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Radiolab

WNYC Studios

Science, Natural Sciences, History, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6 • 43.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2022

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mel Blanc was known as “the man of 1,000 voices,” but, to hear his son tell it, the actual number was closer to 1,500. Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Barney Rubble, Woody Woodpecker, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn — all Mel. These characters made him one of the most beloved men in the United States.

In this episode from 2012, Mel Blanc’s son Noel tells Producer Sean Cole how his father’s entire body would transform to bring life to these characters. But on a fateful day of 1961, after a crash left Mel in a lengthy coma, it was the characters who brought life to him.Episode Credits:Reported by Sean Cole

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Best of season is almost upon us.
0:03.1	And so I am here with a Best of List.
0:06.2	This is Louis Miller, by the way.
0:07.5	You're listening to Radio Lab.
0:09.4	And I have with me a Best of List
0:12.2	that our producer, W. Harry Fortuna,
0:14.4	brought to our attention recently.
0:16.9	It is a Best of List that he remembers reading as a kid,
0:20.9	published in the Washington Post.
0:23.2	They put together a Best of the Millennium.
0:28.4	And so I'm going to read a couple of the items here.
0:30.2	We've got Best Work of Art, a Sistine Chapel.
0:34.4	It's a good work of art.
0:35.3	Best Scientist, Einstein, biggest irony,
0:39.8	quote, the rehabilitation of intuition, faith and emotion
0:44.1	as powers of equal or greater import than reason.
0:48.2	Greatest genius, Shakespeare.
0:51.7	But the surprise of the whole list for Harry.
0:55.1	And for me too, now that I've read it,
0:56.8	is who won Best Actor?
0:59.3	From the year 1000 to 2000, who is it?
1:03.1	Bugs freaking bunny.
	...

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