Bernice Hansen

[Fibber Fox]

We know that Bernice has been given credit as the voice of Sniffles, but it has also been claimed somewhere that Bernice was, in reality, Gay Seabrook.

I've never heard any of Gay's radio work before, but I've found her on a Lux Radio Theatre from January 2, 1939. This is a lovely restored copy of the show:

http://www.vintageradioplace.com/ra/sametime050123.ram

Her role starts just before the 1 hour, 25 minute mark. Listen especially at the 1:29:45 mark and see what you think. :sniff:

And, yes, the boxer is unmistakeably Billy Bletcher.

FF

[Snowpeck II]

She made a couple appearances in the "Our Gang" comedies (as Spanky's mother) and I immediately recognized the fact that she sounds just like Sniffles.

Greg

[Sogturtle]

We know that Bernice has been given credit as the voice of Sniffles, but it has also been claimed somewhere that Bernice was, in reality, Gay Seabrook.

I've never heard any of Gay's radio work before, but I've found her on a Lux Radio Theatre from January 2, 1939. This is a lovely restored copy of the show:

Her role starts just before the 1 hour, 25 minute mark. Listen especially at the 1:29:45 mark and see what you think. :sniff:

And, yes, the boxer is unmistakeably Billy Bletcher.

FF

Fibber Fox~

The voice of Sniffles is indeed that of actress Gay Seabrook:sniff:. She was also a regular on radio's "The Joe Penner Show" as 'Susabelle', and so the Penner tie provides another tie to cartoon-dom. Author/voice researcher Graham Webb reached the conclusion that Seabrook was Sniffles a number of years back (and it is now mirrored in the Imdb).

Interestingly Webb does credit Bernice separately (though spelling the last name as "Hansel"). And perversely I've never found any biographical info on Hansen. Their professional careers SEEM to have ended around the same time... So maybe the two women were indeed one and the same. Who was your source on that???

[The Spectre]

it has also been claimed somewhere that Bernice was, in reality, Gay Seabrook.


Do you mean "Sniffles was, in reality, Gay Seabrook" or do you mean that Hansen and Seabrook are believed to be the same person?

[Ray Pointer]

Are you sure about that? Benice Hansen was featured in THE THREE STOOGES short, MEN IN BLACK as the nurse with the hiccoughs. The voice is unmistakenly SNIFFLES. These are not the same women. Gay Seabrook, while having a pixie-like voice is not Bernice Hansen. :sniff:

The other female voice performer doing child voices with Bernice Hansen for the Hollywood cartoon studios including Disney, Lantz and Warners' was Sara Berner, who had a small roll in Alfred Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW. She was the blonde woman whose dog is killed by the Raymond Burr character. On a side note, Ross Bagdasarian is the young musician occupying the studio apartment on the top floor.

[Do-Do]

Are you sure about that? Benice Hansen was featured in THE THREE STOOGES short, MEN IN BLACK as the nurse with the hiccoughs. The voice is unmistakenly SNIFFLES. These are not the same women. Gay Seabrook, while having a pixie-like voice is not Bernice Hansen. :sniff:


I'm as shocked as you are that I happen to know this off the top of my head, but the nurse there was played be an actress named Jeanne Roberts.

[Sogturtle]

I'm as shocked as you are that I happen to know this off the top of my head, but the nurse there was played be an actress named Jeanne Roberts.

Do-Do and Ray~

Yeah, all the sources that I know state that the hiccoughing nurse in "Men In Black" was actress Jeanie/Jeannie Roberts (the film bears no credit for her). Her first credit APPEARS to be in that Stooge film in 1934 and her last one looks to be from in '37. I haven't found a reference to her as an actress in vintage radio.

Whereas Gay Seabrook DOES have some film credits all the way back to 1930 and continuing up to 1941. As mentioned before she DOES have some verifiable radio programs and some uncredited movie roles.

Bernice Hansen/Hansel's credits are interestingly enough ALL cartoon credits (I believe) which end in '40.

Sooooo that kind of makes you wonder...

