Like a rotting brontosaurus carcass on a desert, The Flintstones stunk in the final season.
Sorry, fans of the Great Gazoo. The character was a gimmick (though Harvey Korman was great, as always). Sorry, fans of “A Screen Gems Presentation.” Samantha and Darren Stephens were suddenly turned into cartoon characters eons before they existed because Bewitched and The Flintstones were distributed by the same company? What was the idea behind inventing a “Stone World War One”? And don’t get me started on that treacly episode where Bamm Bamm and Pebbles chirp a song denuded of its religious references.
Then there was the studio’s tendency to be lazy and add “stone” or “rock” to names, whether or not it fit. Thus viewers were subjected to “Romeorock” and “The Beau Brummelstones.”
A name which worked much better was Tony Curtis. “Stony Curtis” may seem obvious, but it was an appropriate pun for a character on The Flintstones (not a stretch like “Arnold Palmrock”).
Guest stars have been used for a long time to bolster ratings, going back to the days of network radio. There’s no denying Curtis was a star at the time he was converted into a cartoon character; The Great Race was appearing in theatres and he starred in a number of acclaimed films before that.
It appears the Hanna-Barbera publicity machine got in gear in late April 1965; that’s when newspapers starting running blurbs in their entertainment columns that Curtis would appear on the premiere episode of the sixth season. Sources indicate Curtis recorded his part on June 21. The episode was not the season opener. It was the third show to air, on October 1.
If you’re wondering what Curtis thought of the experience, it seems he didn’t (at least publicly) deem working on a cartoon demeaning. The September 25-October 1 edition of TV Guide wrote about it.
IT WAS TYPE CASTING Tony Curtis is playing Stony Curtis on THE FLINTSTONES
“It does your ego good to wind up in the cartoons,’ says Tony Curtis of his role as Stony Curtis, prehistoric movie star, in an episode of The Flintstones (ABC, Oct. 1). “It is also intriguing to see the caricature and hear the voice. I liked the idea of doing it, and I thought it would be good for my daughters [Kelly, 9, and Jamie, 6; Alexandra is only 1] to see.”
Aside from all that, it gave Tony a chance to do a good turn. “I never got paid so well in my life,” he said of the wages he received from Hanna-Barbera Productions for his voice work. “I go in for a few minutes’ time and they pay me three or four hundred bucks. I added some money to it and sent it to a summer-camp fund.”
Curtis had full approval of the role he was to play, that of a film idol visiting the Stone Age town of “Bedrock,” and of the sketches. “We had an ascot tie on him and he took it off,” said Joe Barbera, co-producer (with Bill Hanna) and director of the episode. “He wanted to look like a cave man, so we didn’t dress him up.” When he actually recorded, said a bystander, Tony took direction as though “doing a major movie role.”
Curtis is the second major movie star to do a Flintstones; the other was Ann-Margret, who played “Ann-Margrock.” Barbera hopes to have other stars like “Cary Granite,” “Jackie Gleastone,” or the “Cartrocks” of the “Rockerosa Ranch.”
As for his own Stone Age name, Tony is happy enough with it. “At least it’s better than ‘Phony Curtis,’ ” he said.
Curtis “took direction as though doing a major movie role”? This would have been news to the Hollywood Women’s Press Club which, in late 1964, voted Curtis the Sour Apple award as “the most uncooperative male star.” (The AP’s Bob Thomas reported Curtis was bewildered because “the girls” had honoured him as the most cooperative male star twice).
Barbera’s comment about Cary Granite is odd, as the character appeared in the series’ first season. The Cartrocks appeared in season five. Considering the possibility of a lawsuit stemming from The Flintstones’ similarities to The Honeymooners, it’s no wonder Jackie Gleastone did not visit Bedrock. (Gleason revealed in the August 1986 issue of Playboy he had mulled over the suit. Gleason also told writer Bill Zehmer “In fact, the guy who did Fred's voice (Alan Reed) dubbed in things for me in motion pictures, whenever they were looping and I couldn't make the session”).
Curtis mentioned the role in his autobiography, American Prince: A Memoir (Harmony, 2008).
In the fall of 1965, George Pal, my director in Houdini, introduced me to several executives at Hanna-Barbera — the company that had created the cartoon The Flintstones — to explore the possibility of using my voice on the show. Was I interested in helping to create a new cartoon character named Stony Curtis? I said, "Let's do it." I loved the idea, plus The Flintstones was one of the most popular shows on television. Later, people asked me why I did it. I did it because I was invited to, and because it looked like it would be fun! And it was.
Curtis’ star-power didn’t help. The Arbitron ratings gave CBS’ The Wild, Wild West a 18.1 rating and a 40 share. The Flintstones placed second with an 11.8 rating and 26 share, while Camp Runamuck on NBC ended up with a 7.6 rating and a 17 share.
As far as I can recall, one stone/rock name pun didn’t make it into the episode. It would have been entirely logical for Fred to point out that Stony’s real name was “Bernard Quartz.”
Perhaps the role of Touche Turtle was a consolation prize.
As far as I can tell, Bill Thompson never publicly spoke about it, but fellow voice actor Hal Smith related how, in 1960, Thompson had been cast as Fred Flintstone, but his voice couldn’t handle the role, so some soundtracks were scrapped, and the part was recast.
Around the time The Flintstones debuted, Hanna-Barbera was developing other cartoons, one of which included a turtle with a bent sword and a plumed hat. It’s safe to say the character developed into Touché Turtle. That proved to be Thompson’s only starring role at Hanna-Barbera.
Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera drew a lot from their 20 years at MGM for their early work at their own studio. Thompson was part of that. He was the voice of Droopy from when Tex Avery created him until the studio closed in 1957 (with time out for the war).
Like Daws Butler, Alan Reed and many cartoon actors, Thompson came from network radio. If you want to know about his pre-cartoon voice work, here’s a story from the Indianapolis Star of March 7, 1937.
HOOSIERS ON THE AIR BY JOHN C. SPEARS.
TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD Bill Thompson is best known to dialers as the dialect comedian of the Fibber McGee and Molly program heard each Monday evening at 7 o'clock over NBC. How he twists and stumbles through the English language, using over ten different dialects, is quite a story.
