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In addition to her signature voices of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop, Questel also provided the voice of Little Audrey. When Hanna-Barbera began making the All New Popeye cartoons for television in 1978, Questel auditioned for the role of Olive Oyl but lost out to Marilyn Schreffler. She also filled in for Jack Mercer as the voice of Popeye for a small number of cartoons, made when Mercer was temporarily drawn into war service, alongside Floyd Buckley and Harry Foster Welch. Questel returned as the voice of Olive Oyl in 1944 after the studio reorganized as Famous Studios, Paramount Pictures and had returned to New York, a role in which she would remain until 1962. Starting in 1938, Margie Hines, who was the original voice of Betty Boop, replaced Mae Questel when production made the transition from New York to the Miami Studio, Florida. She reportedly based Olive's nasal vocal quality and expression, "Oh, dear!" on the character actress ZaSu Pitts. She made her debut with "I Eats Me Spinach" and essentially became the permanent voice until her hiatus to start a family in 1938. Along with her voice work, and occasional on-camera appearance in Paramount shorts, Questel also attended Columbia University, where she studied drama.īeginning in 1933, Questel provided the voice for Olive Oyl in the Max Fleischer Popeye cartoons. In 1988, she reprised her role as Betty Boop in a cameo appearance in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was Questel's most extensive work for Disney she had provided brief additional voices for some of Disney's earlier films. During the 1930s, she released a recording of " On the Good Ship Lollipop" which sold more than two million copies. įrom 1931 until 1939, Questel provided the voice of Betty Boop in more than 50 animated shorts, the longest run for any actress doing that voice.

She began as one of a number of actresses providing the character's voice, but soon took over the role exclusively. Questel's "Boop-boop-a-doop" routine, done in a style similar to the version Helen Kane created, while at the same time evoking something of the naughty allure of film star Clara Bow, was exactly what Fleischer wanted, and he hired Questel in 1931. She was seen by animator Max Fleischer, who was looking for an actress to provide the voice for his Betty Boop character. Billed as "Mae Questel – Personality Singer of Personality Songs", she did impressions of Fanny Brice, Marlene Dietrich, Eddie Cantor, Mae West, Maurice Chevalier and others, as well as doing animal imitations.

She was signed by an agent and began performing in vaudeville as an impersonator. Nevertheless, at the age of 17, Questel won a talent contest held at the RKO Fordham Theatre in the Bronx by imitating actress and singer Helen Kane. Although she wanted to be an entertainer, her parents, who were Orthodox Jews, actively discouraged her from doing so, at one point forcing her to leave the Theatre Guild school. She later performed on Broadway and in films and television, including her role as Aunt Bethany in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989).īorn Mae Kwestel in the Bronx, New York City, to Simon and Freida (née Glauberman) Kwestel, she attended Morris High School and studied acting at the American Theatre Wing and with the Theatre Guild. Questel began her career in vaudeville, primarily working as an impressionist. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop (from 1931), Olive Oyl (from 1933) and numerous others. Mae Questel / ˈ m eɪ ˌ k w ɛ ˈ s t ɛ l/ (born Mae Kwestel, Septem– January 4, 1998) was an American actress. Voice of Betty Boop, Olive Oyl and Little Audrey