[Ray Pointer]

Is it possible that Jeanne Roberts and Bernice Hansen are the same person then?:sniff:

[Fibber Fox]

Interestingly Webb does credit Bernice separately (though spelling the last name as "Hansel"). And perversely I've never found any biographical info on Hansen. Their professional careers SEEM to have ended around the same time... So maybe the two women were indeed one and the same. Who was your source on that???

Tim, this is driving me nuts. I thought there was something on the web about this, but it may actually have been part of an exchange of e-mails with several people discussing the matter some time in the '90s.

On top of that, there was a Usenet discussion some time ago that Bernice Hansen was also Bernice Kamiat..

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.animation/msg/83f11739d5119f88?&q=%22bernice+hansen%22+kamiat (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.animation/msg/83f11739d5119f88?&q=%22bernice+hansen%22+kamiat)

And therefore she is also Cara Williams. Here are references to *this* Bernice doing cartoons:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930209/ (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930209/)
http://www.answers.com/topic/cara-williams (http://www.answers.com/topic/cara-williams)

Though it strikes me as odd that a teen/pre-teen would be doing "celebrity" voices in 30s cartoons. I've never read any interviews with Cara Williams about what cartoons she did.

Sog, me ol' turtle, after reading through this thread (thanks for the comments, everyone), I'm even more confused about who Bernice Hansen is/was. It's starting to sound like vaudeville, where people had varias aliases at different points of their careers.

FF

P.S.. I was hoping to buy Webb's book when it first came out and have never seen a copy in local bookstores. :(

[Sogturtle]

Tim, this is driving me nuts. I thought there was something on the web about this, but it may actually have been part of an exchange of e-mails with several people discussing the matter some time in the '90s.

On top of that, there was a Usenet discussion some time ago that Bernice Hansen was also Bernice Kamiat..

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.animation/msg/83f11739d5119f88?&q=%22bernice+hansen%22+kamiat (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.animation/msg/83f11739d5119f88?&q=%22bernice+hansen%22+kamiat)

And therefore she is also Cara Williams. Here are references to *this* Bernice doing cartoons:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930209/ (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930209/)
http://www.answers.com/topic/cara-williams (http://www.answers.com/topic/cara-williams)

Though it strikes me as odd that a teen/pre-teen would be doing "celebrity" voices in 30s cartoons. I've never read any interviews with Cara Williams about what cartoons she did.

Sog, me ol' turtle, after reading through this thread (thanks for the comments, everyone), I'm even more confused about who Bernice Hansen is/was. It's starting to sound like vaudeville, where people had varias aliases at different points of their careers.

FF

P.S.. I was hoping to buy Webb's book when it first came out and have never seen a copy in local bookstores. :(

Fibber Fox~

I'm sorry if I'm to blame for adding more fuel to the fire of confusion... I've been down the whole "Bernice Hansen is Bernice Kamiat/Bernice Kay so therefore is Cara Williams" road myself (thanks to a chance mention in Webb's book;)). Like I tried saying before, there just is not (and never has been) ANY biographical info anywhere out there on Bernice Hansen/Hansel... And that did lead me to believe it was a pseudonym as well. I've gone through my trade books from the Thirties searching, and there's nothing there on Hansen/Hansel or Kamiat. Annnnd the same thing holds true for the above mentioned Jeanie Roberts, who disappeared from films in 1937...

I found ONE feature film back then in 1937 that featured an actress named "Bernice Roberts":eek:. I'd LOVE to think that that was the missing link, whereby "Jeanie Roberts" rechristened herself for a dramatic role as "Bernice Roberts", then renamed herself yet again for cartoon roles as "Bernice Hansen".:rolleyes: With one exception all modern references to that film have now altered the actress's name to "Beatrice Roberts" [girlfriend of Louis B. Mayer]. However the trade material from 1937 &'38 very clearly do NOT credit that single film to "Beatrice Roberts" but instead to "Bernice Roberts"... [There also had briefly been a young Broadway actress/dancer named that same name]. Okay, now forget I wrote all that:p.