Thompson says this business of being a comedian, and especially one of many dialects, is a very serious profession. He says that in order to become adept in so many characterizations, he has studied the rudiments of each language he later butchers and bungles when combining it with English.
Thus, if he wants to get laughs using Assyrian and Egyptian dialects he first does a little research with these languages in order to better tear them to pieces. He says those are two tongues he's studying now, since they haven't been used on radio for comedy purposes to any extent as yet.
Although young in years, Bill Thompson has been in the amusement profession practically since birth. His parents, both on the stage in musical comedy and vaudeville, located in Terre Haute around 1913, and it was there Bill was born. It wasn't long until the parents returned to the theater circuits, taking infant Thompson along. In Grand Rapids, at 2, Hill first appeared on the stage, doing a little tap dance. He received $2.50 for the dance.
At 5, Thompson was doing what is known as a “single” in vaudeville, and was press-agented as "Jackie Coogan's double." While working in theaters, Bill often came in contact with another vaudeville actor, an old-timer named Arthur Donaldson. This gentleman became very much interested in Thompson, and it was through his efforts Bill tried dialect on the stage.
Donaldson was also a make-up expert for character parts, and he was impressed with Thompson's ideal face for this type of portrayal. Bill also had a Scotch grandfather, and liked to imitate him. He's never used Scotch dialect on the radio, he says, but hopes to before long.
SO THAT'S HOW Thompson chose dialect comedy as his specialty. His education, like many whose parents were on the stage, came from private tutors. When he was 12, his stage career stopped, during which period he went to school for the first time in his life. School work then occupied his time, and he went to high school in Chicago. While there, and in 1934, NBC held a contest for professional entertainers in connection with the Century of Progress exposition. Bill entered and did ten dialects in one sketch, called an "International Broadcast."
Besides winning the contest prize, NBC signed a contract with him to appear on programs from the Chicago studios of the network. He was first heard on the Saturday Jamboree and Breakfast Club programs. The characters he now does with Fibber McGee and Molly are Nick the Greek; Vodka, the mad Russian, and Horatio K. Boomer, windjammer extraordinary.
To the ladies we pass along the information he's unmarried. For the fact-finders, Bill is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, has a dark complexion and brown hair and eyes.
Thompson’s first cartoon role, according to Keith Scott’s research, was for Walter Lantz in 1939 where he reused his old-timer voice in Arabs With Dirty Fezzes. Thompson’s first cartoon at MGM was Blitz Wolf (1942), where he played the title character.
Network radio died, though Fibber McGee and Molly carried on as long as it could, stripped down thanks to lower budgets. Thompson moved on. The Edmonton Journal of Feb. 3, 1964 explains.
Radio’s Old ‘Timer’ Takes New Attack By BILL PAYNE Of The Journal
What's in a voice?
If the voice is Bill Thompson's, the answer to that question is as complex as his colorful theatrical and business career.
And for further information ask Old Timer of Fibber McGee and Molly fame. Old Timer one of Mr. Thompson's characterizations.
William Thompson, Jr., manager of community services for an international oil company, is in Edmonton to address several professional and service organizations. His theme is serious—declining respect for law enforcement officers. These speaking engagements are far removed from the vaudeville stage of the Roaring Twenties, when Indiana-born Billy Thompson and his parents did song and dance routines for American audiences.
As the family vaudeville act travelled through the United States, young Billy began his voice training — not in music — but in dialects and impersonations. From Radio To Youth
The 1930s were the booming years of radio, rocketing to stardom such memorable characters as Fibber McGee and Molly, Charlie McCarthy and Fred Allen.
The Fibber McGee and Molly show, with its wide range of character roles, was a "natural" for Bill Thompson.
By 1940, the Old Timer with his "That ain't the way I heard it, Johnny” was a fixture in the American entertainment scene.
Even though Bill's radio career was time-consuming, he began to expand his talents and energies in the direction of community service — particularly in youth work.
His was the voice of the little white rabbit in "Alice In Wonderland," of Mr. Smee in "Peter Pan," and of no less than five characters in Disney's canine cartoon, “The Lady and the Tramp."
When NBC, in 1956, dropped the Fibber McGee show Mr Thompson retired from the entertainment world and devoted himself entirely to community service.
In his recent tours, he has become alarmed at what he terms the "rapid decline in respect for constituted authority."
"And I wanted to do something about it," he adds.
That "something" has brought Mr Thompson on his current speaking tour — pointing out to citizens, particularly parents, their personal responsibility in cultivating in children a respect for police and other law enforcement officers.
Meanwhile at Hanna-Barbera, it was taking some time to get Touché away. Joe Barbera didn’t mention Touche in a phone interview with The Oregonian published Sept. 26, 1960, but did mention a five-year order (from Screen Gems, we presume) for a new series featuring Hairbreadth Hare and Lippy the Lion with Hardy-Har-Har. Barbera told Harry Harris of the Philadelphia Inquirer, published Oct. 9, about another series starring Ribbons and Rosie, two female characters.
The first mention of the three Touché/Lippy/Wally Gator cartoons in the popular press seems to have been in Hank Grant’s column in The Hollywood Reporter of Aug. 17, 1961, saying production was about to start (and four acres had been purchased and blueprints made for a new, four-storey studio). Apparently, a press release was sent out because the Birmingham Post-Herald reported six days later on the cartoons, but also added “Snaglepuss”, said Fibber McGee was being considered for Lippy’s voice and “Dawes” Butler would take on the role of Wally. There must have been some confusion as the Minneapolis Star reported on Oct. 5 that “Old Timer” Bill Thompson would be “Tooshay Turtle” and Daws would be Lippy. On top of this, syndicated columnist Marie Torre wrote on Oct. 29 that Wally Gator planned “to lift characters and action from the popular comic strip, ‘Pogo.’”
The three, five-minute cartoon series were designated for syndication. Unlike the early syndicated shows (Huck, Quick Draw, Yogi), these would not be tied in with an agency or sponsor; Screen Gems would sell them directly to stations. Colour ads taking up several pages aimed at TV management began appearing in Broadcasting magazine in late January 1962. Variety of Jan. 31 pointed out there would 52 of each series made at a cost of almost $1,500,000, with stations getting the option of dropping them into daytime cartoon shows or stringing together half-hours twice a week.
