June Foray facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
June Foray
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Foray in 1952
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| Born |
June Lucille Forer
September 18, 1917 |
| Died | July 26, 2017 (aged 99) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Occupation | Voice actress |
| Years active | 1929–2014 |
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Notable work
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Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Cindy Lou Who, Granny from the Tweety cartoons, Witch Hazel, Jokey Smurf, Magica De Spell from DuckTales, Grammi Gummi, and others |
| Board member of | ASIFA-Hollywood |
| Spouse(s) |
Bernard Barondess
(m. 1941; div. 1953)Hobart Donovan
(m. 1955; died 1976) |
| Relatives | Bertram Forer (brother) |
| Awards | Daytime Emmy Awards 2012 Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program The Garfield Show Annie Awards 1996 and 1997 Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries 1974 Inkpot Award |
June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an amazing American voice actress. She was famous for giving life to many beloved animated characters. You might know her as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, and Cindy Lou Who. She also voiced Granny from the Warner Bros. cartoons and Magica De Spell from DuckTales.
June Foray's career was huge! She worked in radio, movies, TV shows, and even video games. She helped create the Annie Awards, which celebrate achievements in animation. She also played a big part in getting the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature started in 2001. She even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her incredible voice work. The famous animator Chuck Jones once said, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc was the male June Foray." This shows how highly she was thought of!
Contents
Early Life and First Steps in Voice Acting
June Lucille Forer was born on September 18, 1917, in Springfield, Massachusetts. She was one of three children. When she was little, she wanted to be a dancer. But she had to stop dancing lessons because she got sick with pneumonia.
June's voice was first heard on a local radio show when she was just 12 years old. By the time she was 15, she was already doing regular voice work on the radio. After finishing high school, she moved to Los Angeles with her family.
June Foray's Amazing Acting Career
June started her acting journey in radio. She even had her own radio show called Lady Make Believe in the late 1930s. Soon, she became a very popular voice actress. She appeared on big radio shows like Lux Radio Theatre.
In the 1940s, June started working in movies. She mostly did voice work for cartoons and radio shows. For Walt Disney, she voiced Lucifer the Cat in Cinderella. She also voiced a mermaid in Peter Pan and Witch Hazel in a Donald Duck cartoon. Years later, she was the voice of Grandmother Fa in Disney's Mulan.
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June also worked for Warner Bros. Cartoons. She became the voice of Granny, who owns Tweety and Sylvester. She also voiced Looney Tunes' own Witch Hazel. In 1960, she provided the voice for Mattel's original "Chatty Cathy" doll. She even voiced the scary "Talky Tina" doll in an episode of The Twilight Zone.
She worked for Hanna-Barbera on shows like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Jetsons, and The Flintstones. She also voiced Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
June played many characters on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. She voiced Natasha Fatale and Nell Fenwick. She also voiced the main character, Rocket J. Squirrel (Rocky Squirrel). She was Ursula on George of the Jungle.
Helping Animation Grow
In the mid-1960s, June became very dedicated to helping animation. She wrote many articles about it. She and other animation artists started meeting informally. These meetings eventually led to the creation of ASIFA-Hollywood. This group helps promote and support animation.
June is known for coming up with the idea for the Annie Awards in 1972. These awards celebrate the best in animation. In 1995, ASIFA-Hollywood created the June Foray Award. This award honors people who have made a big, positive impact on animation. June was the very first person to receive this award!
She also worked for 20 years to get the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature created. Her hard work paid off when the award was finally added in 2001.
Later Career and Awards
June continued to voice many characters. She was May Parker in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. She also voiced Jokey Smurf and Mother Nature on The Smurfs. She was Magica De Spell and Ma Beagle in DuckTales. She also played Grammi Gummi on Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears.
In 1996 and 1997, June won the Annie Award for her voice work in Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. In 2000, she returned to play Rocky the Flying Squirrel in the movie The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. She even voiced Rocky in an episode of Family Guy in 2001.
In 2011, she voiced Granny again in Cartoon Network's The Looney Tunes Show. This was her last regular voice role. That same year, she received the Comic-Con Icon Award.
In 2012, June Foray made history. At 94 years old, she won her first Emmy Award for her role as Mrs. Cauldron on The Garfield Show. This made her the oldest person ever to win an Emmy! In 2013, she received the Governors Award at the 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. She also voiced Magica De Spell in the video game DuckTales: Remastered. Her final voice role was as Rocky in a Rocky and Bullwinkle short film in 2014.
Personal Life
June Foray was married twice. Her first marriage was to Bernard Barondess, which ended in divorce. She later married Hobart Donovan in 1955. He was a writer for a radio show she worked on. They were married until his death in 1976. June did not have any children.
June was also involved in community efforts. In 1973, she helped organize a meat boycott. Because of this, she was included in a list of people who disagreed with President Nixon's policies at the time.
Death
June Foray passed away on July 26, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. She was 99 years old. She had been in declining health after a car accident in 2015.
Images for kids
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June Foray in 1952
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June Foray in 1978
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June Foray at the 2014 Annie Awards
See also
In Spanish: June Foray para niños
