Margie Hines

Margaret Louise Hines (October 15, 1909 – December 23, 1985), also known as Marjorie Hines or Margie Hines, was an American voice actress.

She was known for her work at Fleischer Studios, where she was the original voice of Betty Boop. Hines served from 1930 until 1932 and again from 1938 until 1939, before voicing Olive Oyl and Swee' Pea in the Popeye the Sailor cartoons from 1938 to 1944. She also provided voices for Fleischer's animated films Gulliver's Travels and Mr Bug Goes to Town.

Career Hines was the original voice actress for Fleischer's cartoon character Betty Boop, whilst she was touring vaudeville she was heard by vocalist Billy Murray, an employee at Fleischer studio who suggested she was the right choice for the voice of the character who debuted in the cartoon short Dizzy Dishes in 1930. Studio head Max Fleischer hired Hines, as she was a Helen Kane sound-alike, and Kane was the basis for the character. Hines and several other actresses voiced Betty until Mae Questel took over the role in 1931.

Beginning in 1932, Hines also did vocals for Aesop's Film Fables and Tom and Jerry produced by Van Beuren Studios. Her Van Beuren credits were erroneously attributed to Bonnie Poe, another actress who had worked for Fleischer on Betty Boop cartoons.

Mae Questel, who was Fleischer's voice for Betty Boop and Popeye characters Olive Oyl and Swee'Pea during the mid-1930s, left show business in 1938 to start a family. It was that year when Margie Hines was recalled as Questel's replacement. She moved with the Fleischer Studios staff when they left New York City for Miami. As a result, Hines assumed the roles done by Questel in both the Betty Boop and Popeye series. Hines voiced Betty Boop through her final series entries in 1939, and continued to voice Olive until 1943, when the studio, by then taken over by Paramount Pictures and renamed Famous Studios, returned to New York. The Marry-Go-Round (1943) was Hines' final short as the voice of Olive, with Mae Questel returning to the role in 1944 in The Anvil Chorus Girl.

Personal life Hines was born in Glendale, Queens, New York City, on October 15th, 1909, as Margaret Louise Hines.

On March 3, 1939, Hines married her co-star Winfield B. "Jack" Mercer, who provided the voice of Popeye. At the time of her marriage, her mother lived on Long Island and had the two remarry at a New York church. Hines married for a second time in 1951, to Raymond Brenneis (1922–1981), in Greenwich, Connecticut. However, the couple divorced in 1954. In 1956, Hines married Jesse William Heidtmann (1918–1997) in Southold, New York.

Under the name Marjorie L. Heidtmann, Hines died on December 23, 1985 in Seaford, New York, at age 76.

Filmography