A Variety update on March 7 revealed seven stations had bought the cartoons (WPIX New York, WTTG Washington, KPTV Portland, WTIC-TV Hartford, WGAL-TV Lancaster Pa., WOC-TV Davenport Ia. and KOVR Stockton). On June 21, the Reporter said the 156 episodes had been purchased by KCOP Los Angeles for a September start.
When Touché and the rest first appeared on television isn’t clear. We do know KCOP aired a half-hour preview on Monday, August 27, 1962 starting at 7:30 a.m. (before the station normally signed on), hosted by Beachcomber Bill Biery and introduced by programme director Bob Guy (Reporter, Aug. 24). The Beachcomber Bill show debuted (in colour) on Monday, Sept. 2. At 6:30. Up the I-5 at KPTV, the cartoons began airing the same evening at 6 p.m. as “Lippy Lion” (in black and white).
Arlene Garber, TV editor of the Hollywood Citizen-News, caught the KCOP preview and approved of the cartoons, saying “these creative efforts by Hanna-Barbera may very well be among those which satisfy cartoon lovers in the season coming up.” Her column of Aug. 28, 1962 also mentioned The Jetsons, but here’s what she said about Touché, et al., including the basic plots of each cartoon.
Cartoons Stir Young Minds
There may be more in cartoons for children than most of us think.
Because those animated antics are not performed by real people, but the creations of paper and ink, they could easily stir the young minds much more than a western adventure show or a "Dennis the Menace."
It seems that an animated figure running across the screen leaves a lot to the imagination, especially to the willing imagination of children. Hanna-Barbera Studios' latest creations, "Touche' Turtle," "Wally Gator" and "Lippy the Lion" give credence to this idea. All three were previewed Monday morning on Channel 13, before they start their regular run next week at 6:30 p.m.
First thing that will tickle the young viewers' curiosity is probably the names of these new cartoon characters. Just saying Touche' Turtle and Lippy the Lion out loud must be fun for kids.
Lippy the Lion turned out to be just goofy enough to have a feline friend called Hardy Har Har. And the two of them seemed exactly the type of characters who would run from a loud pirate captain, without any thought of fighting back.
Because they came across the screen as believable personalities you might never meet in this world, I'm sure the youngsters will not think any of their escapades are impossible. A TURTLE
Touche' Turtle had a rather throaty voice to go with his hard-shelled, soft-hearted personality. His pal Dum Dum was an over-grown puppy type who was agreeable to anything.
These two got involved with a rather tame gorilla in what appeared to be a loose spoof on the movie of "Mighty Joe Young." And they did it without filling the screen with terrifying violence.
I imagine that Touche' Turtle could become everyone's favorite, as he romps through his adventures as the unheroic underdog.
Wally Gator turned out to be an alligator with more size than sense or courage. His troubles began after an old English hunter mistook him for a dragon on his front lawn.
This segment had some of the best comedy lines of the three cartoons. Children must have enjoyed it when Wally Gator asked, "What are you, an alligator hater?" or "Don't you recognize a confirmed coward when you see one?"
All three series have successfully relied upon continuous action based on story lines with which the viewer can associate himself.
Hanna-Barbera will be giving youngsters lots of laughs, plus something for the imagination to feed upon with their Channel 13 schedule this fall. And adults won't be turning away from them either.
The three cartoon series were okay and likeable, but that was about it. There wasn’t a whole lot about them that was new. The plots seemed familiar, the character designs seemed familiar, the voice work seemed familiar, as if Hanna-Barbera had done the same things funnier before. Blanc’s Hardy voice was the same as the Happy Postman on the Burns and Allen radio show. And Thompson’s Touché pretty much sounded like the later Droopy, who was little more up-tempo than the slower voice of the 1940s. Regardless, they saw a lot of TV time.
It’s a shame Hanna-Barbera didn’t take advantage of Thompson’s talents more often. It could have been Thompson was too busy. It may be that the dialects he used in the 1930s and ‘40s were starting to go out of fashion in the 1960s. Or it may have been a case of health. Whatever it was, he provided a couple of voices for Disney post-Touché and was only 58 when he died on July 15, 1971.
The writers on The Flintstones developed side characters over the six seasons the cartoon series was on the air. Some were recurring, some died a natural death. But there was a one-shot character that found a home in another place.
Pop celebrity culture always came in for a gentle spoofing in animated cartoons. In the ‘30s and ‘40s, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Jack Benny and other radio/movie stars were caricatured. Catchphrases were borrowed from network radio shows.
When television animation became practical, Hanna-Barbera (and especially Bob Clampett’s Snowball Productions) lightly spoofed other television shows.
In the first season of The Flintstones, the series took gentle aim at Peter Gunn, which ran three seasons from 1958-1961 and had a terrific and the quintessential crime-jazz theme composed by Henry Mancini. Art Phillips is credited as the writer who turned Gunn into private eye Perry Gunnite, hired by Fred Flintstone to track down whoever wrote a love letter to Wilma (it turned out to be Fred when he was in high school). Gunnite was voiced, Cary Grant style, by John Stephenson. (Note the nod to 77 Sunset Strip to the left).
There wasn’t a need for a detective on the series, so Gunnite made only one appearance in “Love Letters on the Rocks” (aired February 17, 1961). However, there was a need elsewhere.
Comic books, at least at one time, needed characters besides the title ones to fill space. The best thing is they didn’t have to interact with the main characters. They could have their own stories. That’s what happened with Perry Gunnite.
He appeared in two adventures “Flintstones on the Rocks,” published by Dell in 1961. It is an excellent comic book with great art (by Harvey Eisenberg?) and some fun, single-page featurettes. It also includes a publicity photo of Joe Barbera, Bill Hanna, Warren Foster and my favourite cartoon writer, Mike Maltese. You can find it here.
Here is the first of the two Gunnite stories. You can click on each page to read it.
The TV episode was solely animated by Carlo Vinci. Fred does one of those Carlo head shakes with the rubbery nose. It is on four drawings, animated on ones.
Here is it, slowed down.
Someone will mention the Gunnite walk cycle if I don’t.
