Saturday, April 01, 2017

Book review - "Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices" by Ben Ohmart

Blanc is perhaps the most famous voice over artist of all time, providing the chords (is that the expression) to such classic Warner Bros characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, etc. He deserved a biography. The thing is, for all the quality of the writing and research, it's not a terribly interesting life.

Blanc came from humble beginnings, worked hard, wanted to be an actor, went into vaudeville then radio, found his way to Warner Bros. Warners did not pay him particularly well but they gave him a credit, not super common at the time, and Blanc parlayed that into industry and film buff fame. He was also a regular on other radio shows, notably The Jack Benny Show - he and Benny would be great mates.

There were lots in this I didn't know - the Benny connection, the sheer volume of work Blanc turned out, the fact he was given his own show (it didn't take), his success as a recording artist, his move into the sphere of advertisements (at which Blanc became very successful - he specialised in comedy), his wealth. He was in a nasty car accident in 1961 but he recovered. Cigarettes killed him, but very late in life.

It was a life extremely well lived. To be honest, a little dull. Also reading a book on Blanc is frustrating because you keep wanting to hear the voice - a radio or film documentary would suit it better.

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