Penny Singleton (Voice Of Jane Jetson) Dies At 95

[Zoneboy]

Nov 14, 7:53 AM (ET)


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Penny Singleton, who brought the comic strip character Blondie to life in a popular series of films and was the voice of the mother on "The Jetsons," has died. She was 95.

Singleton died Wednesday at Sherman Oaks Hospital, two weeks after suffering a stroke, said longtime friend Dick Sheehan.

The Blondie series, which had 28 films from 1938 to 1950, was based on the cartoon strip about the misadventures of a small town family created by Chic Young in 1930. Arthur Lake played Blondie's husband, the bumbling Dagwood Bumstead.

Among the films: "Blondie Meets the Boss,""Blondie Plays Cupid" and "Blondie Knows Best."


"I'm proud and grateful I was Blondie," Singleton said in a 1973 book on film serials, "Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou."

"She was dumb and shrewish sometimes," she said. "But she was real and sympathetic and warm, a real woman, a human being. And that's how I tried to play her."

In his "Movie and Video Guide," critic Leonard Maltin wrote that the early entries in the series were "fresh and original - with many clever touches belying the fact that they were low-budget films.""Halliwell's Film Guide" calls Singleton and Lake "perfect screen incarnations."

No one else ever played Blondie and Dagwood on the big screen. Two later "Blondie" TV series were short-lived.

After her stint as Blondie, Singleton was the voice of Jane Jetson in "The Jetsons," Hanna-Barbera's 21st century counterpart to their highly successful "Flintstones" cartoon family. The show ran in prime time for just one season, 1962-63, but has been widely seen in reruns.

Singleton also appeared in the 1964 film "The Best Man" but spent most of her time touring in nightclubs and roadshows of plays and musicals such as "Call Me Madam."

She became active in the American Guild of Variety Artists, the union representing touring performers, chorus girls and other entertainers. As union vice president in the 1960s, she helped lead a strike by the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.

Singleton was born in 1908 - some references say 1909 - daughter of a Philadelphia newspaperman. She got her start in show business by winning an amateur contest and was touring in vaudeville by her early teens.

After debuting on Broadway in the late '20s, she began appearing in films, at first under her real name, Dorothy McNulty. She took the name Singleton after marrying dentist Lawrence Singleton in 1937.

In the mid-'30s, she played several roles as shady characters, and got worried she would be typecast.

"I just didn't want to be typed," she once said. "It goes to show you how you can eat your words. I became probably the most typed actress in the world. But, at least (Blondie) had some dignity."

Singleton is survived by two daughters, two grandchildren and a great-grandson.

[Liza]

Star of 'Blondie' Films Dies at 95

Nov 14, 7:53 AM (ET)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Penny Singleton, who brought the comic strip character Blondie to life in a popular series of films and was the voice of the mother on "The Jetsons," has died. She was 95.

Singleton died Wednesday at Sherman Oaks Hospital, two weeks after suffering a stroke, said longtime friend Dick Sheehan.

The Blondie series, which had 28 films from 1938 to 1950, was based on the cartoon strip about the misadventures of a small town family created by Chic Young in 1930. Arthur Lake played Blondie's husband, the bumbling Dagwood Bumstead.

Among the films: "Blondie Meets the Boss,""Blondie Plays Cupid" and "Blondie Knows Best."

"I'm proud and grateful I was Blondie," Singleton said in a 1973 book on film serials, "Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou."

"She was dumb and shrewish sometimes," she said. "But she was real and sympathetic and warm, a real woman, a human being. And that's how I tried to play her."

In his "Movie and Video Guide," critic Leonard Maltin wrote that the early entries in the series were "fresh and original - with many clever touches belying the fact that they were low-budget films.""Halliwell's Film Guide" calls Singleton and Lake "perfect screen incarnations."

No one else ever played Blondie and Dagwood on the big screen. Two later "Blondie" TV series were short-lived.

After her stint as Blondie, Singleton was the voice of Jane Jetson in "The Jetsons," Hanna-Barbera's 21st century counterpart to their highly successful "Flintstones" cartoon family. The show ran in prime time for just one season, 1962-63, but has been widely seen in reruns.

Singleton also appeared in the 1964 film "The Best Man" but spent most of her time touring in nightclubs and roadshows of plays and musicals such as "Call Me Madam."

She became active in the American Guild of Variety Artists, the union representing touring performers, chorus girls and other entertainers. As union vice president in the 1960s, she helped lead a strike by the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.

Singleton was born in 1908 - some references say 1909 - daughter of a Philadelphia newspaperman. She got her start in show business by winning an amateur contest and was touring in vaudeville by her early teens.

After debuting on Broadway in the late '20s, she began appearing in films, at first under her real name, Dorothy McNulty. She took the name Singleton after marrying dentist Lawrence Singleton in 1937.

In the mid-'30s, she played several roles as shady characters, and got worried she would be typecast.

"I just didn't want to be typed," she once said. "It goes to show you how you can eat your words. I became probably the most typed actress in the world. But, at least (Blondie) had some dignity."

Singleton is survived by two daughters, two grandchildren and a great-grandson.

[Mr. Television]

[hawaii five-o]

How sad. I loved Penny as Blondie and she had the perfect voice for Jane Jetson. I also enjoyed her in the 1936 mystery "After the Thin Man". She appeared under her real name and with her natural brown hair color. Jimmy Stewart also had an early role in that film as a murderer.

[MonarC]

aww I loved her best for her voice on the Jetsons...

[dawsongirl]

At least she had a long life.

[Cactus Jack]

RIP Penny

[sokar lord of natu]

she was 95 for crying out loud!
shes already lived longer than most ever will.
if you want to mourn someone, im sure, you never knew and who never knew you mourn the 3.25 (an educated estimate) who die every month!

[Mr. Television]

Originally posted by sokar lord of natu
she was 95 for crying out loud!
shes already lived longer than most ever will.
if you want to mourn someone, im sure, you never knew and who never knew you mourn the 3.25 (an educated estimate) who die every month!

I will mourn for whoever I feel like.

[sokar lord of natu]

ZOOOOOOOM you missed the point entirely.

[David]

RIP

She had a really long life though, so thats good

[LILFACE23]

Originally posted by mr roper
I will mourn for whoever I feel like.

You tell em Sonny. What is this guys problem anyway.

Listen Sokar Lord of the Jungle... Don't start coming on the boards telling people how to feel. If you don't like what's posted then ignore it, but we don't need your criticizism!!!

[sokar lord of natu]

¬_¬
did no-one get the point at all?
it would seem not.

[Kristina]

Originally posted by sokar lord of natu
¬_¬
did no-one get the point at all?
it would seem not.

It seems in all your posts you come off as an idiot.

[sokar lord of natu]

reyhre yackme arhre yor hene'noo!
that sums up my feelings on this, if you know what it means, but i doubt it.