Saturday, August 29, 2020

So, I guess this must be about 65 or 70 years old, and maybe the humor doesn't hold up, but what a cast of wonderful goof balls!



For anyone that doesn't recognize the guy pumping the gas, that is world famous voice actor Mel Blanc, who is best known as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Barney Rubble and Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons.

Blanc also originated the voice and laugh of Woody Woodpecker, Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman, and Speedy Gonzales, and two seasons voicing the robot Twiki in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

On January 24, 1961, Blanc was involved in a near-fatal car accident. He was driving alone when his sports car collided head-on with a car driven by 18-year-old college student Arthur Rolston on Sunset Boulevard.

 Rolston suffered minor injuries, but Blanc was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center with a triple skull fracture that left him in a coma for two weeks, along with sustaining fractures to both legs and the pelvis. About two weeks after the accident, one of Blanc's neurologists tried a different approach than just trying to address Blanc himself: address his characters. Blanc was asked, "How are you feeling today, Bugs Bunny?" After a slight pause, Blanc answered, in a weak voice, "Eh... just fine, Doc. How are you?" The doctor then asked Tweety if he was there, too. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat," was the reply. Blanc returned home on March 17.

Four days later, Blanc filed a US $500,000 lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. His accident, one of 26 in the preceding two years at the intersection known as Dead Man's Curve, resulted in the city funding the restructuring of curves at the location.

I don't think that Mel got the recognition he deserved for the years of comedy he gave us.
By the way, after graduating from high school in 1927, he split his time between leading an orchestra, becoming the youngest conductor in the country at the age of 19

Blanc began smoking cigarettes when he was nine years old. He continued his pack-a-day habit until he was diagnosed with emphysema, which pushed him to quit at age 77.

Jack Benny is a favorite of mine for understated wry humor, and good acting, and Rochester had such a great voice, and comedy timing

7 comments:

  1. I loved that clip, favorite show of mine back in the 50's. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great find here. I think it's still pretty entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm a big fan of Jack Benny. And of course Mel Blanc is an American icon. I can't imagine that Looney Tunes would have been nearly as famous, or as long lasting, without him.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the XK140 at the end. They even got the whine from the straight cut gears in 1st correct.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Is that Bud Abbott in the Jaguar, or just someone who looks like him?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mel never graduated. He dropped out in 9th grade.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I don't know of Ralph Levy directed this show as he sometimes did, but his name is on the gas station.

    ReplyDelete