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Carol Tevis
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The Voice of Minnie Mouse |
Carol Tevis (6 March, 1907 - 15 May, 1965) was born in in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tevis began her career on KFWB radio, singing and doing impressions. Her distinctive high-pitched[1] baby-talk[2] voice soon gained notoriety. Jazzy "Boop-Boop-Be-Doop" songs were among the tunes she used to sing on the radio.
Audiences who tuned into her radio show thought she was a child and sent her dolls and fairy tale books.
She was best known for being the one-time voice of Minnie Mouse, voice of the Three Little Wolves,[3] Disney's character Little Red Riding Hood in the 1934 cartoon The Big Bad Wolf, and voice of the background Munchkins and one of the dubbed voices of the "Lullaby League" in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
In 1914, her mother passed away from cancer. She wed salesman William Tevis at the age of nineteen. Their daughter, Nancy Lou, was born in 1927. She separated from William the next year and relocated to Los Angeles, California.
In 1932, Tevis sued Dr. S. M. Cowen, a dentist for $25,000, for permanent scarring of her face. She charged that he fractured a bone in her face when he extracted a tooth, causing swelling and an operation which left scars.
After hearing her sing on the radio, Walt Disney cast Tevis in his animated films. Tevis became the one-time voice of Minnie Mouse, the role was originated by Marcellite Garner, and was later taken over by former Betty Boop impersonator Shirley Reid, Leone LeDou and Thelma Boardman.
According to Tevis, she was also the voice of the Three Little Wolves, also called the Little Bad Wolves, the sons of the Big Bad Wolf. And the character Little Red Riding Hood in the spin-offs of The Three Little Pigs in the Walt Disney Studios cartoons.
Doubling for Minnie Mouse started Tevis' career.[4] In 1937, it was announced that Tevis' career as Minnie Mouse had ended.[5]
She explained that doing voice-over for animated cartoons was "ghost-like" and that she wanted to be seen on screen. She also indicated that doing Minnie Mouse's voice was repetitious.
Tevis wed William Britton in 1930. In the 1931 drama The Secret Six, the stunning blonde made her screen debut. She appeared in a number of movies in modest roles. She filed for divorce from Britton after barely two years of marriage, saying he had been disrespectful and emotionally abusive to her.
Despite making appearances in over fifty movies, she was never a big star. She made the decision to retire in the early 1940s after growing weary of performing. The 1941 comedy Unfinished Business served as her farewell picture.
She later made amends with William Tevis, her first husband. In 1944, the couple were married again and purchased a house in Pacific Palisades. Tevis became addicted to pharmaceutical drugs after retiring, and this ultimately caused her to pass away.
Quotes
- Carol Tevis: "William Britton was rude and gruff to me." (1933)
- Carol Tevis: "Oh! So you've played before!" (1934)
- Carol Tevis: "It's a sort of ghost-like existence just to sit in a soundproof room before a microphone." (1937)
- Carol Tevis: "And squeak for mice, rabbits and the like." (1937)
- Carol Tevis: "It isn't I want to set myself up as a beauty." (1937)
- Carol Tevis: "But I do like the idea of being seen as well as heard on the screen." (1937)
- Carol Tevis: "Besides, I think Tryone Power is much more handsome than Mickey Mouse at his best." (1937)
Filmography
1931:
- The Secret Six as Manicurist (1931)
- The Mystery Train as Bride (1931)
1933:
- Twice Two as the voice of Mrs. Sandy Hardy (1933)
- Flirting in the Park as Carol (1933)
- Walking Back Home (1933)
1934:
- The Big Bad Wolf as Little Red Riding Hood (1934)
- The Girl from Missouri as Baby-Talker (1934)
- Blondes and Redheads (1934)
- School for Romance as Blonde Student (1934)
- Bridal Bail as Carol (1934)
- The Undie-World as Carol Tevis (1934)
- Rough Necking as Carol Marshall (1934)
- Stingaree (1934)
- Blind Date (1934)
- Bachelor Bait (1934)
- Contented Calves (1934)
- Ocean Swells (1934)
- The Dancing Millionaire (1934)
1935:
- Wig-Wag as Carol Winchell (1935)
- The Affairs of Susan as Girl (1935)
- Sweepstake Annie as Sally Foster (1935)
- Little Dutch Plate as Little Dutch Girl (1935)
1936:
- Three Little Wolves as the Three Little Wolves (1936)
- Sing, Baby, Sing (1936)
1937:
- Love Is News as Tessie (1937)
- Michael O'Halloran as Mary Jane (1937)
- Behind the Mike as Secretary (1937)
- Love Takes Flight as Myrtle (1937)
1938:
- Three Loves Has Nancy (1938)
1939:
- Convict's Code as Secretary (1939)
- The Wizard of Oz as voice of the background Munchkins and Lullaby League (1939)
1940:
- The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940)
1941:
- Unfinished Business (1941)
The Official Voice of Minnie Mouse:
- 193? - 1937
Death
- She passed away age 58 from an unintentional overdose on May 15, 1965. She was interred in Norfolk, Virginia's Elmwood Cemetery with her mother.
Trivia
- She was well-known for having blonde hair and a doll-like appearance.
- It is unlikely that Tevis reprised her role as the Three Little Wolves in the 1939 animated feature The Practical Pig as she had stopped doing VO in 1937. However according to several 1937 sources, she was the voice of the wolves in the 1936 cartoon Three Little Wolves.
- Tevis had prominent and made some background appearances in a number of well-known movies, yet she was often uncredited.
- Though Tevis voiced Minnie Mouse in the animated cartoons, her roles as Minnie are unknown. It is likely that some of Marcellite Garner's credits belong to Tevis. Actors and actresses were often uncredited in old cartoons.
- Her spouses were both named William.
- When Tevis was a model in 1930, she was one of the "beautiful girls" chosen to don costumes from the movies No, No, Nanette and Show Girl of Hollywood.