March 12, 2001
In this portion, of the Walter Tetley Web Page, we will touch, briefly, on all the other voice-over artists, used in Jay Ward cartoons. Though we have not dedicated an entire detailed commentary, to each one of these, we wish to say at least a few words about them:
CHRIS ALLEN:
She did not do very much, at all, other than the title role, in Hoppity Hooper. Her filmography at IMDB proves this. (There are at least 5 Chris Allens in show biz).
Should anyone have an interest, in more details about Ms. Allen (based on her 6-page typed letter to me), we would be happy to include that information under our mailbag feature, Peabody’s Pony Express.
Just a few words on Ms. Allen, before moving on: It is not certain if she is still living. I have no idea when she was born. She did say, however, in her April 28, 1974 letter, that she had a 24-year-old son and a 21-year-old daughter, then.
Bill Scott (the voice of Bullwinkle) said in his February 1974 letter that “Chris Allen is a handsome, middle-aged woman”. So we know that she was at least 40-45, back then, and that she was, most likely, a very attractive woman. For the record, Chris did not send me a photo, and I have never seen a picture of her.
Ms. Allen did say that Daws Butler was a very dear friend and a very dear human being. She said that he guest lectured, in a Drama class that she was teaching, and her college students were fascinated! At the time she was teaching Drama, part-time, while getting her MA degree in this same subject area (so although she was a writer, it appears that she had not completely lost her interest in the show biz angle).
HANS CONRIED:
As far as Hans Conried, and the majority of the others who follow, are concerned, so much has already been written about them (and they are already quite famous), that I will just mention a few brief details.
Hans Conried also hosted a “non-cartoon” series, produced by Jay Ward, called Fractured Flickers. The show poked fun at the Silent Movie genre. Voices were dubbed into clips of several of the silent movies, and a whole new story was created!
Conried has appeared in many, many TV shows, including as a regular cast member from Danny Thomas’ TV show, Make Room for Daddy, in which he played “Uncle Tonoose”, for many years.
He has also been in his share of movies, and radio shows. As far as radio is concerned, I had read that he was playing middle-aged men, even when he was in his 20s.
WILLIAM CONRAD:
He was born in 1920 and he died in 1994. We all remember him from the TV shows, Cannon and Jake and the Fat Man. He was also a star, in radio, for years (he was the original Matt Dillon, on radio).
William Conrad was used primarily as the Narrator, in the Rocky and Bullwinkle TV shows. He also, briefly, did some of the narration work in Dudley Do-Right and in Hoppity Hooper (Paul Frees did the bulk of that narration work).
One other role, that Conrad took on, was that of Quake, the strong, mighty hero, from the cereal of the same name. This was in the mid to late 60s, when Jay Ward was doing cereal commercials for Quaker Oats.
EDWARD EVERETT HORTON:
Very famous actor, who started in silent movies, and kept doing film work all the way to his death. His last movie, Cold Turkey, about a town that gives up smoking for one month, was released one year after he died (1971). Edward Everett Horton was born in 1886 and he died in 1970. He could also been seen, guest-starring in TV shows such as Dennis the Menace, I Love Lucy, Nanny and the Professor and The Governor and J.J.
Edward Everett Horton narrated the Fractured Fairy Tales, in his very charming, grandfathely voice. That was his only role, with Jay Ward cartoons.
CHARLES RUGGLES:
He and E. E. Horton had a lot in common. They both lived from 1886-1970. They both narrated a similar type of cartoon, for Jay Ward Productions, and that was the only thing that they did in these cartoons. Charles Ruggles was the Narrator in Aesop & Son (He was Aesop, of course).
Ruggles had been a movie star, years ago, had a dry spell for a long time, and was making a “comeback”, in the last few years of his life.
With the exception of Edward Everett Horton, I never really cared to write, to any of the rest of these artists, because they were already so well know and there was not as much mystery about them. Edward Everett Horton had already died, when I was trying to write to him. I did not learn this fact, until about one year after I started trying to reach him.
The reason why I had wanted to write to E. E. Horton, was because I had discovered that one of my great-aunts had known him, when he was still living in New York.
JULIE BENNETT:
She filled in, for June Foray, as a substitute, for three of the Fractured Fairy Tales. That was her only work, in Jay Ward Productions. Read more about her at IMDB. Some biographies give her year of birth as 1935 and some give it as 1943. Like June Foray, Ms. Bennett is still living. I found this information, on line, on the Frostbite Falls Page.
DOROTHY SCOTT:
Dorothy Scott is the wife, of the co-producer of Jay Ward Productions, Bill Scott. She did voices on three episodes of Peabody’s Improbable History. This fact can also be found on the Frostbite Falls Page. Unlike Julie Bennett, the Frostbite Falls Page does not call her a “substitute” for June Foray, in the Peabody episodes……So perhaps she really was their “first choice” for those three episodes.
We recently (December 2001) received an email from Barbara Scott, the daughter of Bill and Dorothy Scott. She graciously gave us some more information about her mother!
Hi,
Came across your Walter Tetley page with mention to Dorothy Scott (Bill’s wife and my mother), and thought I’d add some info if you’d like to update the paragraph.
Dorothy was born in Denver, Colorado and lived there until marrying Bill and moving to California. She was and is an actress. She lives in Ventura, where she is active with several theatre companies, and is in demand for roles such as the Stage Manager in Our Town, Madame Arcady in Blithe Spirit, the mother in On Golden Pond. She’s active in story theatre in elementary schools. She continues with voice and film work.
Thanks!
Barbara Scott