It is eight drawings. The “knee up” is held for six frames. The following drawing is used twice, the cameraman moving the background slightly to the right the second time. The rest of the drawings are on ones.
Once again, the pose is held for six frames, then the next drawing is shot twice, with the background moving very slightly in the third frame.
The last of Hanna-Barbera’s voice actors from the 1950s has passed away.
Elliot Field was 97. He died last Monday, the 23rd.
Elliot was the afternoon drive jock at KFWB in Los Angeles when Joe Barbera hired him to play the voice of Blabber Mouse opposite Daws Butler in the Snooper and Blabber segments of The Quick Draw McGraw Show. This was back in a wonderful era in radio when disc jockeys invented characters and did their voices on the air. What became the Blabber voice was apparently one of them.
The Snooper cartoons where you can hear him are Puss N’ Booty, Switch Witch (he also plays the witch, another radio voice), Desperate Diamond Dimwits and Real Gone Ghosts (he is also one of the ghosts). He was also the narrator in the Quick Draw cartoon Scary Prairie, the first cartoon put into production on the series.
Elliot explained to me that soon after being hired, he had to be hospitalised for an illness. At that point, Daws took over both Blab’s role. That wasn’t the end of his time with Hanna-Barbera. Flintstones fans will know him as Alvin Brickrock, the Alfred Hitchcock-esque neighbour. He was also a newscaster on the Superstone episode and provided several voices in Flintstone and the Lion.
Elliot was involved in a strike at KFWB in 1961 and, soon after, took a management job at a radio station in Detroit. He came back west in the late ‘60s and settled in Palm Springs. He served on the city council and was acting mayor at one point.
Being a disc jockey in the 1970s (and briefly again in 1988 before going back into news), I enjoyed Elliot’s stories of life on radio. There was plenty of creativity on the air and in promotions back in those days before consultants, computerised playlists and liner cards.
Below is an interview with him about his career. Unfortunately, he starts talking about his Hanna-Barbera career at the end when it's cut off. There doesn't seem to be a Part 2.
My thanks to Jeff Falewicz, who maintains some web sites and is one of those veterans who truly loves radio, for passing along the sad news. My sympathies go to Elliot’s family.
Jean Vander Pyl didn’t have a big name on television when she was cast to play Wilma Flintstone in 1960.
The others were a bit different. Bea Benaderet appeared on TV on Burns and Allen, continuing her Blanche Morton role from her radio days. Mel Blanc was known as Bugs Bunny and all kinds of Warner Bros. cartoon characters and periodically surfaced on camera on the Jack Benny show. Alan Reed had done odds and ends on the tube, but was not too many years removed from playing Falstaff Openshaw on Fred Allen’s radio show.
Vander Pyl had a number of supporting parts on network radio, starting with Jenipher Asbury on Scattergood Baines in 1937 while still attending UCLA. A 1948 article about her on the Ziv-transcribed My Favorite Story in 1948 mentions appearances on Amos ‘n’ Andy, The Aldrich Family, The Alan Young Show, The Dinah Shore Show, Dr. Christian, Sherlock Holmes, Cavalcade of America and with Fanny Brice. It skipped Lux Radio Theatre.
Her major regular role on radio was opposite Robert Young on Father Knows Best. Perhaps only Father knows why she was replaced by Jane Wyman when the show went to television.
Years after voicing Wilma Flintstone on 166 prime time episodes, and various spin-offs and specials (and in the 1966 feature film A Man Called Flintstone), she reflected back on her career in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. The feature story ran on September 29, 1989.
Meet Jean Vander Pyl, the Real Voice Behind Wilma Flintstone By ANDRE MOUCHARD
Fred was never the Cary Grant type.
He was into bowling and burgers, beer and boxing.
His idea of dressing up meant tossing on his lodge hat—the one with real animal fur.
Still, in spite of his Neanderthal habits, Wilma Flintstone wouldn't have had him any other way.
"I loved the bum. Sure, Fred was a Yahoo and I got mad at him all the time. But we really loved each other. Our romance was one of the things that made us so popular.
"We were real."
That's the word from Jean Vander Pyl, the "real" voice of Wilma and hundreds of other radio and TV cartoon characters.
Vander Pyl, a San Clemente resident, has been an actress for more than 50 years. Her career has covered several generations of radio and TV entertainment. She's had long-running roles on radio shows, including the part of Margaret Anderson on "Father Knows Best," and made regular appearances on radio shows such as "Fibber McGee and Molly." More recently she has had bit parts on such TV programs as "Murder, She Wrote" and "Hardcastle & McCormick."
But none of those jobs, Vander Pyl says, have matched the impact she made as the long-suffering wife of TV's No. 1 caveman. "The Flintstones" was television's first prime-time cartoon, running from 1960 through '66 on ABC, according to Joe Barbera, who produced the show with William Hanna. The show has been in syndication ever since.
"I wasn't ever what you would really call a ‘star,’ but I did have Wilma," Vander Pyl says. "Millions of people grew up with us as a big part of their lives. And millions more probably will."
Vander Pyl, 70, still signs notes "Love, Wilma" and keeps a great stockpile of Flintstone memorabilia in her beach-front apartment. Next year will mark "The Flintstones'” 30th birthday, and the show's producers, William Hanna and Joe Barbera, are contemplating a Flintstone revival, Barbera said in a telephone interview from his Hollywood office.
He says they are weighing a number of options—including a possible live-action Flintstone movie—but Vander Pyl is pushing for a remake of the cartoon.
"I think we would be more popular than ever," she says. "Every time I talk to somebody about a new Flintstones series, I get a great response. I think the people who grew up with ‘The Flintstones' still want to see us.
"And, of course, if we do it as a cartoon, I'd get to be Wilma all over again."
Vander Pyl, who also provided the voices for Rosie [sic] the Robot and Mrs. Spacely on another Hanna/Barbera cartoon, "The Jetsons," notes that there is a precedent for reviving an animated show.
Though "The Jetsons" ran for only one season—in 1963 [sic]—Vander Pyl claims the show's popularity has grown in syndication. "The kids have taken up ‘The Jetsons' like some kind of cult We've become the 'Star Trek' of cartoons."