I should probably add that some bonafide child actors DID provide voices at Schlesingers in the middle and latter Thirties. Among them were Jane Withers and Tommy Bond. Withers verged on real stardom soon after, while Bond was employed longterm at Hal Roach's studio in the "Our Gang" series as Butch the bully. Gay Seabrook appeared in a couple of those very same films as Spanky's mother... Was THAT the connection that ultimately led Seabrook over to Schlesinger's in 1938?

I'll throw out an omnibus theory about here:p... Graham Webb believes that "Bernice Hansel" began voicing REGULARLY in the Buddy Looney Tune series at Leon's in 1935 (Kamiat would've been only 10 years old then:eek: ). IFFFFFF there is ANY truth to the Bernice Kamiat/Kay/Hansen/Cara Williams thing of Kamiat imitating stars voices then it MAY be this... Webb has down that Rochelle Hudson (of Honey:honey: quasi-fame) was still being employed to voice Cookie. Hudson was something of a starlet and presumably priced accordingly. In a number of those same cartoons child-actor Tommy Bond was being brought in to play opposite her as Buddy. If they could get a 10 year old child actress who could do a passable impression of Rochelle Hudson or say of Jeanie Roberts, then I have no doubt they'd do it!

Lastly, Webb believes emphatically that Gay Seabrook did every one of the 1939-'41 Sniffles cartoons, even as Schlesinger was still employing the young Bernice Kamiat/Kay/Hansen for non-starring roles. And in that it all makes GOOD SENSE, put a real professional actress on the starring roles, and then the eager, talented kid on the less important stuff.

[And no, you likely NEVER will see a copy of Webb's book in your local bookstore... It's priced at $125 new:eek:, and there's just darned little demand for a book with that pricetag. Used copies are darned pricey too!].

[Detroiter]

Gay Seabrook and Jeanie Roberts looked and sounded a bit alike. Gay was more prominant, with featured roles in short comedies for Hal Roach (with the Gang and opposite Charley Chase), Pathe, Universal, and Educational. I believe she also did some radio work alone and with her husband Emerson Tracey. As noted, Jeanie Roberts is best remembered for her hiccupping nurse in MEN IN BLACK, but she did co-star in four RKO comedies at about the same time.

For my money, none of those cute little girl voices that had always been credited to Bernice Hanson (whoever she may end up to be) sounds like anything other than an adult woman doing a little girl-type voice.

Frank

[Fibber Fox]

I've gone through my trade books from the Thirties searching, and there's nothing there on Hansen/Hansel or Kamiat. Annnnd the same thing holds true for the above mentioned Jeanie Roberts, who disappeared from films in 1937..
So, here's a question - what's the source that this woman was using the name Bernice Hansen in the first place if there's seemingly no record? I first saw it in Jerry Beck's lovely little original book. I guess no one knows where HE got the information.

And is there any definitive information out there about which cartoons Cara Williams voiced, if her biography is correct? She's still alive; it might be worth someone's time to interview her. She could at least explain if she was Bernice Hansen.

I'll throw out an omnibus theory about here:p... Graham Webb believes that "Bernice Hansel" began voicing REGULARLY in the Buddy Looney Tune series at Leon's in 1935 (Kamiat would've been only 10 years old then:eek: ). IFFFFFF there is ANY truth to the Bernice Kamiat/Kay/Hansen/Cara Williams thing of Kamiat imitating stars voices then it MAY be this... Webb has down that Rochelle Hudson (of Honey:honey: quasi-fame) was still being employed to voice Cookie. Hudson was something of a starlet and presumably priced accordingly. In a number of those same cartoons child-actor Tommy Bond was being brought in to play opposite her as Buddy. If they could get a 10 year old child actress who could do a passable impression of Rochelle Hudson or say of Jeanie Roberts, then I have no doubt they'd do it!
Could be true, Sog. But I tend to lean to Detroiter's comment that Hansen's creditted voices (such as Little Kitty) sound like an adult woman trying to sound like a kiddie, not a ten year old from Brooklyn.


