June Foray, Voice of ‘Bullwinkle Show’s’ Natasha and Rocky, Dies at 99

Variety ^ | July 26, 2017

[SMGFan]

June Foray, the voice of “The Rocky and  Bullwinkle Show’s” Rocky the Flying Squirrel and his nemesis Natasha Fatale of Boris and Natasha fame in the early 1960s and a key figure in the animation industry, died Thursday. She was 99.

Her close friend Dave Nimitz, confirmed her death on Facebook, writing “With a heavy heart again I want to let you all know that we lost our little June today at 99 years old.”

Foray was also the voice behind Looney Tunes’ Witch Hazel, Nell from “Dudley Do-Right,” Granny in the “Tweety and Sylvester” cartoons and Cindy Lou Who in Chuck Jones’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” among hundreds of others.

[Dr. Sivana]

Bea Benaderet didn't voice Warner Brothers Granny though - that was June Foray.

I had wondered about that. I am a big Bea Benaderet fan since growing up Burns and Allen was my favorite show. But I thought that Foray did Granny, Tweety and Witch Hazel (both ugly and pretty) in the Warner Brothers cartoons.

[Lizavetta]

Too bad there isn’t an old classic cartoon station where they only play the old stuff. What the kids have to watch is almost unbearable, except for Sponge Bob Squarepants.

Couldn't agree more. Absolutely unwatchable. When my kids were young I spent a small fortune on Ebay snatching up vintage VHS tapes of Tex Avery, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Merrie Melodies, the Disney movies I grew up on, etc. Worth every penny.

[IronJack]

Boris Badunov??? Obviously a rip on the novelist Boris Gudunov. Nell’s unrequited affection for Dudley’s horse? Uh ... And I still don’t get Peabody and Sherman.

Lots going on there.

[Dr. Sivana]

Natasha Fatale has nothing on the transformed Witch Hazel in "Broom Stick Bunny"

June Foray as Witch Hazel in "Broom Stick Bunny

[buffaloguy]

So much incredible talent in the radio industry. Overwhelming actually.

[COBOL2Java]

I had wondered about that. I am a big Bea Benaderet fan since growing up Burns and Allen was my favorite show. But I thought that Foray did Granny, Tweety and Witch Hazel (both ugly and pretty) in the Warner Brothers cartoons.

Tweety was voiced by the incomporable Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989).

(that's Tweety on Sylvester's shoulder)

[COBOL2Java]

incomporable = incomparable

Sigh...need more coffee

[Dr. Sivana]

Thanks for the correction. It’s been a few years.

[NonValueAdded]

RIP, June. :(

[Dr. Sivana]

Too bad there isn’t an old classic cartoon station where they only play the old stuff.

YouTube has most of them, and uncut. My kids are getting classic Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, etc. Even the heavily-censored "Bushy Hare" is there. The "Unga-Bunga-Bunga" scene is my favorite.

[simpson96]

Awww. RIP, June.

[duckman]

“The top picture is Bea Benaderet of “Petticoat Junction”.”
I believe she was the neighbor, Blanch, on the Burns And Allen show’ as well, in the mid 50’s

[Buckeye McFrog]

99 was a helluva good run.

Loved your work since I was knee-high. RIP, Ms. Foray.

[moehoward]

“Not so much with Rocky and Bullwinkle. The animation was done in Mexico, and it was choppy and sloppy”

I’ll bet the keyframes were done at Jay Ward studios on Sunset BL and the in-betweens were done at Gamma in Mexico. Very common practice to storyboard and keyframe stateside, outsource the grunt-work. Ward used Limited Animation in a very effective way, missing mustaches notwithstanding. I don’t know if the mustache was on it’s own cell or not, but its a common issue where a camera operator would neglect to lay all the appropriate cells down before shooting that frame of film. And since they’d double up on the frames -12 frames rather than 24- the missing arm, leg, or occasional head was quite noticeable.

IMO there are few poorer examples of Limited Animation than the MGM (Deitch) Tom and Jerry cartoons that were produced in Czechoslovakia. WTH were they thinking... Then Chuck Jones took over, which was only slightly better. Disappointing because his Full Figure Animation work at Warners was so good.

[Oratam]

Rocky: Bullwinkle, I’m worried.

Bullwinkle: Ratings down in the show again?

Rocky: No.

Bullwinkle: That’s odd.

Rocky: I’m worried because there have already been two attempts on your life.

Bullwinkle: Oh, don’t worry. We will be renewed.

Rocky: I’m not talking about the Bullwinkle Show.

Bullwinkle: You had better; we could use the publicity.

[DJ Frisat]

"Mom let me watch Steve Allen, Jack Paar and TW3. That might explain some of my warped sense of humor."

I was in my mid-teens when I watched all 3 of these great shows, the most 'adult' of which would have to be Jack Paar, with his frequent guests, Oscar Levant, Jonathon Winters, et al. Wonderful stuff!

[Dr. Sivana]

I believe she was the neighbor, Blanch, on the Burns And Allen show’ as well, in the mid 50’s

She sure was, and she had three completely different actors who looked and acted completely unalike portray her husband, Harry Morton. One of them was always sneaking food, the last and most famous one, Larry Keating, was very much a snob. YOu wonder how they got married in the first place. George broke the fourth wall in explaining the new Mr. Harry Morton by having all the characters "freeze" as he explained the change to the audience. Much more respectful of the audience than the fake Darrin on Bewitched. I always though that she looked tallish on Burns and Allen and short on Petticoat Junction, but that's probably because Gracie and Allen and George were quite short, and the the lovely ladies on Petticoat Junction were fairly tall (and Bea probably shrunk with age).

[Trillian]

RIP June.

[Company Man]

“The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show “ is still canceled.

But the Boris and Natasha meme is still roaring like a house on fire.

[minnesota_bound]

#32 Get XTV (google it) installed on your ROKU or similar device.
All the old cartoons are there. Youtube also has many.