This is the final entry to Mark Evanier's list of the twenty top voice actors in American animated cartoons between 1928 and 1968. For more on this list, read this. To see all the listings posted to date, click here.
Most Famous Role: Bugs Bunny.
Other Notable Roles: Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety, Sylvester, Pepe LePew and hundreds of other characters in Warner Brothers cartoons; Woody Woodpecker (for a while), Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely (on The Jetsons), Secret Squirrel, Captain Caveman and many, many more.
What He Did Besides Cartoon Voices: Mel was a superstar of comedy and variety radio shows. In addition to regular appearances with Jack Benny and Abbott & Costello, he appeared on dozens of other shows and even had his own program for a time. He followed Jack Benny into television and appeared on other comedies, plus there were hundreds of commercials and talk show appearances.
Why He's On This List: Does anyone need an explanation? He was the first superstar of cartoon voicing and the guy everyone else who went into the business wanted to emulate, career-wise. And it wasn't just a matter of him being able to do a lot of different voices. It had more to do with him being a great comic actor — the kind who could hold his own in a sketch with great comedians like Benny.
Fun Fact: At one point in the fifties, Mel did one line voicing a cartoon pig in a TV commercial for Paper Mate pens. The commercial ran hundreds if not thousands of times and Mel, who was paid for each usage, collected more money for it than he'd been paid for all the Warner Brothers cartoons he'd done to date. For years, he held the record for the highest payment ever received by an actor for performing one line.