June Foray: Woman of Many Voices

 There's a lot one could say about June Foray, the legendary voice actress who would have turned 107 this coming Wednesday. For over five decades, she voiced countless cartoon characters and worked for practically every animation house in the business. However, Chuck Jones put it best when he said, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc was the male June Foray."

As amazing as Foray was, unfortunately, I've seldom spoken about her on this blog. I think it's long past time that changes, and what better time to do it than now? From the Patriot-News on May 18th, 1969, here's a great little retrospective on June's career to that point. The article focuses on her voice work and even looks at some of her weaknesses. Yes, even someone as talented as June Foray had 'em.

Vocals Without Music

By Stan Maays

   

     If June Foray had grown a few inches taller, she might not have become the queen of female voices for the past 20 years.
    "Because I am short—not even five feet—I had no dignity to command on a stage," declared Miss Foray. "I couldn't play leading ladies, so I had to concentrate on character roles. I began playing old ladies because it didn't matter how I looked."
    Miss Foray reluctantly allowed as how maybe "it's God's gift" that she has the ability to do so many things with her voice. This realization first came to her when she was a 12-year-old drama student. A teacher admitted, "I can't teach you anything more."
    "Now that I'm older it doesn't matter any more," she shrugs. I'll be working a lot longer than some because I can do a very young voice (she slipped into a breathless ingenue) or an old voice like Marjorie Main (a perfect impression) and not be concerned how I look on or off camera."

    

    Miss Foray's remarkable talents will be displayed in The Pogo Birthday Special, the first animated musical special to be based on Walt Kelly's comic strip. NBC-TV airs the half-hour show May 18.
    Miss Foray does Pogo, Miss Mam'selle Hepzibah and a "half dozen other voices that have one-liners." The voices of Pogo's other Okefenokee Swamp pals—Porky Pine, Basil, Howland Owl and Churchly La Femme are supplied by Walt Kelly, Chuck Jones and Les Tremayne.
    With her old friend Stan Freberg, she has worked on a number of albums and radio commercials. In cartoons she has done Bullwinkle, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker; she has worked for Walt Disney, Jay Ward and Hanna and Barbera; the credits are endless. She's the sexy voice in Bandini commercials, plus voices in Uniroyal, United Air Lines, Kellogg's, Cheerios, Mustang and Dodge plugs on radio and TV.
    When the late Ann Sheridan gallantly tried to finish the season of Pistols and Petticoats but just couldn't carry on anymore, it was June Foray the producers turned to for help. She rerecorded dialogue Miss Sheridan's weakened voice couldn't sustain. Her lip-sync of Miss Sheridan's voice was perfect.

   

     If there's a chink in Miss Foray's talented armor it's a minor one.
    "I'm a lousy singer," she announced, unabashed. "I have a good ear, except when it comes to singing. Bobbie Gentry asked me to sing as a character voice in her new album and it took some doing on my part."
    Miss Foray, who lives in a nearby suburb with her husband, writer Hobart Donavan, has joined the growing list of nonsmokers. Her keen ear began detecting a loss of range in her voice control four years ago.
    "I figured it wasn't worth it if it affected my voice," she reports. I'm very fortunate to be the master of my vocal chords, but I wasn't when I was smoking."