Billie Mae Richards

Billie Mae Richards
Born Billy Mae Dinsmore
(1921-11-21)November 21, 1921
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died September 10, 2010(2010-09-10) (aged 88)
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Cause of death Stroke
Occupation Voice actress
Years active 1964–2010
Spouse(s)
Bill Richards
(m. 1940; his death 1995)
Children Judi Richards

Billie Mae Richards (November 21, 1921 – September 10, 2010) was a Canadian voice actress, who also appeared onstage and on television. She was the voice of Rankin/Bass' version of the character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1964 to 1979,[1][2] and of the Kid in the radio series Jake and the Kid.

Early life and education

Richards was born Billy Mae Dinsmore, in Toronto. Enrolled by her ambitious father in dancing lessons as a toddler, she was entertaining on stage by the age of five. She joined the Canadian Navy and performed for World War II troops. She attended the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto.[3]

Career

Richards worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, speaking and singing in radio dramas. For many years, she was the voice of the Kid in the ongoing radio series Jake and the Kid.[4][5]

As well has her portrayal of Rudolph, Richards also voiced Tenderheart Bear in the first two Care Bears movies, as well as the DIC-produced television series (credited as "Billie Mae Richard"), and Brightheart Raccoon in the Nelvana-produced Care Bears television series.[6]

Richards' four other appearances in Rankin-Bass productions animated were in Willy McBean and his Magic Machine, The King Kong Show, The Smokey Bear Show and The Daydreamer (both from the mid-1960s) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and its sequels all written in the United States and animated in Japan. About that same time, she appeared in the original Spider-Man television series. She also voiced all the female characters in The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo and The Toothbrush Family with Len Carlson, who voiced all the male ones. She made guest appearances on the television shows Maniac Mansion, My Secret Identity, War of the Worlds and The Hidden Room. She also had a bit part in the 1998 horror film Bram Stoker's Shadow Builder, in which her character was attacked with an axe by Paul Soles (who had played Hermey the elf in the original Rudolph special), and the 2001 short Bluehair.

Personal life and death

Billie Mae Dinsmore married musician Bill Richards in 1940; they remained married until his death in 1995. Their daughter, Judi Richards, is a singer-songwriter.[7]

Richards retired to Toronto. She died on September 10, 2010 at the age of 88 following a stroke.[8][9]

Filmography

Television

References

  1. ↑ "Yule watch these 11 holiday TV specials". O Canada.com, Melissa Hank. December 5, 2017
  2. ↑ "The reindeer whisperer’s secrets to getting Rudolph to fly right". New York Post, By Barbara Hoffman, December 2, 2016
  3. ↑ "Billie Mae Richards dies at 88; Canadian actress best known as voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Los Angeles Times, September 14, 2010 | By Valerie J. Nelson
  4. ↑ Alan J. Yates. "W.O. Mitchell's Jake & the Kid: the Popular Radio Play as Art & Social Comment.". Trafford Publishing; 10 June 2010. ISBN 978-1-4269-3363-9. p. 173, 279.
  5. ↑ Margaret Anne Hume. "Just Mary": The Life of Mary Evelyn Grannan. Dundurn; 11 February 2006. ISBN 978-1-55002-921-5. p. 216–.
  6. ↑ Schaefer, William M. "Billie Mae Richards: The Voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", billiemaerichards.com; retrieved December 17, 2008.
  7. ↑ Betty Nygaard King. "Judi Richards". thecanadianencyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ Young, John (September 14, 2010). "Billie Mae Richards, voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, dies at 88". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  9. ↑ Stephen Jones. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 22. Little, Brown Book Group; 20 October 2011. ISBN 978-1-84901-772-5. p. 431–.
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