Today in Masonic History

Today in Masonic History Melvin Jerome “Mel” Blanc is born in 1908.

Melvin Jerome “Mel” Blanc was an American voice and comic actor.

Blanc was born in San Francisco, California on May 30th, 1908. His parents were of Russian-Jewish descent, Frederick and Eva Blank. He graduated from Lincoln High School in Portland Oregon. He claimed to have changed the spelling of his name when he was 16. A teacher in his high school told him he’d amount to his name a “blank”. Blanc joined the Order of DeMolay and is a member of the DeMolay Hall of Fame. Blanc graduated from high school in 1927. He spent his time conducting an orchestra, he was the youngest orchestra conductor in the country at the age of 19. He also performed in vaudeville.

By 1936, Blanc began working in cartoons. The first cartoon he voiced came out in 1937 when he voiced a drunken bull. In 1940 he voiced for the first time his most recognizable character Bugs Bunny. To keep his timing correct while voicing Bugs he bit a carrot, which he immediately spit into a spittoon. It has been claimed Blanc was allergic to carrots, Blanc himself denied it. Blanc briefly voiced Woody Woodpecker, developing Woody’s signature laugh. After signing an exclusive contract with Warner Brothers, he stopped working for Universal who owned Woody Woodpecker.

Read the full story at Today in Masonic History