June Foray, the voice behind Rocky the Flying Squirrel from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and Granny from most Looney Toons cartoons. She passed away Thursday at age 99, just eight weeks shy of her 100th birthday. She’s considered the “First Lady” of voice acting with a career stretching almost 71 years in film and television
Dave Nimitz, a close friend of Foray, confirmed her death on his Facebook page. Nimitz wrote:
“With a heavy heart again I want to let you all know that we lost our little June today at 99 years old she is resting peacefully now with her beloved sister Geri and Sam her brother-in-law I’m going out of my mind with the loss and losing all three of them within the last month-and-a-half but they’re in a better place now truly cherish my time with June and in the family for the last 14 years she is now in heaven with her family and my mother if I don’t respond right away please forgive me I need to disappear from Facebook for a while Saturday we are having a private family only memorial for Sam So lts very bittersweet for me.”
Foray’s voice acting credits include Talking Tina on The Twilight Zone, most of the female roles in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Lucifer the Cat from Cinderella, Squaw from Peter Pan, Grandmother Fa from Mulan, Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Magica De Spell, Ma Beagle, and Mrs. Featherb from DuckTales, and many others. She has more than 300 credits and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring her voice work.
Not only was Foray a voice actress, she was a fighter for animation. She and others helped establish the Annie Awards which recognizes animation excellence and even pushed the genre to be recognized by the Oscars.
Foray won the Annie Award for “Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production” for Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries in 1996 and 1997.
In 2012, she was nominated for her first and only Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program” for her role as Mrs. Cauldron on The Garfield Show, where she won and became the oldest entertainer to be nominated for and win an Emmy at the age of 94.
Source: Vanity Fair, MeTv, Vulture
Image: MSN
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