Real Name: Melvin Jerome Blank
Date of Birth: 30 May 1908
Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA
Date of Death: 10 July 1989
Voice Actor. His career spanned radio, movies and television starting in the early 1930's and even continued after his death into 2000. A television commercial for American Express charge card was revived after his death. His birth and death years appeared on the bottom of the screen at the end of the commercial, both to promote their card, and pay tribute to Mel Blanc.
The rarely seen voice innovator even did sound effects. He literally performed in over a thousand shows. Some of the cartoon characters he voiced...Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Tweety Bird, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, The Tasmanian Devil, Speedy Gonzalez, Elmer Fudd, Barney Rubble, Dino and Heathcliff.
He was born Melvin Jerome Blank in San Francisco to Frederick and Eva Blank, managers of a women's retail clothing business but was raised in Portland, Oregon from an early age. He attended Lincoln High School and was constantly in trouble becoming the class clown mimicking foreign accents resulting in admonishment by the teacher using his name to degrade him.
He began to spell his name Blanc and later changed it legally. A poor student, however, very popular with his classmates but often annoyed his teachers and principals.
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