From 1931 until 1938, Questel provided the voice of Betty and had the longest run for any actress doing so. Over the years, she played a number of small parts, including appearing with Rudy Vallee as Betty Boop in the 1931 short Musical Justice, and as a nurse in The Musical Doctor in 1932. Questel told Leslie Cabarga, author of The Fleischer Story "I actually lived the part of Betty Boop, walked, talked, everything! It took me a long time to sort of lower my voice and get away from the character." She began in vaudeville, and played occasional small roles in films and television later in her career, most notably the role of Aunt Bethany in 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. A better singer and improviser than her predecessors, she also modeled for Fleischer's animators, who based many of the character's emerging physical quirks on Questel's own mannerisms. Each of these actresses utilized Kane's flirty, baby-doll voice, style and catchphrase " Boop-Oop-a-Doop," but it was Questel who made Betty Boop a media phenomenon. Betty was later voiced by various actresses, most notably Little Ann Little, Bonnie Poe and once by Harriet Lee. The character Betty, began life as a cartoon dog with Kane-like affectations. Reason being, Questel replaced Hines fulltime as the voice-over for the Fleischer animated cartoons. By 1932, Questel proved that she could imitate a "dozen" femmes, and after that was rarely heard on radio. She was known as the "mimic of the air" on radio, and was very popular radio imitator in 1931. Questel would pose, as the animators rotoscoped her as they drew Betty Boop's animated sequences for the animated cartoons. Not only was Questel voice for Betty Boop, but she also served as model. Questel was hired by Lou Diamond, and Fleischer gave her the role of Betty Boop, which she shared with Margie Hines, who at the time was the original voice of Betty. Cartoon filmmaker Max Fleischer saw Questel's impersonation of Helen Kane in 1931, and asked her to use her imitations skill for his cartoons as she could do more than one voice. After winning the content Questel started a career in celebrity impersonations. She could speak French, German, Polish and Spanish and won a medal at her school for Spanish.Īt the age of 17, she won a competition in order to select a young lady who could most successfully imitate Helen Kane's baby talk act, singing " He's So Unusual" in a " Helen Kane Impersonation Contest". Mae Questel (born Mae Kwestel, Septem– January 4, 1998) was Russian-Polish American Jewish voice actress, best known for voicing Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, Billy Boop, Junior, The Sea Hag, Little Audrey and Betty Boop. "Voice of Experience, Stage, Screen, Recordings, TV and Radio Commercials." The Chic Charming Singer of Sparkling Songs
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