Billy Bletcher
Acting
Born: 1894-09-23 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
The diminutive (5 feet 2 inches/1.57 meters) Bletcher appeared on-screen in films and later television from the 1910s to the 1970s, including appearances in several Our Gang and Three Stooges comedies.Bletcher was also famous as a voice actor. Uncharacteristically for someone of his size, his voice was a deep and strong-sounding baritone. He provided the voices of various characters for Disney (Black Pete and the Big Bad Wolf in Three Little Pigs and its spin-offs), MGM (Spike the Bulldog and in some occasions even Tom, in Tom and Jerry), and Warner Bros. (many characters, most notably the Papa Bear of Chuck Jones' The Three Bears after Mel Blanc had performed the role in the initial entry). He appeared opposite Blanc in Little Red Riding Rabbit, where he played another famous wolf. Bletcher's booming voice can also be heard as "Dom Del Oro" the Yacqi Indian god in the 1939 Republic serial, Zorro's Fighting Legion. He also voiced Owl Jolson's disciplinarian violinist father in the 1936 short subject based on the song I Love to Singa and the menacing spider in Bingo Crosbyana. Both he and Mel Blanc did voice acting in the 1944 Private Snafu WWII training film "Gas", where Bletcher plays the villainous Gas Cloud (with Mel Blanc voicing Private Snafu and a cameo of Bugs Bunny) as an opponent of Snafu. Bletcher also played The Captain in Captain and the Kids with MGM cartoons.
Known For
Get Smart
Frank Ogg
Looney Tunes
Papa Bear, Spike, Wolf, various others
The Red Skelton Show
Phony Warden
The Wizard of Oz
Mayor / Lollipop Guild Member (voice) (uncredited)
The Lone Ranger
Horseface
Dumbo
Clown (voice) (uncredited)
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Waiter
Hello, Dolly!
Man (uncredited)
The Chase
Mr. Vincent (uncredited)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Headless Horseman (voice)
The Big Bad Wolf
Big Bad Wolf (voice) (uncredited)
Three Little Pigs
Big Bad Wolf (voice)
Calamity Jane
Prospector (uncredited)
The Nutty Professor
Plumber (uncredited)
Lonesome Ghosts
Short Ghost (voice) (uncredited)
Three Little Wolves
Big Bad Wolf (voice) (uncredited)
Thru the Mirror
Radio (voice) (uncredited)
Three Blind Mouseketeers
Captain Katt
The Golden Touch
King Midas (voice) (uncredited)
Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip
Pete
The New Neighbor
Pete (voice) (uncredited)
Dog Daze
St. Bernard (voice)
Quiet Please!
Spike (voice) (uncredited)
Get a Horse!
Peg-Leg Pete (voice)
The Bodyguard
Spike / Tom (Voice)
Revlon Mirror Theatre
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Western Character (uncredited)
Babes in Toyland
Chief of Police (uncredited)
Baby Puss
Butch (voice) (uncredited)
Shanghaied
Pegleg Pete (voice) (uncredited)
I Married a Witch
The Serenade
Schmitte
The Verdict
Gravedigger (uncredited)
Officer Duck
Tiny Tom (voice) (uncredited)
Picador Porky
Bull (uncredited)
Down to Earth
Conductor (uncredited)
Modern Inventions
Robot Butler (voice) (uncredited)
Heavenly Puss
Devil Dog (voice) (uncredited)
Everybody Loves Mickey
Short Ghost (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited)
Sioux Me
Indian chorus (voice)