One aspect of June Foray's career we haven't touched upon is how she established herself as the go-to gal for voiceovers in the Hollywood community. There were casting directors who could name two dozen men who did that kind of work…and a grand total of one woman — June. One of her competitors was a lady who once told me she was jealous of June until she (the competitor) realized this: June wasn't getting all those jobs because she was sleeping with anyone or bribing anyone or anything of the sort. The folks who did the hiring were going to June for the same reason you'd go to a doctor who had a 100% reliability for curing whatever ailed you.
That was why when I was casting cartoons, I hired her. Well, to be honest, at first I hired her because there was a certain thrill to be working with the lady who'd voiced Rocky and Natasha and Nell and other characters. But I kept hiring her because there was no one better. She understood the scripts and took direction well. She was versatile enough to handle anything I threw at her. She was utterly cooperative and patient when we had delays, and she was early for every single job.
One day, I let a young, wanna-be voice actress sit in on one of our recording sessions to see how it was done. Finding herself in the lobby with the legendary June Foray, she seized on the opportunity to get some advice and asked, "What's the most important thing I need to learn?"
June asked her, "Well, let's say you get a job and your call time is for 11 AM. What time do you get there?"
The lady said, "Oh, I'd make sure I was there at least ten minutes early."
June said, "Well then, you're fifty minutes late. You should be there at 10."
About six weeks ago, I went to visit June in her home and I decided to take someone with me. I thought it might brighten June's mood to be reminded how influential her work has been for several generations of other performers…someone like Julie Nathanson. Here's a photo of Julie in her natural habitat, which is in a studio recording something for someone…
She posted this story to Facebook and with her permission, I'm going to share it with you here…
Six weeks ago, my friend, Mark Evanier took me to meet June Foray. Throughout my career of voicing animation, I had somehow never met June and I'd always wanted to. As is the case for so many of my colleagues, she has been a hero to me. A pioneer, a legend, a brilliant force of creative nature. And a truly influential hero.
Mark knew how much I wanted to tell June what she has meant to me. That her versatility made me feel (nearly) fearless in the booth, and excited to see how far I could stretch. That her humor paved the way for so many other comedic, female voices. That her tenacity, drive, and absolutely pure love for the work of cartoon voice acting made me feel concomitantly inspired and almost normal. That she had shown – time and again – that being more than one thing was beautiful. Or at least, more than one character. The fact that she voiced both Rocky and Natasha on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show always floored me. And today, it reminds me just how many different voices we all have to share. Not just actors. ALL of us. We humans. We are so many things. And that's everything.
Anyway, anyway.
I told June all of this on that hot afternoon six weeks ago, in her living room. I sat, teary-eyed, on a little chair before her…and I thanked her for all she had done. She was so visibly happy and touched. It made my heart sing. I had such a delicious feeling of gratitude for the opportunity this visit had afforded me. I walked around her home, staring at animation cels from decades upon decades of cartoon joy. I thanked her again. And then we left.
And now…she's left.
Mark encouraged me to share this story at our "Business of Cartoon Voices" panel at Comic-Con last weekend. Which I did. Certainly more concisely than I have in the preceding paragraphs.
But this last little part is why I'm sharing it here. I had asked June a burning question that day. And her answer was nothing short of perfect.
ME: How did you know it was okay for a woman to be funny?
(June looked at me like I'd asked her how to make a flying pancake out of turtles.)
JUNE FORAY: It was born in me. A woman can do anything. It was never a question.
That's a pioneer. You just do the thing.
Rest peacefully, June. Thank you for being such a gracious host to me in your home, and to so many memorable characters in our hearts.