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Cartoons Saved the Radio Stars
Video killed the radio star - and cartoons brought them back to life!
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song we all love but what if we told you that video - specifically the Golden Age of Animation - saved the careers of many radio stars? Before television was popular, radio dramas were all the rage. From the 1920s to the 1940s, radio shows were a leading form of entertainment and employed plenty of actors, many forming troupes based around radio stations. By the 1950s, the BBC was employing 50 voice actors just for radio dramas but that industry was quickly shaken up by televisions becoming widely available. At the same time as radio plays were dying, the Golden Age of Animation was just getting started, providing many voice actors the opportunity to continue their careers in an exciting new way. So...which radio stars went on to voice your favorite cartoon characters?
Jean Vander Pyl
Wilma Flintstone started on the radio! Vander Pyl started her radio career in 1939 and appeared on programs like The Halls of Ivy and Father Knows Best. It was on The Halls of Ivy where she met future Flintstones collaborator, Bea Benaderet.
Bea Benaderet
Speaking of Bea Benaderet - she began her radio career in 1926 at San Francisco's KFCR. She did a little bit of everything - acting, singing, writing, and producing. While originally trying to become a dramatic actress, working in radio helped Benaderet realize she really belonged in comedy. Some of her most popular radio shows were The Jack Benny Program and My Favorite Husband. In 1936, she was recruited to join Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre company and she relocated to Hollywood. This new position allowed her to work with the comedy actors who would later shape her career, like Lucille Ball, Meredith Wilson, and, yes, Jean Vander Pyl.
Mae Questel
Questel's early career in vaudeville led to radio opportunities before she hit it big as Betty Boop. But even after beginning her career in animation, she often went back to radio for shows like Betty Boop's Frolics and Popeye the Sailor Man. She also performed in radio shows in tandem with her animation career, starring in The Green Hornet, Perry Mason, Land of the Lost, and many more.
June Foray
June Foray's first radio role came to her when she was 12 years old in a local radio drama. She later joined the WBZA players and starred in her own radio show, Lady Make Believe. She also performed on The Buster Brown Program, Lux Radio Theatre, and The Jimmy Durante Show.
Arthur Q. Bryan
Arthur Q. Bryan was the voice of Elmer Fudd, but his other most famous character was Dr. Gamble on Fibber McGee and Molly, a popular radio comedy. Bryan's first position in showbusiness was as a singer at WGBS in 1926. From singing, Bryan also picked up radio positions as an announcer and as a regular talk show talent, like on The Grouch Club. He appeared in some short films made by colleagues on The Grouch Club which got Bryan discovered for Elmer Fudd. While voicing Fudd, Bryan continued acting in radio shows such as Great Gildersleeve, The Charlotte Greenwood Show, and Richard Diamond, Private Detective. Additionally, he played Clarence the Guardian Angel in the radio performance of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life.
Don Messick
Before he was Scooby and Scrappy, Don Messick was a radio star, but he had a bit of a rockier start than his contemporaries. When he was 15, he auditioned for the program manager of WBOC and was given his own one-man show. Messick was an aspiring ventriloquist, so the show was mostly impressions and sound effects. After a year on the air, Messick tried bringing the show to a bigger radio station in Baltimore and he was turned down due to his Baltimore accent. While finishing high school and trying to work on his accent, Messick's father died in a tragic electric power line accident. Messick then joined the army special forces during World War 2 and after the war he got his big radio break: playing Raggedy Andy and Farmer Seedling on The Raggedy Anne Show. From there he was quickly discovered by animator Tex Avery, who needed a voice actor for Droopy Dog.
Alan Reed
Mr. Fred Flintstone himself! Reed's radio career began in 1930 under a different stage name: Teddy Bergman. It's unclear when he switched from Teddy Bergman to Alan Reed, but he acted in a number of radio shows, including starring in his own shows Falstaff's Fables and Joe Palooka. Unlike the other actors on this list, he stayed on radio while trying out stage, television, and film roles. After 23 years in radio, Reed's first voice acting role was in 1955 for one of the dogs in Lady and the Tramp, and then his big break was playing Fred on The Flintstones in 1960.
Penny Singleton
Penny Singleton, the voice of Jane Jetson, got her big break as Blondie from the Blondie comic strips. While she started off playing Blondie in the 1938 film, she reprised the role in a 1939 radio series that lasted until 1950. Then, also in 1950, she got her own radio show The Penny Singleton Show. After a supporting role on The Quick Draw McGraw Show, Singleton was cast as Jane Jetson on The Jetsons, a role she played from 1962 to 1990.
Janet Waldo
Speaking of The Jetsons, Janet Waldo, the voice of Judy Jetson. also originally began her career in radio. Her first few film roles went uncredited, but Waldo's big break came in the form of a role on Lux Radio Theatre. After dozens of supporting radio roles, she starred in Young Love and led an impressive eight year run as the title character on Meet Corliss Archer. Waldo was asked to return to the character for the film version, but she was 33 and didn't want to play a teenager on-screen. But, as she pivoted to television, she found success playing a teenager again on The Jetsons.
Mel Blanc
It's hard to imagine Mel Blanc before Looney Tunes, but his career started in radio. At 19, Blanc was cast on The Hoot Owls voicing multiple characters. He co-starred and co-produced a local radio show with his wife, Estelle, Cobweb and Nuts. After moving to Hollywood, Blanc appeared on other radio shows, including The Jack Benny Program which made him a stand-out star and led to his own CBS radio show The Mel Blanc Show where he performed over 50 impersonations and played all of the characters. He continued to perform on radio programs while being the main voice talent of Looney Tunes until 1956.