Lucille Bliss, The orginal voice of Smurfette 1916-2012

grimlock1972 · Nov 15, 2012

Lucille Blaine, voice of Crusader Rabbit and Smurfette, dies at 96 - latimes.com

Lucille Bliss, who provided the voice of the cartoon character Crusader Rabbit in the early days of television and gained recognition a generation later as the voice of Smurfette in the 1980s television hit "The Smurfs," has died. She was 96.

Bliss died Nov. 8 from natural causes at an assisted living center in Costa Mesa, according to the Orange County coroner.

Bliss parlayed a childhood love of radio theater into a career as an animation voice actress that stretched more than 60 years. She was working as recently as last month.

"Actors from her generation who came up in live radio, you'd do one or two takes with Lucille and she'd just nail it," said David Scheve, who owns TDA Animation and worked with Bliss. "She could do three or four characters in one [scene] and you'd never know they were all her. She was terrific."

Bliss found steady work in film and television throughout her career. She gave voice to the stepsister Anastasia in Disney's 1950 film "Cinderella," and was the original Elroy in the 1960s television hit "The Jetsons."

Through the decades, Bliss' elastic voice fleshed out characters in a wide range of projects – from "The Flintstones" to animated "Star Wars" spinoffs and video games.

But Bliss' groundbreaking role was in the original "Crusader Rabbit," the first animated series produced specifically for television. Its first incarnation ran on NBC from 1950 to 1952 and was co-created by Jay Ward, who went on to produce such notable franchises as Rocky and Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right.

"She was a pioneer in television animation," said Charles Solomon, an author and animation historian. Crusader Rabbit "really set a pattern for a lot of future shows – the smart little character and the big dumb sidekick."

Lucille Bliss was born March 31, 1916, in New York City to Frieda Siemens, a classically trained pianist, and James Francis Bliss. After James died in 1928, Frieda and Lucille moved to San Francisco to be near relatives.

Her mother wanted Bliss to train as an opera singer. But Bliss pursued acting instead, taking lessons and landing parts on radio dramas in the Bay Area.

Bliss realized that to break into the big time she had to move to Los Angeles. She heard that Walt Disney was auditioning for the movie "Cinderella" and borrowed $50 to make the trip south.

"Six months later I got a phone call" and was offered a role, she recalled years later. "I almost dropped the phone. I was delirious. That is the way it all began."

Throughout her career, Bliss was met with plenty of rejection. She lost her job as Elroy Jetson, she told interviewers, when she wouldn't work under a stage name that would hide the fact that she was a grown woman playing a little boy, which is a common scenario in cartoons.

"Life as a voice actress is tough," she once said. "It's not an easy career."

But she persevered and continued to study her craft late into life, taking acting classes with aspiring artists a fraction of her age.

"I'm an actress specializing in voices," Bliss once told a writer. "I don't like the term 'voice-over.' … You have to be an actor first, and then the voice .… You have to take acting lessons to learn how to act before you can speak."

Bliss left no immediate survivors. Funeral arrangements are pending.
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Liege Prime · Nov 15, 2012

I think you have the date of her birth wrong in the thread title.

Still, RIP.

grimlock1972 · Nov 15, 2012

Liege Prime said: ↑

I think you have the date of her birth wrong in the thread title.

Still, RIP.
Click to expand...

I know reported it to the mods to be changed.

MetalRyde · Nov 15, 2012

96? that's a good long life lived.
R.I.P. smurfette

Autovolt 127 · Nov 15, 2012

GreednGluttony · Nov 15, 2012

noooooooooooo! you shall be missed, at least in this nerd's mind

Ezilla82 · Nov 15, 2012

Onslaught24 · Nov 15, 2012

Rusty24 · Nov 15, 2012

RIP. I wasn't around when the Smurfs were originally on, but I used to love watching the reruns on Boomerang.

moreprimeland · Nov 15, 2012

to a courageous woman and pioneer in Voice Acting.

ken8kuhletz08 · Nov 15, 2012

She's also the voice actress of Ms. Bitters from Invader Zim.

Christian Prime · Nov 16, 2012

Starfire22 · Nov 16, 2012

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Lucille Bliss, The orginal voice of Smurfette 1916-2012

grimlock1972 Optimus, serving up the primest of ribs since 1984

Liege Prime Well-Known Member

grimlock1972 Optimus, serving up the primest of ribs since 1984

MetalRyde is an a-hole with a heart. RIP Spike and Mojo.

Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

GreednGluttony grumpy smurf

Ezilla82 Total Randomness Personified

Onslaught24 Ayo Fryman. That uh, that's highly illogical. Moderator News Staff

Rusty24 Well-Known Member

moreprimeland Optimus told me to do it!

ken8kuhletz08 JKC

Christian Prime SF Ibuki & Makoto Fanboy!

Starfire22 :D

Log in or Sign up

Lucille Bliss, The orginal voice of Smurfette 1916-2012

grimlock1972 Optimus, serving up the primest of ribs since 1984

Liege Prime Well-Known Member

grimlock1972 Optimus, serving up the primest of ribs since 1984

MetalRyde is an a-hole with a heart. RIP Spike and Mojo.

Autovolt 127 Get In The Titan, Prime!

GreednGluttony grumpy smurf

Ezilla82 Total Randomness Personified

Onslaught24 Ayo Fryman. That uh, that's highly illogical. Moderator News Staff

Rusty24 Well-Known Member

moreprimeland Optimus told me to do it!

ken8kuhletz08 JKC

Christian Prime SF Ibuki & Makoto Fanboy!

Starfire22 :D

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