June Foray

Actress June Foray, who gave voice to Rocky the Flying Squirrel and hundreds of other cartoon characters and was sometimes known as the “female Mel Blanc,” has died in a Los Angeles hospital. She was 99.

Foray was the best-known woman among the voice performers who contributed so much to the classic cartoons of Warner Bros., Disney, Hanna-Barbera and other studios.

She began in radio as a child in Massachusetts and, once in Hollywood, became active in major radio programs.

In a 1989 memoir, “Chuck Amuck,” famed animator Chuck Jones noted “the highly talented and versatile Mel Blanc” did voices for Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety, Yosemite Sam and others, “except female voices, which were done by the equally talented June Foray.”

Rocky — with his trademark exclamation “Hokey Smoke!” — was Foray’s favorite. “Everybody asks me that,” she said in a 2000 Associated Press interview. “I think the fans kind of answer that for me. Everybody loves Rocky.”

She was also fond of Rocky’s pal, voiced by Bill Scott, as well. “Bullwinkle was a very sweet creature,” Foray said. “He was not a stupid person. He was extremely ingenious. He was very faithful.”

The original “Rocky and Bullwinkle” aired in 326 installments as part of a series with other cartoons. The Cold War conflict pitted the pair against the bumbling spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, whom Foray also voiced.

“Rocky and His Friends” ran on ABC from 1959 through 1961, and then “The Bullwinkle Show” was on NBC from 1961 to 1964. The show also featured “Fractured Fairy Tales”; “Peabody’s Improbable History”; and “Adventures of Dudley Do- Right.” In 1966, Foray was the voice of Cindy Lou Who in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”