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Meet the woman behind cartoon teen idols Judy Jetson, Josie, and more!
She was a teen icon her whole life!
Some people wish they could be young forever, and for Janet Waldo that was kind of true! While a student at the University of Washington, she won a theatrical award and was discovered by Bing Crosby! Crosby helped her get her first screentest and suddenly she was a young Hollywood starlet, landing roles as an extra in movies in 1938. Her mentor Bing Crosby also encouraged her to try out radio acting and Waldo said of her first impression of the radio station, "Hey, this is great. You don't have to wear makeup or memorize your lines. You don't have to wear false eyelashes." Her "big break" came in 1941 when she began auditioning for radio plays and was cast in The Lux Radio Theater. She appeared in different movies and radio plays until she received the opportunity to star in her own radio series, Meet Corliss Archer, a sitcom where the 27 year old Waldo played a 15 year old. Janet Waldo's ability to capture teenage zest and energy led to her being cast as one of the most iconic cartoon teenagers of all time - Judy Jetson.
Let's take a look at all the teenagers (and a few non-teenagers) that Janet Waldo played over the course of her 57 year voice acting career.
Corliss Archer
Before she was Judy Jetson, Janet Waldo starred in the title role on Meet Corliss Archer, a popular radio show. Her radio star career began on Cecil B. DeMille's Lux Radio Theater, which then led to other starring roles on other radio shows such as Young Love, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and others. Meet Corliss Archer was a girl next door sitcom. Waldo played Corliss Archer for eight years and her likeness was used for the comic books. While Waldo acted on screen as well, she turned down the opportunity to play Corliss in the movies that followed because Corliss was supposed to be fifteen and Waldo was in her thirties. Shirley Temple took over the role for the movies and Ann Baker for television.
Judy Jetson
Waldo originated the role of Judy Jetson and she was the last surviving main cast member of The Jetsons. In an interview about The Jetsons with MovieWeb, Waldo said "Judy was a cinch, because I just did my own voice,". She loved playing the breathless, enthusiastic, vivacious teen from the future and her own obituary said that Judy Jetson was one of her favorite roles.
Pearl Slaghoople
Pearl Slaghoople is Wilma Flintstone's mother and, perhaps more importantly, Fred Flintstone's chief humbler. This character was originally voiced by Verna Felton who passed the role to Waldo, who then played the sassy grandma from season three onward. She also voiced Pearl Slaghoople in the TV movies I Yabba-Dabba-Do! and Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby.
Teen Pebbles Flintstone
This may as well be called "Fever Dream Pebbles Flintstone". In the episode "The Groom Gloom", Fred takes a nap and has a nightmare where he is a comically old man and Pebbles is a grown up teenager, who then marries the newspaper boy. Waldo voiced Pebbles and used her Judy Jetson voice for the role. While Waldo brought teen Pebbles to life, she did not voice her again in any of the spinoffs.
Penelope Pitstop
By 1968, Janet Waldo had been voice acting with Hanna-Barbera for six years and she had been voice acting in general for nearly 27 years. She was a pro, so it was easy for Hanna-Barbera to cast her in Wacky Races and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop at basically the same time. The two shows overlapped in production, Wacky Races beginning in September 1968 and Perils beginning in September 1969. Both shows lasted 17 episodes each. Penelope is a sweet Southern belle and one of the few roles where Waldo used an accent.
Josie McCoy
Waldo's other favorite role was Josie McCoy, lead singer and main character of Josie and the Pussycats. She provided Josie's speaking voice, Cathy Dougher provided the singing voice. Waldo also played Josie in Josie and the Pussycats in Space.
Mrs. Anders
Perhaps Waldo's first non-teenager roles, Mrs. Anders is Corey Anders' mother on Jeannie, which is an animated adaptation of I Dream of Jeannie. Fun fact, Corey Anders was voiced by Mark Hamill and it was his first voice acting role. Waldo only voiced the character once in "The Wish" and the character was voiced by Ginny Tyler in the only other episode Mrs. Anders appeared in.
Hogatha
Hogatha is a villain on The Smurfs. She is an evil witch who is more focused on becoming beautiful than meddling with the Smurfs - but sometimes she will meddle with them to get what she wants. Luckily for the Smurfs, she hates Gargamel more than them and often foils his plots, inadvertently protecting the Smurfs. Waldo's voice for her is very traditional wicked witch voice mixed with Pearl Slaghoople, and she really portrays Hogatha's delusions (about how beautiful she is) very well.
Cindy Bear
Many voice actors have played Cindy Bear, including Janet Waldo. She played Cindy in Yogi's First Christmas, where she also played Sophie Throckmorton, the ski lodge owner.
Granny Sweet
In Precious Pupp, Waldo played the motorcycle-loving Granny Sweet. The voice is a warmer, kinder version of her Hogatha voice, to highlight the character's sweetness.
Morticia Addams
In the animated version of The Addams Family, Waldo played Morticia Addams. The iconic spooky matriarch is very different from most of Waldo's roles - and Waldo's portrayal of her is also very different too. Her Morticia is slightly higher pitched than other Morticia's, but deeper pitched than all of Waldo's other characters.
Grandmama Addams
Waldo also played Grandmama Addams in The Addams Family. Like June Foray and Bea Benaderet before her, Waldo really honed her old lady voice as a voice actor - Grandmama sounds very similar to Hogatha and Granny Sweet, but with a shrill spooky twist.
Hawk Girl
Waldo even got to be on Super Friends! She played Hawkgirl in the segment "The Incredible Crude Oil Monster" where Hawkman, Aquaman, and Hawkgirl take on a supernatural ocean monster made out of crude oil (which is what she is covered in). This voice acting sounds the most like Waldo's natural speaking voice - which, yes, she used to play Judy Jetson and other characters, but her approach to Hawkgirl is slowed down and more conversational, less breathlessly excited.
"Additional Voices"
In addition to all of her iconic roles above, Janet Waldo provided "additional voices" and one-off roles to the following cartoons: The Magilla Gorilla Show, Jonny Quest, Breezly and Sneezly, The Secret Squirrel Show, The Hillbilly Bears, Funky Phantom, The Roman Holidays, Speed Buggy, The Scooby-Doo Show, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, The All-New Popeye Hour, and many more.
She also acted onscreen in I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Andy Griffith Show, Get Smart, and others.
