A Buffet Fit for a Cave Man

 To animation enthusiasts like us, the names Alan Reed and Jean Vander Pyl will immediately conjure up images of Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Unfortunately, for the rest of the population, those names don't carry nearly the same significance. To them, they are just names. Some might be aware of their roles, but few know their faces or what they were like. 

However, those who attended a 15th-anniversary event at Hanna-Barbera HQ in 1972 tell a different story. In celebration of the studio's continued success, a party was held that allowed attendees to meet many of the faces behind their most popular characters. Below is a story on the event that appeared in the September 22nd, 1972 edition of the Van Nuys Valley News. It details who was there, the studios' history, and what the future had in store for the house that Bill and Joe built. Also featured is an image of Alan Reed alongside Jay North (teenage Bamm-Bamm). The quality isn't the best, but images of Reed can be hard to come by, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share it. Enjoy!

Flintstones Raise Voices in Tribute to Family's Success

By Beverly Edwards

   

    Ask any kid from 3 to 93 who Fred Flintstone is, and he'll tell you about a zaney character who sports a leopard suit and lives in a groovy stone-age community called Bedrock.
    But ask who Alan Reed is, and few will identify him as the "voice" that has become famous around the world...the man who has made Fred Flintstone a legend in 15 short years, and Hanna-Barbera a multi-million dollar corporation.
    To celebrate a decade-and-a-half of producing television entertainment for the whole family, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera asked the press to meet the company's family of famous "voices" at an al fresco cocktails and buffet event at their Cahuenga Blvd. headquarters.
    Wilma Flintstone (Jean Vander Pyl) and Bamm-Bamm (Jay North) made it a family reunion with Fred Flintstone. Jean, a former Valley resident, drove from her San Clemente home for the occasion. Television viewers who remember when Jay North was Studio City's own "Dennis the Menace" wouldn't recognize the clean-cut six-footer who just returned from a vacation in Jamaica (courtesy of the "Dating Game") and was sporting a "don't-touch-me" sunburn. Little Dennis is 21 years old now.
    Another famous Valley voice, Gary Owens of "Laugh-In" and KMPC fame, will be back on the new season as "Space Ghost" along with Tim Matheson and Ginny Tyler, also a Valley Resident. Gary's resonant tones are heard throughout the day on radio extolling a multitude of products and places.
    But voices, no matter how famous, were all upstaged when beautiful Zsa Zsa Gabor arrived on the arm of escort Joe Bolker to be warmly greeted by Mr. Barbera. Although her voice isn't her most famous asset, she was heard as the Queen on Hanna-Barbera's "Alice in Wonderland" special.
    Herb Vigren of Encino, half of the funny Norm's Restaurants commercial team, has done so many characters he's lost track of them, but his latest for Hanna-Barbera is Lurvy in "Charlotte's Webb" to be released in theaters next spring, marking the company's first venture into feature-length films.
    Other assorted voices paying tribute to Hanna-Barbera included Sam Edwards, Nancy Wible, John Stephenson, Virginia Gregg and Barney Phillips.
    The sun never sets on the genius of Hanna-Barbera...their cartoon characters have become household words throughout the world. And it all started right here in the San Fernando Valley, California's answer to Bedrock.