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Mary Kay Bergman
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Mary Kay Bergman's Betty Boop voice: |
Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999) was an American voice actress and voice-over teacher. She was originally credited as Shannen Cassidy and was best known for her multiple character roles on South Park.
On South Park she provided the voices for Wendy Testaburger, Liane Cartman, Shari Lewis, Veronica Crabtree, Sharon Marsh, Mayor McDaniels, Carol McCormick, Shelley Marsh, Patty, Annie Knitts, Bebe Stevens, Judge Julie, Sally Struthers, Rebecca Cotswolds, Ms. Social Worker, Nurse Gollum, Barbra Streisand, Mrs. Tweak, Mrs. Kimble and Principal Victoria.
She stated that her voice for Wendy's voice was innocent, Kyle's mom's voice was based on her Aunt Francis from New York. Liane Cartman's voice was based on a 1950s housewife, Mrs. Crabtree a drill sergeant, and Kenny's mom who cries all the time was her Bill Clinton imitation.
Bergman was also the official voice of Snow White for The Walt Disney Company from 1989 to 1999, and supplied the voice of Snow White for the "cut scenes" shown in the Snow White: Deluxe Videos, Laserdiscs and DVD's. Bergman can also be heard as Snow White on the Snow White Ride exclusively at the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World Florida.
Along with Mary D'Arcy as narrator, Eda Reiss Merin as the Queen, Jerry Whitman as Prince Charming, Tony Jay as the Magic Mirror, Peter Renaday as Huntsman, Hal Smith as Doc, Bergman is the voice of Snow White on Disney's Read-Along Book & Cassette released in 1992. It was later re-released in 2004.
After her first voice role as a frightened woman in a radio commercial for a small home security company on a local station in 1986 and a few more radio spots in 1989, Bergman was not making enough to earn a living, so she worked part-time at Robinson's Department Store.
During this time, she got the role with Disney as the voice of Snow White on tape, replacing Adriana Caselotti. She told her boss she needed the day off for the recording, but he refused and she left the post. Disney was pleased with her performance, but she agreed to accept future jobs only when Caselotti was unavailable.
She later learned that Disney had different plans. When Disney was releasing a restored version of Snow White, Caselotti was brought back in to record a scene that was missing its audio track. After the studio executives listened to her work, they chose to have Bergman record the scene instead. Caselotti was unaware her voice had been replaced until the 1993 Academy Awards, when she heard Bergman as Snow White presenting an award for best animated short subject.
Disney received hundreds of complaints after the ceremony, noting the changes to the Snow White character which Jeffrey Katzenberg had made. Katzenberg apologized and Bergman did not publicly admit to voicing Snow White while Caselotti was still alive.
According to Mary Kay Bergman, she was picked to voice Betty Boop[1] in 1993 for the The Betty Boop Movie by The Zanuck Company and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was set for a 1994 release.
Bergman referenced the film as The Betty Boop Movie and said that she was given the starring role, recreating the original voice with perfection. But the project fell through and was never completed. Bergman won the role over several other actresses. A Universal Studios Hollywood Betty Boop impersonator also auditioned for the role, and lost to Bergman.
Though Bergman was picked over the other Betty Boop impersonator, the two would later do voices together for a kids show called Jay Jay the Jet Plane.
In 1999 Bergman did her "Betty Boop-esque" voice for singer "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi". She recorded the line "For a Rabbi". Originally Yankovic wanted Fran Drescher, but he was unable to get her. Yankovic stated, "Bergman did a squeaky voice instead. Later I decided that the squeaky voice thing wasn't what I was looking for."
Initially Yankovic wanted Bergman to do the full song in the voice of South Park character Shiela Broflovski.[2] But Bergman's agent wouldn't let her do it as they were scared of a lawsuit with Comedy Central. So they scrapped the idea. Instead she does a more squeaky Jewish Betty Boop-like voice.
Bergman's dialogue was removed from the original recording and were re-recorded by Yankovic's friend Tress MacNeille. MacNeille had previously worked with Yankovic doing an imitation and impersonation of Lucille Ball. MacNeille re-recorded Bergman's "How ya doin' Bernie?" in her Fran Drescher vocal imitation.
After her death, a majority of Bergman's roles were replaced by Tara Strong, Mona Marshall, Grey DeLisle, Eliza Schneider and Debi Derryberry. Carolyn Gardner her understudy and Melissa Disney took over her Snow White role. Since Gardner retired, the role has been recast consistently.
Quotes
- Mary Kay Bergman: "We're not the celebrity, the characters are the celebrities right, we're just the voice. I can't take credit for a character and I don't want to either because it's the character that will live on."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "Snow White will be Snow White forever in a day, Cinderella will be Cinderella forever when you can watch and re-watch that show over and over, that's the star so I really wouldn't want to blow that illusion."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "I felt so bad for Adriana, because that's not the way it should be."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "In fact I consider Adriana Caselotti to be the definitive Snow White."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "Adriana created the most cherished character in animation history, period."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "I feel a deep responsibility to keep the character as true to the work of Adriana Caselotti as possible."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "That was one of my most uncomfortable times in my entire career."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "And I'm sure Adriana Caselotti was livid, and I don't blame her."
- Mary Kay Bergman: "My mom took me to Snow White when I was about 4 or 5." (1997)
- Mary Kay Bergman: "And I sang every song she had and did the voice even back then!" (1997)
- Mary Kay Bergman: "They were looking for a voice match for Adriana." (1997)
- Mary Kay Bergman: "She was in her 80's and they felt that she wasn't sounding enough like her former self..." (1997)
- Mary Kay Bergman: "Did you know I was the original Belle?" (1997)
- Mary Kay Bergman: "They went with Paige because she's a Broadway star..." (1997)
Death
- Bergman participated in a radio program honoring Disneyland's 45th anniversary early on November 11, 1999.[3] Age 38, she committed suicide. 9 p.m. was when she was last seen alive. Dino Andrate, Bergman's spouse, and Patricia McGowan, her mother, survive her.
Gallery
Trivia
- Mary voiced Snow White for The 65th Annual Academy Awards.
- She said in a 1997 interview that she was the original Belle in the film Beauty and the Beast but lost out to Paige O'Hara.
- Other Disney characters she often played were, Arista (Ariel's sister) from The Little Mermaid. Drizella (Cinderella's wicked step-sister), Anita Radcliffe in 101 Dalmatians, Artemis Hercules TV series (replacing Reba McEntire, 2 Ancestors in Mulan.
- Bergman was the official voice of Daphne in the Scooby Doo series at one point.
- She grew up around the corner from the home of Adriana Caselotti, the original voice of Snow White.
- Her impersonations included, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Eartha Kitt, Betty Boop, Kathryn Hepburn, Helen Hunt, among many others.
- She also did the yodeling for Jessie in Toy Story 2.
- She was several of the main characters on South Park.
- According to her website apart from doing voice-over she was also a singer.
Links
- Mary Kay Bergman at MKB Memorial