

• That's Not All, Folks!, 1988 by Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe. Warner Books, isbn 0-446-39089-5 (Softcover), isbn 0-446-51244-3 (Hardcover)
• Terrace, Vincent. Radio Programs, 1924–1984. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999. isbn 0-7864-0351-9

External links

• Mel Blanc at Turner Classic Movies
• Toonopedia article about Mel Blanc
• 40 MP3 downloads of The Mel Blanc Show Archived September 29, 2009, at web.archive.org
• The Mel Blanc Show on Old Time Radio Outlaws