Lastly, Webb believes emphatically that Gay Seabrook did every one of the 1939-'41 Sniffles cartoons, even as Schlesinger was still employing the young Bernice Kamiat/Kay/Hansen for non-starring roles. And in that it all makes GOOD SENSE, put a real professional actress on the starring roles, and then the eager, talented kid on the less important stuff.
Except for the fact Bernice Hansen (whoever she may be) was making the rounds of all kinds of studios at the time and getting a fair chunk of work. Obviously, her talent was respected. I can't see Treg Brown deciding "Well, she can do all kinds of little kid animal voices, but we won't let her do *that* little kid animal voice; we'll hire someone else who's never done cartoons." Still, anything's possible (in a cartoon :) ).

So, after reading all this, I'm kinda left with the conclusion that --

1. Bernice Hansen and Gay Seabrook are two different people, even though they both vanished from cartoons about the same time and sound very similar.
2. "Bernice Hansen" is really a stage name, and could be Bernice Kamiat, alias Bernice Kay, alias Cara Williams, alias John, alias Johnny, alias Jack, alias .. oh, wait, that's ANOTHER cartoon.

If no one has said so, I appreciate the fact you actually did some first-hand research to track down whoever she is. Her identity is something that's puzzled me for a couple of decades.

Oh, just to add to the mix - there are three Bernice Hansens listed in the 1930 Census for Los Angeles. And there's a Bernice Kameat (sic), age 5, listed with Kamiats in the King, New York Census the same year.

FF

[Sogturtle]

So, here's a question - what's the source that this woman was using the name Bernice Hansen in the first place if there's seemingly no record? I first saw it in Jerry Beck's lovely little original book. I guess no one knows where HE got the information.

And is there any definitive information out there about which cartoons Cara Williams voiced, if her biography is correct? She's still alive; it might be worth someone's time to interview her. She could at least explain if she was Bernice Hansen.

Could be true, Sog. But I tend to lean to Detroiter's comment that Hansen's credited voices (such as Little Kitty) sound like an adult woman trying to sound like a kiddie, not a ten year old from Brooklyn.

Except for the fact Bernice Hansen (whoever she may be) was making the rounds of all kinds of studios at the time and getting a fair chunk of work. Obviously, her talent was respected. I can't see Treg Brown deciding "Well, she can do all kinds of little kid animal voices, but we won't let her do *that* little kid animal voice; we'll hire someone else who's never done cartoons." Still, anything's possible (in a cartoon :) ).

So, after reading all this, I'm kinda left with the conclusion that --

1. Bernice Hansen and Gay Seabrook are two different people, even though they both vanished from cartoons about the same time and sound very similar.
2. "Bernice Hansen" is really a stage name, and could be Bernice Kamiat, alias Bernice Kay, alias Cara Williams, alias John, alias Johnny, alias Jack, alias .. oh, wait, that's ANOTHER cartoon.

If no one has said so, I appreciate the fact you actually did some first-hand research to track down whoever she is. Her identity is something that's puzzled me for a couple of decades.

Oh, just to add to the mix - there are three Bernice Hansens listed in the 1930 Census for Los Angeles. And there's a Bernice Kameat (sic), age 5, listed with Kamiats in the King, New York Census the same year. FF

Fibber Fox and Detroiter-Frank~

The EARLIEST published BOOK source that I KNOW of pegging "Bernice Hansen" as the voice of Sniffles was the original 1981 edition of Jeff Lenburg's "Encyclopedia Of Animated Cartoon Series" (p.79). A year earlier the Maltin book "Of Mice And Magic" had come out and in it he had cited (p.276) Harman-Ising's "Little Cheeser" as being voiced by... (you guessed it:p) Bernice Hansen!! You can hear the thought process back then, "hmmm... the two sound pretty identical, so therefore they MUST be the same voice artist";). From there it would probably go back to the old "Mindrot"/"Animania" days (though I'm NOT wanting to go plow through my collection of those right now:rolleyes: ). It SEEMS like in the LONG, LONG AGO that one former Warner worker had come up with that name and that THAT was the ultimate source.