In the mid-1980s, Hanna/Barbera Productions called in Vander Pyl and the rest of "The Jetsons'” cast to make 42 new episodes, enough for about two TV seasons. Last year, they made a new Jetson movie, which is scheduled to be released next summer.
Barbera, who created both cartoons and directed most of the early Flintstone episodes, says it's likely "The Flintstones" will be revived "in some animated form" in 1990.
If it is, Vander Pyl will have a job, Barbera says.
"A great [cartoon] voice is something that when you close your eyes and listen, it immediately makes you chuckle. Also, it's got to work for people of all ages, not just kids," he says. "Jean had that voice when we cast her, and she still has it."
Vander Pyl's work as Wilma was a key element in the success of "The Flintstones," he adds.
"I know I'm going to get killed for saying this, but Wilma had a great 'housewife whine' to her voice. She commanded enough authority to run the house but kept an equal amount of warmth."
"Wilma is a communicator and a lot of women relate to that at least I know I do," Vander Pyl says. "I think there's a lot of me in Wilma, and even though she's just a cartoon, I think my voice is one of the things that made her so human."
Still, Vander Pyl says she never trained to be a "voice."
When she was graduated from Hollywood High in 1937, she had just won the Best Actress award in the citywide Shakespeare Festival for her portrayal of Juliet. Her next stop was supposed to be Broadway.
"I wanted to be a star in the theater, not radio," she says.
But after an illness interrupted her plans, Vander Pyl enrolled at UCLA and started working in radio. She promptly discovered that school and radio work didn't mix.
"My sorority sisters told me I had to either go to work or go to class," Vander Pyl says. "So I said 'Bye, girls.’”
That began a steady, if unspectacular career in radio, doing freelance voice work for a number of stations in Hollywood. She says her strong points were that she could play everything "from the ingenue to the villainess without complaining or screwing up."
"Radio was a notoriously anonymous profession. It was considered a second-class art," she says. "Agents wouldn't even bother with us until the networks started packaging the shows and bringing more money into it. So I lived without the burdens of stardom."
As TV came alive and radio fizzled in the mid-1950s, Vander Pyl was one of many voice performers to find work in the new medium.
"When radio died, the prognosis was that we radio actors would be out of work because all we did was use our voices," she says.
"But that was wrong. Most of us came from a theater background, and making the switch wasn't that big a deal. Then a few of us got lucky and got into cartoons."
The idea of making "The Flintstones," a cartoon that Barbera says was based loosely on the TV comedy "The Honeymooners," came after marketing experts discovered the audience for cartoons in the late '50s was more than 50% adults, Vander Pyl says.
According to Barbera, the prime-time cartoon immediately touched a nerve.
"We must have done something right because Fred got marriage proposals every week," he says.
Vander Pyl is the last surviving member of the show's original cast. Former radio star Alan Reed was the original Fred, Bea Benaderet played Betty Rubble and Mel Blanc was the voice of Fred's sidekick, Barney Rubble, as well as Dino the Dinosaur.
"Mel was a great actor," Vander Pyl said of the recently deceased Blanc. "He was so good he made everybody sit up and notice that people who did voice work were talented."
"The Flintstones" brought Van der Pyl a modicum of fame, as well as other cartoon and TV roles. But it didn’t make her rich.
Though the show has been in syndication for more than 20 years, Vander Pyl doesn't earn a penny on the reruns.
"I think The Flintstones' and 'I Love Lucy' sort of shocked the Screen Actors Guild," Vander Pyl says. "Nobody knew that TV shows would go on forever, so our old contracts didn't call for much in the way of residuals. That's why I'm not wealthy."
But with payments from other shows still coming in, and a small pension from the Screen Actors Guild, Vander Pyl, a widow, says she is comfortable. A mother of three with two grandchildren, she lives in a small, tidy apartment about a half-mile north of the San Clemente Pier, and an Amtrak railroad line is the only thing standing between her front porch and the ocean.
The serenity of her home has helped keep her desire for acting work down to a minimum.
"Two years ago, my commercial agent told me I needed some new photographs. But I sit here and look at the ocean and I still need the [new] pictures," she says. "At my age, I'm interested in working, but not in making the drive up to Los Angeles five times a week.
"Of course, I'd make the drive if it meant getting to be Wilma again. That wouldn't be such a pain at all."
You’ll likely be surprised to learn that syndicated writer Eve Starr claimed in her June 11, 1960 column that Hanna and Barbera were unhappy with the first of the five episodes completed, but scrapping it would cost $65,000. Barbera admitted in 1960 that five soundtracks with other male leads (Bill Thompson and Hal Smith as Fred and Barney) were dumped and the parts re-cast. (Each half-hour show took about four hours to record, reported Starr).
The Stone Age cartoon wasn’t Vander Pyl’s first work at Hanna-Barbera. When The Quick Draw McGraw Show was developed in 1959, Joe Barbera insisted on new voice talent. Elliot Field was hired (he was Blabber Mouse in four cartoons). So were Peter Leeds and Hal Smith. And Vander Pyl was signed, too, debuting as the Tallulah Bankhead-sounding Mrs. J. Evil Scientist on the Snooper and Blabber cartoon The Big Diaper Caper (Daws Butler’s first time as Blab).
Besides voicing cartoons, Vander Pyl had something in common with her fellow Flintstones cast members. They smoked. A lot. Her son Michael told the Associated Press “All of them ended up dying of smoking-related diseases. That cute laugh that Betty and Wilma did with their mouths closed? They came up with that because when they normally laughed, because they were smokers, they coughed.”
He also revealed before she became ill, Vander Pyl wanted to do a TV commercial as Wilma warning kids not to start smoking.
Lung cancer claimed Jean Vander Pyl on April 10, 1999 at age 79.
It is quite possible Hanna-Barbera’s silent partner wasn’t so silent in 1963.
When H-B Enterprises started in 1957, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera weren’t the only ones behind the studio. The two had a connection with George Sidney dating to when he directed Anchor’s Aweigh (1945), which featured animated scenes with their Tom and Jerry. In 1957, Sidney was the head of the Directors Guild of America, and he agreed to invest in the new company and take an executive title. Not only that, he is credited with making the arrangements to connect Hanna and Barbera with Columbia Pictures’ TV subsidiary Screen Gems.
