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TürkçeJanet Waldo
Photos with Janet Waldo
Biography
Yakima, Washington, USA
Janet Waldo provided the quintessential voice of the swooning, overly dramatic teenager for a number of generations -- from the 1940s swinging babysitters to the 1960s groovy chick. A bouncy, perennially-youthful brunette, she was born in Yakima, Washington, and began entertaining in church plays as a youth. Urged on by her singer mother, she studied at the University of Washington and performed in plays. She was discovered by none other than Paramount star Bing Crosby, when he and his talent scouts conducted a contest and invited her to try out for it, which she won. Read more... mother) to California and the rest is history.
Janet met a Paramount talent scout who signed her up for small roles in movies, including the Crosby films Sing, You Sinners (1938) and The Star Maker (1939). Unable to completely break out of her bit-part cycle as assorted hat-check girls, receptionists, and telephone operators, she did manage a few co-starring roles in such Tim Holt westerns as The Bandit Trail (1941) and Land of the Open Range (1942) before setting her career sights on radio in 1943. It was Crosby himself who introduced Janet to radio and she fell in love with the medium and its possibilities. As the eternal teen in "Meet Corliss Archer," Janet's voice became a household sound and it was obvious that her vocal talents would become her biggest moneymaker. She also performed on radio's "One Man's Family," "The Gallant Heart," and "Star Playhouse." She played the cigarette girl on both Red Skelton and Art Linkletter's programs, and played teenager Emmy Lou for Ozzie Nelson on both his radio and TV shows. In 1952, Janet filmed one classic I Love Lucy (1951) episode playing (what else?) a lovesick teen who fell for Ricky Ricardo, even though she was around 28 years old at the time!
In 1948 Janet married writer-director-producer Robert E. Lee of "Inherit the Wind" and "Auntie Mame" fame. She curtailed her career activities sharply for some time in order to raise her two children. She even turned down the opportunity to return to her popular role of Corliss Archer when the radio series was revamped for TV in 1951, and Lugene Sanders from the "Life of Riley" series took on the part instead. After sporadic appearances on stage, Janet established herself as one of the top female voice artists in the early 1960s when she gave vocal life to hip high schooler Judy Jetson in the prime-time Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Jetsons (1962), a role that she would go on to play well past the age of 70. Her vocal range was absolutely limitless as she went on to become a well-oiled Hanna-Barbara staple for over three decades, providing hundreds and hundreds of voices, old and young, to both Saturday morning and feature film cartoons. Some of her better known characters include Granny Sweet, Penelope Pitstop, Superman's Lana Lang, the Addams Family's Morticia Addams, the title role in Josie and the Pussycats (1970) and Princess on Sandy Frank's Battle of the Planets (1978). She is a member of the California Artists Radio Theatre (CART) and has performed frequently on the smaller L.A. stages over the years.
The woman with a thousand voices is a legend in her field and an octogenarian now, still as busy and perky as ever doing radio shows (one regularly with Alan Young of "Mister Ed" fame and her co-star on "Batte of the Planets"), commercial voice-overs (Electrosol) and personal appearances. She is also in the process of writing a book.
Janet met a Paramount talent scout who signed her up for small roles in movies, including the Crosby films Sing, You Sinners (1938) and The Star Maker (1939). Unable to completely break out of her bit-part cycle as assorted hat-check girls, receptionists, and telephone operators, she did manage a few co-starring roles in such Tim Holt westerns as The Bandit Trail (1941) and Land of the Open Range (1942) before setting her career sights on radio in 1943. It was Crosby himself who introduced Janet to radio and she fell in love with the medium and its possibilities. As the eternal teen in "Meet Corliss Archer," Janet's voice became a household sound and it was obvious that her vocal talents would become her biggest moneymaker. She also performed on radio's "One Man's Family," "The Gallant Heart," and "Star Playhouse." She played the cigarette girl on both Red Skelton and Art Linkletter's programs, and played teenager Emmy Lou for Ozzie Nelson on both his radio and TV shows. In 1952, Janet filmed one classic I Love Lucy (1951) episode playing (what else?) a lovesick teen who fell for Ricky Ricardo, even though she was around 28 years old at the time!
In 1948 Janet married writer-director-producer Robert E. Lee of "Inherit the Wind" and "Auntie Mame" fame. She curtailed her career activities sharply for some time in order to raise her two children. She even turned down the opportunity to return to her popular role of Corliss Archer when the radio series was revamped for TV in 1951, and Lugene Sanders from the "Life of Riley" series took on the part instead. After sporadic appearances on stage, Janet established herself as one of the top female voice artists in the early 1960s when she gave vocal life to hip high schooler Judy Jetson in the prime-time Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Jetsons (1962), a role that she would go on to play well past the age of 70. Her vocal range was absolutely limitless as she went on to become a well-oiled Hanna-Barbara staple for over three decades, providing hundreds and hundreds of voices, old and young, to both Saturday morning and feature film cartoons. Some of her better known characters include Granny Sweet, Penelope Pitstop, Superman's Lana Lang, the Addams Family's Morticia Addams, the title role in Josie and the Pussycats (1970) and Princess on Sandy Frank's Battle of the Planets (1978). She is a member of the California Artists Radio Theatre (CART) and has performed frequently on the smaller L.A. stages over the years.
The woman with a thousand voices is a legend in her field and an octogenarian now, still as busy and perky as ever doing radio shows (one regularly with Alan Young of "Mister Ed" fame and her co-star on "Batte of the Planets"), commercial voice-overs (Electrosol) and personal appearances. She is also in the process of writing a book.
Actor
Character:
Bit
Sing, You Sinners 1938
6
Character:
Fortune Girl's Companion
Honeymoon in Bali 1939
2
Character:
Stella
The Star Maker 1939
17
Character:
Cigarette Girl
The Gracie Allen Murder Case 1939
1
Character:
Elsa
Waterloo Bridge 1940
11
Character:
Miss Courtney
If I Had My Way 1940
8
Character:
Westlake's Receptionist
Rhythm on the River 1940
8
Character:
Switchboard Operator
The Farmer's Daughter 1940
2
Character:
Ellen Grant
The Bandit Trail 1941
1
Character:
Jeannie / Joan
Busy Buddies 1956
1
Character:
Additional voices
The Man Called Flintstone 1966
3
3
Character:
Princess Serena
Jack and the Beanstalk 1967
6
Character:
Edgar's Mom
Once Upon a Forest 1993
3
Character:
Additional Voices
I Yabba-Dabba Do! 1993
3
Character:
Pearl Slaghoople
Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby 1993
2
Character:
Judy Jetson
Jetsons: The Movie 1990
9
Character:
Judy Jetson
Rockin' with Judy Jetson 1988
7
Character:
Judy Jetson / Female Computer
The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones 1987
1
Character:
Alice / The Red Queen
Alice Through the Looking Glass 1987
2
Character:
Alice
ABC Weekend Specials 1977
0
Character:
Female Dinosaur
Dink, the Little Dinosaur 1989
0
Character:
Mrs. Appleton
Julia 1968
0
Character:
Emmy Lou
The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet 1952
0
Character:
Hazel
The Phil Silvers Show 1955
0
Character:
Jacqueline
So Ends Our Night 1941
0
Character:
Hogatha
The Smurfs 1981
0
Character:
Telephone Operator
Get Smart 1965
0
Character:
Judy Jetson / Penelope Pitstop / Josie McCoy
A Yabba-Dabba-Doo Celebration!: 50 Years of Hanna-Barbera 1989
0