Verna Felton
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Verna Felton (July 20, 1890 – December 14, 1966) was an Emmy-nominated American actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera. She also worked extensively in radio, notably playing Junior the Mean Widdle Kid's grandmother on the Red Skelton Radio Show and Dennis Day's mother on Jack Benny's radio program.
On the strength of her guest appearances on I Love Lucy, she was given a regular supporting role on the Spring Byington series December Bride as Hilda Crocker, a role she continued to play in the series' spinoff, Pete and Gladys. She also performed on radio as a regular on The Abbott and Costello Show.
[edit] Verna's work with Disney & MGM
Verna was a popular actress at the Walt Disney Studios and MGM Studios, lending her voice to several animated features including:
- The Wizard of Oz (1939) as Glinda's voices of "There's no Place Like Home"
- Dumbo (1941) as The Matriarch Elephant
- Cinderella (1950) as the Fairy Godmother
- Alice in Wonderland (1951) as the Queen of Hearts
- Lady and the Tramp (1955) as Aunt Sarah
- Sleeping Beauty (1959) as Flora
- Goliath II (1960) as Eloise the Elephant
- The Jungle Book (1967) as Winifred the Elephant
Coincidentally, she died on the evening of December 14, 1966, and Disney died the next morning. Both her first and her last voice acting roles for Disney were those of elephants, The Matriarch Elephant in Dumbo and Winifred the Elephant in The Jungle Book. Besides the two elephants, her warm character voice was versatile enough to voice two kind fairies (Fairy Godmother and Flora) and three villains (Matriarch, Queen of Hearts and Aunt Sarah).
[edit] References
- Terrace, Vincent. Radio Programs, 1924-1984. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0351-9