Sidney remained in the background while he continued his directing career, cashing out when Taft Broadcasting bought Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1967.
But, along the way, a funny thing happened.
Sidney became infatuated with a young dancer and actress named Ann-Margret. George Burns had added her to his act. Sidney saw her, shoved her into his movie production of Bye Bye Birdie (1963) and thanks to a re-write of the script, put a lot of the focus on her.
Now we get to connect some dots. Sidney’s Birdie was distributed by Columbia. Sidney’s H-B series The Flintstones was distributed by Screen Gems. What better way for Sidney to get more publicity for his movie star than by having her guest-star on The Flintstones?
Okay, I don’t know if that’s the way it went down. But it’s fun to consider.
On April 9, 1963, Daily Variety’s Army Archerd reported her signing for the fourth season debut episode as Pebbles’ babysitter. A release by ABC or Screen Gems hit newspapers by late May, advertising “She will sing two songs, one a lullaby, the other an upbeat pop number.”
I must admit I’ve never been infected with Ann-Margrock Fever. Some people like babysitters tugging at the heart with a sticky-sweet lullabye to a little girl, but it’s not the kind of plot I’m into.
The season debut (on most ABC stations) was September 19. Not coincidentally, in an ABC promotional tie-in, Fred appeared on the Jimmy Dean show an hour and a half later.
Here’s Variety’s review of Production P-103, published September 25:
THE FLINTSTONES
With Alan Reed, Jean Vander Pyl, Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet, others;
Producers-Directors: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Writers: R. Allen Saffian, Harvey Bullock
30 Mins., Thurs.; 7:30 p.m.
PARTICIPATING
ABC-TV (film)
Now in its fourth season, "The Flintstones" has the unique distinction of being the lone survivor of several animated cartoon series aimed at an adult level. Among programs in this category that have failed to click are "The Jetsons," a situation comedy set in the 21st century, and "The Boing Boing Show," based on a newspaper cartoon character [Yowp note: It wasn’t. It was a character created by Dr. Seuss].
While the stone age era originally may have been a somewhat bizarre setting to place characters who mouth contemporary things, the satirical creation of the Hanna-Barbera cartoonery has not become almost as much a part of tv viewing as the news and weather report.
Calling 'em a household word wouldn't be too far off for a merchandising offshoot has put "Flintstone" glasses on lotsa kitchen shelves.
For the seasonal preem Thursday (19) writers R. Allen Saffian and Harvey Bullock came up with an amusing bit which caricatured singer Ann-Margret. She arrived in Bedrock (that's where the Flintstones live) to appear in a tv special dedicating Bedrock Bowl.
But before the "special" went on she wound up as a babysitter for the Flintstones' offspring and later managed to get Fred Flintstone and neighbor Barney Bubble [sic] on the show with her in an oldtime vaude strawhat & cane terp routine. It sounds rather silly, but nevertheless it all added up to the kind of material that Flintstone fans thrive upon.
Ann-Margret, who supplied her own off-screen voice, also warbled a couple tunes—“The Littlest Lamb” and "Ain't Gonna Be Your Love No More" which provided a lively musical fillip. Alan Reed again is the voice of noisy Fred Flintstone, Jean Vander Pyl continues as his wife while the bungling Barney Rubble is depicted by Mel Blanc, per usual.
"The Flintstones" are off to another solid season and don't have to drill to bedrock to find someone to pick up the tab. For among the bankrollers are everything from Skippy Peanut Butter to Welch's Grape Juice. Gilb.
Despite the mention of Benaderet, her name is not in the credits in the fourth season. Is Joe Barbera trying to tell her something?
An irony is the “old-time” dancing routine was done to a neutral Hoyt Curtin cue heard on the cartoon from the future—The Jetsons. Despite the presence of Carlo Vinci and Don Patterson, the animation isn’t terribly interesting. Margrock is infected much of the time with Hanna-Barbera-itis—her body is rigid while her head moves a bit. (I wonder if the Margrock dance moves were copied from Ann-Margret's swivel-hip routine on the 1962 Oscar telecast, which she told the Atlanta Constitution in 1963 was the turning point of her career).
And how’s this for dialogue?
Ann – Thank you so much, Mr....
Fred – Flintstone, miss. Fred Flintstone. And this is my partner, Barney Rubble.
Barney – Hi.
Laugh Track – familiar sounding guffaws.
Yeah, some real funny stuff there, Mr. L. Track. There are a few talking animals-as-appliances to amuse us. Actually, the funniest comment comes from the sponsor of the Margrock show (played by John Stephenson) who sniffs that his mother sang “The Littlest Lamb” to him when he was young. That was some accomplishment, since the song was written by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera with Joyce Goodwin and copyrighted on Sept. 9, 1963. The other song, “Ain’t Gonna Be Your Fool No More,” was written by Brice Coefield and Gary Pipkin and published by Screen Gems-Columbia Music, according to the cue sheet for the cartoon.
The popular press apparently had apparently decided Fred and Pebbly-Poo were passe. I’ve found no newspaper reviews of the episode, not even after a rebroadcast on June 16, 1964.
However—and this is the real purpose of this post—two months after the start of the 1963-64 season, the Tennesseean featured the Flintstones (sans Margrock) on the front of its entertainment magazine with the headline “Flintstones Begin Fourth Smashing Season.” Why a cover story article is using the future tense two months after something started, I don’t know. But this was published on November 17, 1963 and we hear what the stars felt about being on a hit show while it was still on the air.
Flintstones Enter Their 4th Year
WITH THE hayseed growing amongst the "diachronda" in Beverly Hills, the German army surrendering all over again for a new generation, and doctors flashing their scalpels and libidos into millions of living rooms, Hanna-Barbera's "Flintstones" will enter its fourth year on television.
Hanna Barbera's animated satire of life in the stone age (Thursdays, 6:30 p.m., Color. Ch. 8.) has proven a smash not only in America but throughout the world as well. It is currently playing in over 42 countries.
One of the little known aspects of the show is the marked effect it has had on its real life stars. Alan Reed, Bea Benadaret, Mel Blanc, and Jean Vander Pyl.
