The Man of a Thousand Voices
If you are a cartoon buff, then you might be interested in knowing the following trivia about Mel Blanc, “The Man of a Thousand Voices“.
Melvin Jerome Blanc (May 30, 1908 — July 10, 1989) was a prolific American voice actor. Although he began his nearly six decade long career performing in radio and television commercials, Blanc is best known for his work with Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American animation (and later for Hanna-Barbera television productions) as the voice of such iconic characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely and hundreds of others. Having earned the nickname “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” Blanc is regarded as one of the most gifted and influential persons in his field.
On January 24, 1961, Blanc was involved in a near-fatal auto accident on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. Hit head-on, Blanc suffered a triple skull fracture that left him in a coma for three weeks, along with fractures of both legs and the pelvis. After his recovery, Blanc reported in TV interviews, and later in his autobiography, that a clever doctor had helped him to come out of his coma by talking to him as Bugs Bunny, after futile efforts to talk directly to Blanc. Although he had no actual recollection of this, Blanc’s wife and son swore to him that when the doctor was inspired to ask him, “How are you today, Bugs Bunny?”, Blanc answered in Bugs’ voice. Blanc thus credited Bugs with saving his life.
Though his best-known character was a carrot-chomping rabbit, Blanc himself did not like the taste of raw carrots. Additionally, munching on the carrots interrupted the dialogue. Various substitutes, such as celery, were tried, but none of them sounded like a carrot. So for the sake of expedience as well as personal taste, he would munch and then spit the carrot bits into a spittoon rather than swallowing them, and continue with the dialogue.
Blanc’s will stated his desire to have the inscription on his gravestone read, “THAT’S ALL FOLKS“, considered by some to be one of the most famous epitaphs in the world.