Widow of legendary cartoon voice actor Mel Blanc
Estelle Blanc, widow of legendary cartoon voice actor Mel Blanc, died Sunday of heart failure in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 92.
Denver native Estelle Rosenbaum had a career in early radio with soon-to-be husband Mel in 1932 in Portland, Ore., where they co-hosted the show “Cobwebs and Nuts.” They married in 1933 and moved to Los Angeles three years later. Mel later joined Warner Bros., working on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and becoming the signature voices of characters Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and virtually ever other WB cartoon character. He also worked on Hanna-Barbera cartoons and had famous stints with Jack Benny’s shows.
According to son Noel, Estelle was “the woman behind the man” in every respect, assisting her husband with all aspects of his career during their 50-year marriage.
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In particular, when Mel was involved in a serious automobile accident in 1961, she built a recording studio in their Pacific Palisades home so he could carry on with recording the voice of Barney Rubble of “The Flintstones” while lying in bed in a full body cast. The Hanna-Barbera crew recorded 65 episodes of the cartoon there.
Estelle was locally famous for her “Ping-Pong Nights” during the 1930s and 1940s with actors, producers and entertainers at the couple’s Playa del Rey home.
In later years the pair spent relaxing summers in Big Bear Lake, entertaining Hollywood notables until Mel’s death in 1989.
Besides her son, she is survived by a daughter-in-law and two nieces Elise and Sharon.
Funeral services were private.
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