Bill Thompson (voice actor)
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Bill Thompson | |
---|---|
Born | Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. | July 8, 1913
Died | July 15, 1971 Culver City, California, U.S. | (aged 58)
Occupation(s) | Radio personality, voice actor |
Years active | 1934–1971 |
Known for | Voice of Droopy in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio (1943–1945, 1949–1958) Voice of White Rabbit and Capt. Dodo in Alice in Wonderland (1951) Voice of Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (1953) Voice of Jock in Lady and the Tramp (1955) Voice of King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty Voice of Uncle Waldo in The Aristocats (1970) |
Spouse |
Mary Margaret McBride
(m. 1952) |
William H. Thompson (July 8, 1913 – July 15, 1971) was an American radio personality and voice actor, whose career stretched from the 1930s until his death. He was a featured comedian playing multiple roles on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio series, and was the voice of Droopy in most of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio theatrical cartoons from 1943 to 1958.
Early career
Thompson was born to
Thompson soon achieved his greatest fame after he joined the cast of the radio comedy Fibber McGee and Molly around 1936. On Fibber McGee and Molly, Thompson brought back the Wimple voice in 1941, and essayed a variety of roles, including a boisterous conman with a W. C. Fields voice, originally named Widdicomb Blotto, but soon rechristened Horatio K. Boomer, and Nick Depopulis, the Greek restaurant owner. His two most famous roles on the series, however, were as the Old Timer and Wallace Wimple. The Old Timer, introduced in 1937, was a garrulous old gent who dropped in and listened to McGee's rambling stories and jokes. He inexplicably referred to McGee as "Johnny", as in: "That's pretty good, Johnny, but that ain't the way I heerd it!" This soon became a national catchphrase and surfaced in Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, notably Tortoise Wins by a Hare in which Bugs Bunny disguises himself as a bearded old man and tries to trick the tortoise into telling him "how he beat that wabbit!").
Wallace Wimple
Wallace Wimple, an expansion of Thompson's Breakfast Club role, was his most enduring character. Wimple was a timid birdwatcher, appropriately nicknamed "Wimp" by McGee, who lived in constant terror of his "big old wife", nicknamed "Sweetie Face", who was often mentioned, but never heard. (The term "wimp" for an unmanly character was in common usage already, as with the cartoon character J. Wellington Wimpy). The character, whose greeting was a mild "Hello, folks", became very popular, and inspired animation director Tex Avery to build a dog character around the voice. This character, eventually named Droopy, was also voiced by Thompson in most of his appearances. Thompson also played the title role, an Adolf Hitler take-off, in Avery's Academy Award-nominated short Blitz Wolf.
World War II
Around 1943, however, Thompson's thriving career was interrupted when he joined the US Navy during World War II, and all of his radio characters were temporarily dropped. He returned to Fibber McGee full-time in 1946, however, and also became a semi-regular on Edgar Bergen's radio series as lecturer "Professor" Thompson. On February 21, 1950, he married Mary Margaret McBride.
Thompson continued to work on radio until the late 1950s, notably in several episodes of
Walt Disney Studios
For
His best showcase may well have been in
Union Oil
In 1957, Thompson joined the Los Angeles branch of
During this period, around 1958, Thompson appeared as a guest challenger on the TV panel show To Tell the Truth.
Personal life
In 1952, Thompson married Mary Margaret McBride, the daughter of cartoonist Clifford McBride.[3][4] The couple remained married until Thompson's death in 1971.[3]
Death
Thompson's final role was being the voice of Uncle Waldo in The Aristocats, which was released less than a year before his sudden death from septic shock on July 15, 1971, just a week after his 58th birthday.[3]
Thompson received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio, on February 8, 1960.[3]
Selected filmography
- 1936: Custer's Last Stand – Renegade (uncredited)
- 1939: $1,000 a Touchdown – Animal And Bird Impersonator (uncredited)
- 1940: Comin' Round the Mountain – Barney Smoot
- 1941: Look Who's Laughing – Veteran (uncredited)
- 1942: Here We Go Again – Wallace Wimple
- 1951: Alice in Wonderland – White Rabbit / Dodo (voice)
- 1953: Peter Pan – Mr. Smee / Pirates (voice)
- 1953: Ben and Me – Governor Keith / Human Tour Guide / Miscellaneous Men (voice)
- 1955: Lady and the Tramp (1955) – Jock / Bull / Policeman at Zoo / Dachsie / Joe / Jim's Friend #1 (voice)
- 1959: Sleeping Beauty – King Hubert (voice)
- 1960: The Flintstones The Engagement Ring – Mister Slate
- 1960: Nature's Better Built Homes – J. Audubon Woodlore
- 1961: The Yogi Bear Show
- 1962-1963: The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series – Touché Turtle
- 1967: Scrooge McDuck and Money – Scrooge McDuck
- 1957-1969: The Magical World of Disney– Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore / Oldtimer / Professor Owl /Ajax Employment Agency Proprietor
- 1969: Hell's Belles – L.G.
- 1970: The Aristocats – Uncle Waldo (voice; final film role)
Sources
Dunning, John. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
References
- ^ "An Interview with Alan Young". December 4, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1578066964.
- ^ a b c d "Bill Thompson - Hollywood Star Walk". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Mike Wallace interview with McBride, June 16, 1957". Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2014.