Some of the information is Boop-Oop-a-Dooping full of SPOILERS. Boop-Oop-a-Doop!
Mary Healey
| Mary Veronica Healey |
|---|
| Mary Healey | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Name |
Mary Veronica Healey |
|
Audio: |
Mary Healey as Betty Boop: |
Mary Healey (born 29th August 1942) in Rugby, Warwickshire England is an actress known for her roles in Dr Who, Chaplin and Line of Duty.
Healey has been working as a professional actress since the 1960s and made her television debut aged 26, playing the role of Tilda in the 1968 television adaptation of Charles Dicken's Nicholas Nickleby. Between January and February 1977 Healey played the part of Thelma James in ITV soap opera Coronation Street and returned to the programme in December 1990 as Yvonne Pendlebury.
She also appeared in a one-off special of The Royle Family which aired in December 2012, playing the role of Philomena.
Her other notable credits include Touching Evil, Dangerous Lady, Young, Gifted and Broke, Midsomer Murders, Wire in the Blood, Rosemary & Thyme, Doctors, Goodnight, Mister Tom, Alice in Wonderland, Law & Order: UK; King & Castle, Silent Witness, Van der Valk, All in the Game and Agatha Christie's Poirot.
Gimme Gimme Gimme, Heartbeat, Where the Heart Is, Blue Murder, A Touch of Frost, The Royle Family, The House of Eliott, Peak Practice, Moving Story and Dangerfield.
Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Holby City, The Bill, The Mallens, Casualty, Doctor Who, Shine on Harvey Moon, Brookside, Birds of a Feather, Capstick's Law, Foyle's War, Agatha Christie's Marple, Outlaws, Vincent and The Cafe and The Great Fire.
In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Healey recorded Betty Boop's[1] original lines; however, the lines were subsequently deleted as the producers wanted to use the original voice actress. Healey got the role, because her husband Morgan Deare was also in the film. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, her husband Deare portrayed the Editor in live-action and he also provided the voice-over for Bongo the Gorilla.
Healey was actually the first choice to voice Betty. She recorded alternative dialogue for Betty Boop's scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Her voice was likely recorded first for the storyboard.
Mae Questel one of the several original voices of Betty Boop's voice had dropped, so Healey took up the role as Questel's voice-double. STARLOG covered the release of Who Framed Roger Rabbit during the 80s and credited Questel as the voice of Betty Boop.
In the 1983 film Zelig, Questel's aged voice can be heard in the song "Chameleon Days".
This is one of the reasons Questel was not considered for The Romance of Betty Boop, as she was initially screen tested. However the directors working on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, thought it would be unique and enchanting to reintroduce Questel to the role.
When Betty Boop made her small cameo, and appeared with her original voice actress, fans cheered at the cinemas.
Healey caught wind of her name being replaced in the credits, and she contacted STARLOG.[2]
She informed STARLOG that she provided the voice for Betty Boop for the film, not the original voice Mae Questel. Healey was unaware that they had brought back Questel, Betty's original voice, to replace her vocals.
From 1988 to 1989, Healey reprised her role as Betty in two "One of the All Time Greats" commercials for The Hershey Company. She was the voice of Betty Boop in the USA and many other productions.[3]
The "Betty Boop" voice of Healey is reminiscent to Desirée Goyette.
Role(s)
Trivia
- In some old releases Healey is "credited" for the role as Betty.
- A similar thing happened to Adriana Caselotti the original voice of Snow White. Caselotti recorded her vocals for the 1993 Academy Awards, but producers were not happy and her vocals were re-recorded by a sound-alike by the name of Mary Kay Bergman, the only difference is Caselotti's recorded vocals (which she was unaware of) were not used and her sound-alike's was. Which resulted in Disney receiving hundreds of complaints after the ceremony. Bergman could also imitate the voice of Betty Boop, Dorothy Gale and Marilyn Monroe.
- Reason for sound-alikes and voice doubles, is if the original actor or actress can no longer perform a role, the voice-doubles take over that role completely or temporarily fill in for them, if the originator is still alive.
- Healey was also known for her cabaret stage shows.[4]
Links
- Mary Healey Filmography at SM Partners