"I just completed a trip to various parts of the country," states Alan Reed, the burley voice of Fred Flintstone, "and because people recognized my voice and realized it was Fred, I really had some wonderfully warm experiences." Close to Public
"In all the years I was doing radio, my voice was never as familiar to the public as it is now with the ‘Flintstones.’ It's a good feeling to know that you are that close to the public."
Bea Benedaret [sic], the voice of Betty Rubble, says, "There's no doubt that being the voice of Betty Rubble has brought added excitement to my life.
"All my friends, both professional and non-professional, feel very personally and unusually interested in the fact that I am doing the part.
"I am very proud to be doing the series," she said.
Fred Flintstone's ever-lovin' spouse, Wilma, portrayed by Jean Vander Pyl, has this to say:
"I think the most gratifying reaction I get to doing the voice of Wilma Flintstone is the delightful prestige that goes along with it. As opposed to doing most other shows, this is not only unique but virtually unheard of. It's a real joy. It doesn't matter about all the other characters I've done throughout the years. Other Members
Rounding out the cast, the versatile Mel Blanc, who essays Barney Rubble on the show, stated:
"Being the voice of Barney Rubble in the Flintstones has been one of the most fun things I have ever done. Mostly because of the reaction I get from my fans and from the public in general. They love Barney and consequently they love me. That's nice.
"I have yet to talk to anyone who is not familiar with the series, and that's mighty unusual these days for television, now that people are getting a little more choosey.
"I had this exciting popularity driven home to me when I was in the hospital after my automobile accident.
[“]The mail I got was fantastic, and most of it came from those who were sorry to know that Barney Rubble had been injured.
"I found that Barney had a good many friends, and that's a gratifying reaction to an actor who never appears on the screen. Let's face it. The 'Flintstones' are practically a national institution."
Time certainly bore out Blanc’s claim. There have been all kinds of spin-offs, sequels and specials—and a live-action feature film—that kept the Modern Stone Age family in the public consciousness, though these days it’s more nostalgic or cereal related. As for Ann-Margret, she’s still with us, but I can’t help but think every obituary will refer to her appearance with Fred and Barney. Perhaps thanks to George Sidney.
“How long did it take to animate a Hanna-Barbera cartoon?”
That question has been put to the Yowp blog before. I could say “How should I know? I’m a cartoon dog,” but that answer is neither satisfactory nor altogether true.
Layout artist Bob Givens, who said he and Mike Maltese left Warner Bros. for H-B together in November 1958, recalled that Ken Muse was the fastest animator at the studio and could complete a 6 ½ minute cartoon (Huck, Yogi, etc.) in a week.
What about the half-hour shows, like The Flintstones or Jonny Quest? Well, we have a partial answer thanks to the late Earl Kress and his trusty filing cabinet.
Earl made copies of production records in the H-B file for the first dozen or so episodes of The Flintstones. These are invaluable as the episodes for the first two seasons had their closing animation removed in the 1960s and the same set of credits from one episode spliced onto the end of all of them. (As a kid, I was miffed. The voice credits said “Hal Smith – John Stephenson” and I knew they weren’t heard on some of the shows). When the DVDs were released, Earl oversaw new gang credits over the original animation (minus sponsor credits) so they were closer to how the shows originally aired.
More interesting, perhaps, are the dates (not always complete) about how long each show spent in layout and animation. These credits are not on DVD, either.
Unlike episodes in the fifth and sixth seasons, only one person animated each half hour. Unfortunately, the sheets don’t name any assistants; the studio had them, as a Variety story of Oct. 20, 1960 related how Bob Carr had been promoted from assistant to full animator.
You can click on each of these sheets to read them better. Regular readers here should know who the animators and other artists are who are recorded in these production logs, so I’ll skip commenting about them.
You’ll see it took about six weeks to animate each of the first two episodes put into production. Normally, the voice track is recorded first and then the animator goes to work. That isn’t the case here. It could very well be because the first few tracks were scrapped and the parts of Fred and Barney re-cast. Hal Smith related he was Barney opposite Bill Thompson’s Fred and Thompson (known better as the voice of Droopy at MGM) couldn’t maintain the growly voice that Barbera wanted for the character. (Barbera also wrote in his autobiography that Mel Blanc was not available when the show was first cast).
The animation checker for P-1 is Janet Gusdavison. A photo in the Mike Barrier collection shows she was at UPA in 1948. She can be found in the City Directory for Miami in 1941, so I presume she was working at the Fleischer studio then. She died in 1998.
The cameraman is Frank Paiker, who went back to the silent days in New York and the sound editor is Warner Leighton, who came to H-B from live action after time in the military. He was a Beverly Hills High School grad who died in 2005.
Emil Carle is the animation checker on P-2. He also animated a Pixie and Dixie cartoon. More about him in this post. Roy Wade was responsible for some of the camera work; he had been a cameraman at MGM and happened to be Bill Hanna’s wife’s brother. The sound editor is Joe Ruby, who should need no introduction, especially to fans of a cartoon Great Dane he co-created (make that “Rate Rane”).
P-2, “The Flintstone Flyer,” was the debut episode on Sept. 30, 1960. P-1, “The Swimming Pool,” was the third episode to air on Oct. 14, 1960.
By episodes three and four, the animators are working after the track is recorded.
The checker on P-4 is Annie Lee Holm, whose obit on IMDB says she started her cartoon career with Walt Disney. She died at age 61 in 1986.
Cameraman Vic Shank was a World War Two vet who worked for Austenal Labs in Chicago. In 1969, he was employed by a sports car dealership but the next year, he was the head of Animated Film Service, a film distribution company. He died in 1974. Sound editor Greg Watson had been with Hanna and Barbera at MGM under Jim Faris.
P-3, “The Prowler,” was the 14th episode to air on Dec. 30, 1960, while P-4, “The Baby Sitters,” was the 7th on November 11, 1960.
The voice cast list for P-5 is incomplete. Bill Thompson supplies his Wallace Wimple/Droopy voice as Mr. Slate. No, not the Slate who’s Fred’s boss. This one puts up his kids as collateral so he can buy a pop-up toaster (from the Buddy Buddy jewelry store run by Frank Nelson).
Remarkably, Don Patterson animated both P-4 and P-5 at the same time. It took about seven weeks.
