Beatrice Benaderet is an American theater, television, radio and voice actress. She was twice nominated for an Emmy in the category Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In the early 1940s, she collaborated with Warner Bros. and voiced dozens of female characters in animated films.
Beatrice's creative career began at the age of 12. The girl performed one of the vocal parts in the musical radio play "The Beggar's Opera". There she was heard by one of the managers of the radio station KFRC and invited to work as a vocalist.
Beginning in 1926, Benaderet worked constantly on the radio. In 1943, she was invited to voice characters in animated films at Warner Bros, with which she collaborated for many years.
In February 1960, Benaderet received her personalized star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at number 1611 for her outstanding contribution to the development of television.
Biography facts
Beatrice was born in the United States in the spring of 1906. Her father, Samuel David Benaderet, emigrated to America from Turkey. Mom - Margaret O'Keeffe Benaderet, was born in the USA, but her ancestors were from Ireland.
The girl's childhood years were spent in New York. In 1915, the family moved to San Francisco, where his father opened a small tobacco shop. Interestingly, he has been in the tobacco business for 65 years. The store was the oldest in California and was closed only in the middle of 1980.
Creativity entered Beatrice's life very early. Even before school, the girl began to learn to play the piano and took vocal lessons. She received her primary education at St. Rose Academy High School.
Benaderet studied acting at the School of Acting under Reginald Travis in San Francisco.
As a teenager, she began performing on the stage of small theaters and working on the radio. When she was 12 years old, the young actress was invited to work permanently at the KFRC radio station as a vocalist and announcer.
Creative way
In 1926, Benaderet was recruited into a permanent job at the KFRC radio station, which in those years began to be directed by Don Lee. The girl was not only an actress and vocalist, but also wrote scripts for programs, was engaged in producing.
Bee was fluent in several languages and could conduct programs in French, Spanish, English, Yiddish. She quickly gained popularity as a presenter, took part in the Salon Moderne show. This was a great achievement for the young actress, because in the 1930s, women did not often achieve such success.
Bee wanted to become a dramatic actress, but fate decreed otherwise. In the 1940s, she began appearing in popular entertainment programs and gradually switched to comedic roles.
In 1936, the actress went to Los Angeles, where she began working for radio station KHJ in the Orson Welles repertory troupe.
A year later, Bee got the leading role of the witty telephone operator Gertrude Gershift in the famous Jack Benny program "The Jack Benny Program". Two beautiful actresses - Bee Benaderet and Sarah Berner - were supposed to appear in only one of the episodes, but after the first performance it was decided to leave them in the main line-up.
Bee's popularity grew very quickly. Soon, she was already performing on five shows every day, without even having time to read the script in advance. She was handed the text of her speech just a few minutes before the start of the program.
In the early 1940s, the actress was invited to the famous Warner Bros. to voice cartoon characters. Over the years, her voice sounded in such famous films as: "The Tale of Bears", "Hipster Cat", "Polka for Three Piglets", "Cat and the Canary", "Rabbit Red Riding Hood", "Bugs Bunny and Three Bears "," Stubborn Rabbit "," Problem Child "," The Murder of Dan McGoo "," Book Review "," Bugs and Baseball "," Infamy "," Manhattan Rabbit "," Kitty Cat "," Scarlet Pumpernickel "," A lot of ado about the canary "," Kitten for a friend "," School of Mind-making "," The Enchanted Rabbit "," Black Widow "," 101 Bugs Bunny's Fairy Tale "," Tired as a Dog "," The Flintstones ", The Bugs Bunny Show, The Adventures of Yoga Bear, Top Cat, The Jetsons, The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magu, The Bucks Bunny and Street Runner Show.
On television, Benaderet was engaged not only in dubbing the characters of her favorite cartoons. She starred in several films and popular entertainment programs: The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show, I Love Lucy, General Electric Theater, Identification, The Bobby Cummings Show, Morning Theater, The Show Dina Shore, 77 Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills Redneck, Green Spaces.
last years of life
In 1963, a blackout in the lungs was discovered in Benaderet. A few years later, the spot became much larger. The actress was offered to undergo surgery, but she refused due to the busy schedule and the release of her new show.
In the fall of 1967, Bee felt very unwell and was taken to the hospital, where she underwent surgery. During the operation, a huge tumor was discovered, which was no longer possible to remove. The actress was diagnosed with lung cancer and offered to try treatment at Stanford University Medical Center. She agreed and even quit smoking at the urgent request of doctors, although she was a heavy smoker for many years.
The treatment seemed to have helped. The actress was discharged from the clinic in January 1968. She continued to work, but after a few months she felt unwell again. In September she had to go to the clinic again, but this time the disease was stronger. On October 13, she died in hospital at the age of 62. The actress was buried at the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.
Personal life
Bee has been married twice. The first choice was Jim Bannon. The wedding took place in 1938. The couple had 2 children: Maggie and Jack. The husband and wife divorced in 1950.
The second husband was the sound effects specialist and actor Gene Twombly. They met while working on The Jack Benny Program in 1950, but did not get married until 8 years later, on June 22, 1958.
Jean and Beatrice lived together until the death of the actress. Twombly survived his beloved wife by only 4 days. He died of a heart attack on October 17, 1968 and was buried near Benaderet.
