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

Variety ^ | July 26, 2017

[fieldmarshaldj]

Unmistakable voice. RIP.

[HenpeckedCon]

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

_________________________________________

Bea Benaderet was the original voice of Granny, along with Betty Rubble.

[Charles Martel]

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

Witch Hazel was the character that would leave hair pins spinning in her wake when she zipped off on her broom, correct? Some of those details that I just accepted and barely noticed when I was a kid, jump right out at me when I view that work all these years later. It just gets more magical with the passage of time.

[Slyfox]

Thank you for that.

[no-to-illegals]

Was a wonderful program. Used to enjoy Zane Grey Theater and Death Valley Days as a child also; thankfully I receive a station that carries those programs on free TV. 😃

[duckman]

Thanks for the update. Didn’t think too many people remembered Burns and Allen.

[Dr. Sivana]

Didn’t think too many people remembered Burns and Allen.

All of the episodes are on YouTube.

I am raising my children on this show. Both daughters love them.

Compared to other great shows of the era (Honeymooners, I Love Lucy), the comic timing of the main performers (Burns, Allen, Von Zell, Benaderet, Keating) is as good as any of them, the writing is just as good. Although Lucy was superior with physical comedy and slapstick, George and Gracie had a warmth on screen that was there even when Gracie ordered enough appliances to fill the yard to save money because they were on sale.

The other shows were often sillier, but Burns and Allen explicitly never took itself too seriously, as George was playing God even then, watching his own show on TV so he was generally a step ahead of everybody, but never lorded over everybody. There was never any danger of George knocking Gracie to the moon, or even spanking her. Unlike really light fare like "Father Knows Best" or "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", the plots were genuinely funny, and the jokes were far funnier. Gracie could deliver the ditziest lines with complete believability. Unlike many modern sitcoms, the main characters were extremely likeable.

George and Gracie had decades in show biz even by the '50s to know what worked and what didn't, and weren't shy about incorporating great vaudeville skits into the show. One of my favorites is the "Kleebob Card Game" (with a less famous "Harry")click here Some day, I'm going to come up with a complete set of rules for Kleebob based on that skit.

[Cboldt]

-- Well done children's program --

Tons of jokes aimed at the adult crowd too.

[duckman]

“Gracie could deliver the ditziest lines with complete believability.”
My favorite line:
Gracie: George you have a phone call from Hawaii.
George: How do you know it’s from Hawaii?
Gracie: He said he’s Brown from the Sun.

[headstamp 2]

[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! ]

I remember an episode of American Sportsman with Curt Goudy fishing on Jonathan Winters’ boat.

He was going from one impression of a sea captain to another then various fisherman characters. We were all on the floor laughing. We were waiting for Goudy to fall overboard. The man a was a comedic genius.

[no-to-illegals]

So True!!!