| Lucille Bliss | |
| Birth Name: | Lucille Theresa Bliss[1] |
| Birth Date: | 31 March 1916 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Costa Mesa, California, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Hollywood Forever Cemetery |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1935–2007 |
Lucille Theresa Bliss (March 31, 1916 – November 8, 2012) was an American actress,[2] known in the Bay Area and in Hollywood as the "Girl With a Thousand Voices".[3]
A New York City native, Bliss lent her voice to numerous television characters, including the title character of the first made-for-television cartoon, Crusader Rabbit, Smurfette on the popular 1980s cartoon The Smurfs and Ms. Bitters on the Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim. In addition to her television roles, she was known for her work as a voice actress in feature films.
Bliss was born to James Francis Bliss, a dentist from Massachusetts, and Frieda Siemens. Her mother, a German emigrant, was a classically trained pianist and wanted her daughter to train as an opera singer.[4] Her parents later divorced.[5] Her father's death in 1935[6] prompted Frieda and Lucille to move to California, where her mother became head of the music department at the San Francisco College for Women.[4] [7]
Bliss was active in old-time radio, having roles in Pat Novak, for Hire, Candy Matson, and The Charlie McCarthy Show.[8]
Bliss' first voice work was the role of the wicked stepsister Anastasia Tremaine in Walt Disney's 1950 feature film Cinderella,[9] for which she was honored 50 years later by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award in March 2000.[10]
In the early years of television, Bliss acted in Harbor Command and The Lineup.[3] From 1950 to 1957, Bliss was "Auntie Lou" on San Francisco, California's KRON-TV's The Happy Birthday To You Show, also known as Birthday Party Show, which had guests from adults, to children, to animals. The program included use of Disney cartoon characters, as Bliss "picked up exclusive rights in northern California for the right to use Disney clips on her new show."[11] At the same time, she did voices for Hanna-Barbera while they were working for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio – as Tuffy in Robin Hoodwinked, as Leprechaun in Droopy Leprechaun and later was Hugo on an episode of The Flintstones. She was also the narrator on three stories from the Disney album "Peter Cottontail and Other Funny Bunnies": "Story of Thumper", :Story of the White Rabbit", and "Story of Grandpa Bunny". Bliss was also a voice-over performer for Airborne radio spots in 2004.
Bliss produced and directed talent shows for the Embarcadero Armed Services YMCA in San Francisco. Some service personnel launched professional careers from those shows.[3]
Bliss died from natural causes on November 8, 2012, in Costa Mesa, California, at the age of 96.[12] [13] She was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.