Profile: June Foray

[tv star collector]

June Foray--the sole surviving cast member of THE BULLWINKLE SHOW--turned 89 last Sept. 18th. Perhaps animation legend Chuck Jones paid her the ultimate compliment when he said, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc is the male June Foray." Without a doubt, she is the First Lady of Animation, the last survivor of "The Great Ones" -- that group of actors and actresses of animation's golden era.

June Foray was destined to be a performer. Her parents were "artistic and cultured"; and, for June, acting "came naturally"; and when she was 12 years old, her teacher (a former stage actress) refined her talent. Foray worked in radio professionally from the time she was 12 in her home state of Massachusetts. She came out with her family to California when in her early teens.

Her first work in animation was the part of Lucifer, the cat in Walt Disney's "Cinderella" (1950). Next came the role of Witch Hazel in the Donald Duck cartoon "Trick or Treat" (1952), which led Chuck Jones to cast her as another Witch Hazel for various Bugs Bunny shorts for Warner Bros.

Not only did June voice the "Indian Squaw" in Disney's "Peter Pan" (1953), but she was also a model for one of the mermaids in that picture. Of course, the highlight of her career came when she was chosen to play Rocket J. Squirrel in Jay Ward's ROCKY & HIS FRIENDS (1959).

Her many other credits include: Natasha Fatale, Granny (the Tweety & Sylvester series), Nell Fenwick, Broom Hilda, various characters in Ward's Fractured Fairy Tales, Cindy Lou Who ("How the Grinch Stole Christmas"), the Ghost of Christmas Past ("Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol"), Grandmother
Fa ("Mulan"), Jokey Smurf, Pogo Possum, Raggedy Ann, Aunt May Parker ("Spider-Man"), and Knothead & Splinter (THE WOODY WOODPECKER SHOW).

Besides cartoons, her other voiceover work has included voicing one of the Marquis Chimps in the Cinderella segment of The Three Stooges 1960 compilation movie "Stop! Look! and Laugh!" She also "looped" dialogue for two small boys in Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" and for various characters in
Burt Reynolds' "Cannonball Run." She also did the little boy who had been murdered and came back from the grave in "The Changeling" and has even lent her voice to toys, including the baby-boomer favorite Chatty Cathy dolls ... and, ironically, the murderous Talky Tina doll in an unforgettable
episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE ("I'm Talky Tina and I'm going to kill you").

Her other achievements include seven semesters of teaching at the University of Southern California in the 1980s. She was president of ASIFA (the internatinal animated film society) and founded the "Annie Awards" (the animation industry's equivalent to the Oscars).

[THE MAGIC BEHIND THE VOICES, by Tim Lawson & Alisa Persons (2004)]

Miss Foray is currently working on her autobiography, which is destined to be
a must-read for animation fans.

[MrCleveland]

Great article. Come back to BCDB sometime, I'm a member too.

[tv star collector]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

Great article. Come back to BCDB sometime, I'm a member too.

Thanks, friend. In the next few days, I plan to post some more profiles of
cartoon voice actors here. I have always been fascinated with learning about
these talented people behind the scenes.

[comedyfreak]

That was also interesting, she's been so successful.

[MrCleveland]

Originally Posted by tv star collector

Thanks, friend. In the next few days, I plan to post some more profiles of
cartoon voice actors here. I have always been fascinated with learning about
these talented people behind the scenes.

Don't forget-my profile on there is the same as here and to joke about it-I'm going to have a Valentine Avatar soon. (They push Christmas earlier so why not Valentines Day?)