Fleischer Studios Blog

Remembering Mae Questel, the Voice of Betty Boop

2/1/2015

In this, the second installment of our Max and Me series, Ginny Mahoney - Max Fleischer's grand-daughter - shares one of her favorite memories of voice artist Mae Questel, perhaps best remembered as the voice of Betty Boop.

Max and Me... by Ginny Mahoney

As Max Fleischer’s granddaughter I’ve had to the opportunity to meet some amazing people, including Mae Questel. The voice artist most often identified with Betty Boop, Mae was in fact an enormously talented and versatile voice artist whose character work ranged from voices for Olive Oyl to Casper the Friendly Ghost, and even - when Jack Mercer (the voice of Popeye) was drafted in WWII - Popeye! Later, Mae went on to play Aunt Bluebell in a well-known series of commercials for Scott Towels and, among other impressive credits, appeared in the films of Woody Allen.

One of my favorite memories of Mae is actually a phone call she made to me while visiting my mother, Ruth, in New York sometime around 1970. I was a young mother at the time, living in Washington, D.C. and at home with three young kids, including my eldest, Jeni, who was six at the time and absolutely loved Casper the Ghost.

“Put Jeni on the phone,” Mae said when she heard Jeni was a fan.

“Hi Jeni…this is Casper,” Mae intoned in Casper’s iconic friendly voice. Mae, as Casper, then proceeded to have an entire conversation with Jeni. “Wait,” Casper finally said, “let me get Betty Boop!” After talking to Betty, Jeni when on to have conversations with Popeye, Olive Oyl and about a half dozen other characters.

Mae’s lovely and very generous gesture made for a very special day in the Mahoney household, and wonderfully exemplifies the spirit of this vibrant and talented artist.

For more, check out Finding Her Voice in our virtual museum, featuring Mae Questel and the five other women who voiced Betty in the 1930s.

You can read the first installment of Max and Me here.
You can check out more of Ginny Mahoney's remembrances on her blog about her father, animator Seymour Kneitel here.

BETTY BOOP © 2014 King Features Syndicate, Inc./Fleischer Studios, Inc.
TM Hearst Holdings, Inc./Fleischer Studios, Inc.

Enjoy a Happy New Year with Max and me!

1/1/2015

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Happy New Year, Everyone! We're thrilled to start 2015 with the first post in a new regular series on this blog: "Max and me" featuring personal remembrances and family stories from Ginny Mahoney, Max Fleischer's granddaughter.

Ginny is also the daughter of Seymour Kneitel who met his wife-to-be, Ruth Fleischer, while working at Fleischer Studios as an animator. Seymour later went on to run Famous Studios, where Ginny spent many summers inking and painting animation cels, and eventually working as a designer and director of exhibits for the Smithsonian. As the Fleischer family historian and archivist, we're thrilled that she will be lending her talents, skills and her personal insights with us through this series.

Max and me in Miami, Florida Circa 1940. Collection: V. Mahoney

Max and me by Ginny Mahoney

As a child, I – like all of Max’s children and grandchildren – knew him as ‘PopMax.’ My brothers and I had no idea he was world-famous for the characters he created and so wonderfully brought to the screen. To us, Koko the Clown and our beloved Betty Boop were so much a part of our lives that they seemed like members of the family!

Though the rest of us grew older, Betty Boop seemed to remain as young and vital as ever. Even today, the world is watching the films Fleischer Studios made in the 1930’s.

In an effort to understand why Betty and so many of PopMax’s other creations remain such beloved and iconic characters, I began researching and reflecting on my own family’s history: Max’s story, the birth of Fleischer Studios, the characters they created and the times in which they lived.

That’s what I want to share with all of you --

Every once in a while I’ll post some of the fascinating things I’ve discovered along the way.

For starters –

Do you know how many films Betty appeared in during the 1930s?

Answer:

From her very first film in August 1930 (Dizzy Dishes) to her last film in November 1939 (Rhythm on the Reservation)- in those nine short years- Betty was in about 110 films. She became so wildly popular that by 1933 she was averaging a new film every month. In fact she became so popular that her films were sometimes announced on the theater marquee together with the feature!

Does this post look familiar? Some of "Max and Me" posts also appear on BettyBoop.com

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Max and Me

4/10/2014

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Check out Max and Me!

Ginny Mahoney, Max Fleischer’s granddaughter, has started posting delightful short essays about growing up with her “PopMax” and letting us in on little-known and unique info about our ever-popular Betty Boop!

Click here to read Ginny’s first blog post.

Keep checking bettyboop.com for more exciting posts in the coming weeks.