Voice Legend June Foray Nominated for Her First Emmy at Age 94

[Zoneboy]

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Springfield native June L. Foray has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and so many awards she says she doesn’t have enough room for them on the cocktail table and walls of her Woodland Hills, Calif., home.

But there’s sure to be a place for one more: Foray, 94, has been nominated for a Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for voicing the role of Mrs. Cauldron on “The Garfield Show” on Cartoon Network.

It is first Emmy nomination for the voice legend behind Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale on “The Bullwinkle Show,” Nell Fenwick on “The Dudley Do-Right Show,” Cindy Lou Who in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Granny on “The Bugs Bunny Show,” Grandmother Fa in “Mulan,” Grammi on “Gummi Bears,” Jokey Smurf on “The Smurfs” and Talky Tina in “The Twilight Zone.”

“It’s very flattering,” said Foray during a phone interview from her California home. “I love every character I’ve done because there’s a little bit of me in everything I’ve done.

And it isn’t difficult for her to change voices in the same breath, she said, demonstrating a seamless transition from the voice of Rocky to that of Natasha.

Foray, long considered one of the premiere voice actors in the animation industry, keeps busy; she is currently recording another Garfield show and a new Looney Tunes series as Granny.

A member of the Board of Governors of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for 26 years, Foray said she was instrumental in the creation of an Academy Award category for best animated feature.

“People still love cartoons. People still love animated films,” Foray said. “It’s the nexus between reality and fantasy. I think everybody likes fantasy to some extent.”

Foray was born in Springfield in 1917, the daughter of Maurice and Ida Foray, and lived at 75 Orange St.

Her parents often took her to opera and theater performances as well as to the movies. “I impersonated everybody,” she recalled.

When she was six, she told her parents she wanted to be an actor, so they got her an acting teacher who landed her in radio. “I was an omnivorous reader,” she said. “I impersonated and memorized all kinds of dialogue. That’s how I got started” in show business.

The 1933 graduate of Classical High School moved to California with her parents and her two siblings when she was 17 to be near her mother’s brother after Maurice Foray, an engineer, fell upon difficult financial times.

The move, she said, “was the best thing in the world for me” because in California she got involved with radio through the WBZA Players and her own “Lady Make Believe” radio show.

She worked on numerous network radio shows originating from Los Angeles including “Lux Theatre,” “The Danny Thomas Show” and “The Jimmy Durante Show.”

In 1950, she landed the role that changed her life: She was chosen to make the feline noises for Lucifer the cat in Walt Disney’s animated feature “Cinderella.”

“Cinderella” and her work on children’s records with the late Mel Blanc, the man who created the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and most of the Warner Brothers cartoon stars, led to work at Warner Brothers on Tweety and Bugs Bunny shorts.

Foray is the author of two books, “Perverse, Adverse and Rottenverse” and “Did You Grow Up with Me, Too?” The title of the latter comes from what many people tell her when she makes public appearances: “Oh, I grew up with you!” referring to her cartoon characters.

Foray is currently working on a third book, “Remembering Things I Forgot to Remember.”

Asked to offer advice born of her age and career experience, Foray was quick to a
advise: “Persevere. Do what you love to do. Keep a positive attitude and eat correctly.”

The 39th annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards ceremony is set to take place the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Sunday, June 23. The nominees in the category for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program are: June Foray, “The Garfield Show;” James Hong, “Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesome;” Jeff Bennett, “Penguins of Madagascar” and Rodger Bumpass, “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

“Just because I’m nominated doesn’t mean I’ll get one,” Foray said of the Emmy.

But if she does, she’ll have to find a spot for it in her Woodland Hills home.

[Reverend Jim]

[catlover79]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWW...this is GREAT news!!! I'm so happy for her.

[80sTrivia]

Wow, she is a legend in the voice-over world. She has voiced so many incredible and memorable characters. She should have received a nomination long before now, but many congratulations to her!

[Marvo301]

Congratulations to June Foray on this long overdue honor!

[MrCleveland]

I'm sooooo glad she's still working at the age of 94 and looking REAL well for her age.

[Retro4Life]

Wonderful news. What a treat to see this classic artist being recognized. Go, Rocky!

[70s show watcher]

great news congrats and good luck