As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
May 30, 1908
Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and
countless other Warner Bros. cartoon characters, was born in San Francisco.
His parents, who ran a women's clothing business,
moved with their son to Portland, Oregon, when Blanc was a child. Blanc began
performing as a musician and singer on local radio programs in Portland before
he was 20. In the late 1920s, he and his wife, Estelle, created a daily radio
show called "Cobwebs and Nuts," which became a hit. Blanc made many
other radio appearances and became a regular on Jack Benny's hit radio show,
providing the sounds of Benny's ancient car (The Maxwell) and playing several
other characters.
In 1937, Blanc made his
debut with Warner Bros., providing the voice for a drunken bull in a short
cartoon called "Picador Porky." Another actor provided the pig's
voice, but Blanc later replaced him. In 1940, Bugs Bunny debuted in a short
called "A Wild Hare." Blanc said he wanted the rabbit to sound tough
and streetwise, so he created a comic combination of Bronx and Brooklyn
accents. Other characters Blanc created for Warner Bros. included the Road
Runner, Sylvester, and Tweety Bird. He performed in some 850 cartoons for
Warner Bros. during his 50-year career. For other studios, he provided the
voices of Barney Rubble and Dino the dinosaur in The Flintstones, Mr.
Spacely for The Jetsons, and Woody Woodpecker's laugh.
In his 1988
autobiography, That's Not All Folks, Blanc described a nearly fatal
traffic accident that left him in a coma. Unable to rouse him by using his real
name, a doctor finally said, "How are you, Bugs Bunny?" and Mel
replied, in Bugs' voice, "Ehh, just fine, doc. How are you?"
Blanc
continued to provide voices until the late 1980s, most memorably voicing Daffy
Duck dueling with Donald Duck in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). After
Mel Blanc died of complications from heart disease, his son Noel, trained by
his father, provided the voices for the characters the elder Blanc had helped
bring to life.
June 1, 2009
Conan O'Brien debuted as the host of NBC's Tonight Show.
In January 2010 he stepped down after a dispute with the network.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Show No. 234 with guests Marion Ross and Peter Key