The checker on P-5 in Pat Helmuth. A story in the Monrovia News-Post in 1980 indicates she studied at the Art Institute in Chicago before moving to California, and worked for the Disney studio. She opened her own shop in 1963 and made pottery as well as painted in acrylics. The sound editor on the cartoon is Don Douglas. He has the distinction of working on the last Warner Bros. cartoon, the Cool Cat epic Injun Trouble, which employed Bob Givens as its layout artist.
P-5, “The Engagement Ring,” was the ninth episode to air on Nov. 25, 1960 while Production P-6, “No Help Wanted,” was episode four, airing on Oct. 21, 1960.
P-8 should actually read “The Drive-In.” It aired Dec. 23, 1960, the 13th episode. P-7, “At the Races,” was the eighth episode, appearing on ABC stations on Nov. 18, 1960. It was written by Syd Zelinka, a radio writer for Groucho Marx and the team of Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore, who moved into television to work for Jackie Gleason (both on The Honeymooners and on his variety show) and Phil Silvers on Bilko. He died in 1981.
P-9 is the first cartoon where Jerry Mann provided voices for Hanna-Barbera. He was an impressionist and comedian who showed up on a number of Tom and Jerry cartoons in the 1940s. The cast list doesn’t indicate that Duke Mitchell sang as Fred Flintstone. And what is it with Hanna-Barbera characters and drums? Barney plays the drums in this cartoon and “The Swimming Pool.” Benny the Ball pounds a pail with drum sticks in Top Cat. Then George Jetson plays a drum kit in the Jet Screamer episode.
It took Ken Muse seven weeks to animate this episode. My guess is he was working on the Kellogg’s shows at the same time.
P-10 has Fred turned into the snooty Frederick, where Alan Reed digs his Falstaff Openshaw voice from the Fred Allen radio show out of retirement. Howard McNear uses his quirky Floyd the barber voice from The Andy Griffith Show on this cartoon as the doctor.
P-9, “Hot Lips Hannigan,” was the second episode to air on Oct. 7, 1960, while P-10, “The Split Personality,” was show number 5, airing on October 28th. I cannot explain why both were “approved” (or by whom) after the dates they aired.
Yes, Production 11 is the one where Dino talks like Phil Silvers, though you’ll notice the voice list calls the character “Snork.” I’ve always wondered if Jerry Mann auditioned for the Silvers-inspired lead in Top Cat months later (Arnold Stang was the third choice). This may have been the first Warren Foster-Mike Maltese team-up; they didn’t write together at Warners.
P-11, “The Snorkasaurus Hunter,” was the 18th episode to air on Jan. 27, 1961, while P-12, “Hollyrock, Here I Come,” appeared on Dec. 2, 1960, as the tenth episode.
Nancy Russell provides several voices in P-13. A wild guess is she is the Nancy Guild Russell in the 1950 census for Santa Monica whose occupation is “motion picture actress.” She appeared in a Life magazine article in 1945, was signed by 20th Century Fox, then married fellow contract player Charlie Russell in 1947 (they divorced 2 1/2 years later). She was 73 when she died of emphysema in 1999. You can read a little bit about Bob Hopkins of P-14 in this post, which also gives you a link to some things about Jerry Mann.
“The Girls’ Night Out,” was Production 13 but the fifteen show broadcast on Jan. 6, 1961. P-14, “The Monster From the Tar Pits,” aired on Nov. 4, 1960, as episode six.
John Stephenson’s long career at Hanna-Barbera began with Production 15. Eventually, when the series settled down to give Fred a regular boss, Stephenson was given the role. He had a fine career in front of the camera on sitcoms, as a narrator, as a commercial announcer on radio and TV, and even appeared on early television in Chicago while in university.
Norm Stainback shot some of the cels for this cartoon. He was born in Arkansas. In 1940, he was employed in Burbank by the company that makes Jergen’s Lotion. Ten years later he was a lab technician for a film developer in the Los Angeles area. He died in Dallas in 1984.
P-15, “The Golf Champion,” aired Dec. 9, 1960, the eleventh episode of the series. P-16, “The Sweepstakes Ticket,” was the twelfth show and aired the following week.
A new name pops up as the sound editor on P-17. Hank Gotzenberg later worked on the Grantray-Lawrence Spiderman cartoons and for Chuck Jones Productions. He served in Guam with the U.S. Marines and had worked at Lockheed Aircraft when he enlisted in 1941. The 1950 Census reports he was divorced, unemployed since at least 1948 and living with his parents. He died at Long Beach in 1978, age 58.
Earl didn’t have a sheet for P-18 “The Hot Piano,” animated by George Nicholas and written by Mike Maltese, known mainly for the cops singing “Happy Anniversary” (Earl does have a dub of the recording session for the song from Aug. 28, 1960). P-19 is the last one I received from his collection. Don Patterson must have been pretty busy at the time as it took him more than two months to finish animating it.
Arthur Phillips made his H-B writing debut on P-19, and his name appears on many more in the series. He had written for Jackie Gleason and Red Skelton on TV, and on films in the ‘40s. He died in 1990.
P-17, “The Hypnotist,” was the 20th episode to be broadcast on Feb. 10, 1961 while P-19, “The Big Bank Robbery,” was the 17th show, airing on Jan. 20, 1961.
Since you’ve read this far, let’s pass along some cues (from a cassette) from Earl. The titles listed below are what’s on the actual recording sheets. No date is listed, but the hand-writing is the same as cues recorded on June 10, 1960. The names are what Hoyt Curtin gave them.
6-1 SEGMENTED LITE SKIP IN PARK
6-2 LITE WALK + TALK – CUES AT END
6-3 ROMP IN PARK BRIDGE
6-4 DROLE INTRO TO DROLE WALK W/CUES
6-5 CUEY INTRO TO BUILD-UP BUTTON
6-6 FAST WALK + TALK TO CUES
6-7 ORGAN – SEMI-SOMBER – BRIDGE
6-8 NOSTALGIC – TO WALK TEMPO – HELD NOTE
6-9 SLOW THEMATIC FLINT TO CUTE ROMP
6-10 SLOW FLINT TRAVEL W/SLOW DOWN BREAK – HELD END NOTE
Like a rotting brontosaurus carcass on a desert, The Flintstones stunk in the final season.