I would dearly LOVE to get a chance to interview Cara Williams about whatever her role was in voicing cartoons... Anybody want to help me set that up? I don't know if Mike Barrier ever interviewed her or the other early voice artists...

Like I tried to explain above, I DO go with the idea that Sniffles is most likely voiced by professional actress Gay Seabrook. She would've been in her late, late thirties at the time. On the other hand (or paw;)) Rochelle Hudson was indeed only a YOUNG teenager when she began voicing 'Honey' in the early 1930's. Our friend David Gerstein was told by Rudy Ising of an incident of where the actress for an H-I cartoon part ('Honey') was unable to perform, so a "staffer's little girl" was pressed into the part! David might know who the staffer was ("just the facts M'am" :p). For the record, Hudson would've been only 13 :eek: when the first Bosko soundtrack was made...

The voice artist that we credit as "Bernice Hansen" first crops up simultaneously at Lantz's and Schlesinger's in April 1934. She is heard NEARLY exclusively at Leon's up until Nov. '35 when she turns up in an MGM/Harman-Ising film. Then in 1936 she looks to have been a veritable whirling-dervish, clocking in at Leon's, H-I, Lantz, and even on one (possibly two) toons at Disney for a whopping total of 25 (or 26 cartoons)!!. In the Disney cartoon, Graham Webb has not only "Hansel" down but GAY SEABROOK and Shirley Reed as helping provide voices!! Then in 1937 and '38 strangely her career gets funky... In both years she only voices HALF as many toons as in 1936 :eek::confused:, AND almost all of her appearances are confined to Leon's and Lantz's places. In 1939 her career gets more peculiar yet, as she looks to have been in only one cartoon anywhere (and that was at Schlesinger's VERY late in '39). It is almost as if she had gotten too busy to bother with cartoons! Then in 1940 she reappears, does about a half a dozen at Leon's, Lantz's and MGM and then vanishes forever into the mist! :eek:

Like I mentioned in passing a second ago, Gay Seabrook clocked in on one 1936 Disney cartoon prior to turning up at Schlesinger's in 1938 (so she wasn't a complete cartoon newbie). I PROBABLY should amend my earlier ruminating:D to state that it appears that Seabrook was brought in to fill the void of the 'missing in action' "Bernice Hansen".

Small addition to all of the above shtuff...

As I intimated in an earlier post, author Graham Webb had only one scant mention of "Bernice Kamiat" (she is NOT indexed in his massive tome). And that is...

Porky's Naughty Nephew (Oct. 1938)....voices: Mel Blanc, Bernice KAMIAT

Despite Imdb listing "Bernice Hansen" in 'Porky's Picnic', Webb lists neither "Kamiat" or "Hansen/l" for that film, but instead the seldom mentioned Shirley Reed.

[I gave VERY serious thought to posting what would be the complete cartoonographies of both "Bernice Hansen/l" and of Gay Seabrook, so that all could see how they differ. I extracted those long ago from Webb's work (along with a scad more, extracting all that was lonnnng and sloooooow!). However I then decided that posting those would be a grave disservice to Mr. Webb, as he worked for about 30 years researching his book. His book despite having a lot of omissions and outright flaws, is a massive work and deserving of better than being extracted to death on the web].

(And thank you for the little compliment! ;) Tis always appreciated).

[The Spectre]

I dunno how reliable IMDb is... after all it seems to think that "Grim Natwick" was a name used by Burt Gillett!

[Tim Lones]

I dunno how reliable IMDb is... after all it seems to think that "Grim Natwick" was a name used by Burt Gillett!

I'd say IMDB is slightly more reliable than say..Wikipedia?

[Sogturtle]

I dunno how reliable IMDb is... after all it seems to think that "Grim Natwick" was a name used by Burt Gillett!

Spectre~

I wholeheartedly agree! The same holds true for Bcdb and of course Wikipedia... All share the same "let's put on a show in my dad's barn";) philosophy. Highly admirable but tragically flawed with a daunting mixture of good and bad entries :(. (I referenced Imdb in the earlier post because we have to face what's been posted out there on those sites.)

I edited two of my posts together above to "reduce the clutter":D