Mae Questel

Mae Questel (; born Mae Kwestel; September 13, 1908 – January 4, 1998) was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop (from 1931) and Olive Oyl (from 1933).

Questel began her career in vaudeville, primarily working as an impressionist. She later performed on Broadway and in films and television, including her role as Aunt Bethany (her final role) in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989).

Early life and career Born Mae Kwestel on September 13, 1908, in the Bronx, New York City, to Simon and Freida (née Glauberman) Kwestel, she attended Morris High School and studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and with the Theatre Guild.

Nevertheless, at the age of 17, Questel won a talent contest held at the RKO Fordham Theatre in the Bronx by imitating actress and singer Helen Kane. She was signed by an agent and began performing in vaudeville as an impersonator. Billed as "Mae Questel – Personality Singer of Personality Songs", she did impressions of Fanny Brice, Marlene Dietrich, Eddie Cantor, Mae West, Maurice Chevalier, and others, as well as doing animal imitations.

Questel also attended Columbia University,

From 1931 until 1938, Questel provided the voice of Betty Boop in more than 80 animated shorts, the longest run for any actress doing that voice. During the 1930s, she released a recording of "On the Good Ship Lollipop", which sold more than two million copies. She starred in more than a hundred short films during he time. Starting in 1938, Margie Hines, who was the original voice of Betty Boop, replaced Mae Questel when production made the transition from New York to the Miami Studio in Florida.

In 1988, she reprised her role as Betty Boop in a cameo appearance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was Questel's most extensive work for Disney; she had provided brief additional voices for some of Disney's earlier films.

Olive Oyl Beginning in 1933, Questel provided the voice for Olive Oyl in the Max Fleischer Popeye cartoons. She made her debut with "I Eats Me Spinach" and essentially became the permanent voice until her hiatus to start a family in 1938. She reportedly based Olive's nasal vocal quality and expression, "Oh, dear!", on character actress ZaSu Pitts.

Questel returned as the voice of Olive Oyl in 1944 after the studio reorganized as Famous Studios, Paramount Pictures and had returned to New York, a role in which she would remain until 1962. She also filled in for Jack Mercer as the voice of Popeye for a small number of cartoons, made when Mercer was temporarily drawn into war service, alongside Floyd Buckley and Harry Foster Welch.

When Hanna-Barbera began making the All New Popeye cartoons for television in 1978, Questel auditioned for the role of Olive Oyl, but lost out to Marilyn Schreffler.

Other voices In addition to her signature voices of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop, Questel also provided the voice of Little Audrey.

In The Flintstones series, she voiced characters from the spin-offs The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, The Flintstone Comedy Hour, and the Flintstone Frolics. She voiced Wiggy Rockstone after the original voice actress, Gay Autterson, left the role in 1982.

On-camera roles Questel played a number of small parts, including appearing with Rudy Vallée as Betty Boop in the 1931 short Musical Justice and as a nurse in The Musical Doctor in 1932.

In 1962, she played a Jewish mother in an episode of crime drama Naked City. She was also seen as a middle-aged bride in Jerry Lewis' It's Only Money. In 1968, she was one of Fanny Brice's mother's card-playing friends at the start of the film Funny Girl.

In 1973, Questel had a role in the short-lived ABC television sitcom The Corner Bar,

Personal life Questel married Leo Balkin on December 22, 1930, and they were divorced prior to 1950. They had two sons, Robert Balkin and Richard Balkin. She married Jack E. Shelby on November 19, 1970; they remained married until his death in 1996. in her Manhattan apartment. She was buried in New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, New York. Doctor Social (1948) with Dean Jagger Leonard Spigelgass' A Majority of One (1959) with Cedric Hardwicke and Barnard Hughes – she reprised her role (as "Essie Rubin") in the film adaptation Enter Laughing (1963) based on the novel by Carl Reiner, with Alan Arkin, Alan Mowbray, Sylvia Sidney and Michael J. Pollard and Bajour (1964), the Walter Marks musical, starring Herschel Bernardi, Nancy Dussault and Chita Rivera

Voice work

As Betty Boop

As Olive Oyl Year Title Additional roles