Did You Grow Up With Me, Too? by June Foray

June Foray with Mark Evanier and Earl Kress. Did You Grow Up With Me, Too?: The Autobiography of June Foray. Albany, Ga.: BearManor Media, 2009.

Foray knew as a child she wanted to act. Her parents were opposed to the idea. They decided to allow her to take elocution classes. She then joined the extra’s guilde by paying a $25 initiation fee. Her first job paid $25. She auditioned for Bud Edwards who advised her to give up acting. She though later would work as a radio scriptwriter for Bud Edwards. Working on this radio show allowed her to obtain membership in the American Federation of Radio Artists. She then received a job on the radio show “Smile Time” with Steve Allen, which lasted for two and a half years.

Foray did voice work on Stan Freeberg’s comedy records. This led to her recording “Fractured Fairy Tales for Rocky and His Friends:. In 1957, “The Stan Freeberg” radio show took over for Jack Benny’s time slot when Benny moved his show to TV. Freeberg disliked cigarettes and asked CBS to not have American Tobacco be a show sponsor. This helped to the show lasing just 15 weeks.

Foray then worked as the voice of Witch Hazel for Chuck Jones cartoons. Her character would speak with characters voiced by Mel Blanc even though they were recorded separately.

Foray was cast as several characters on “Rocky and His Friends”, including Rocky, Natasha, and Nell. The cast would read their lines and then record them. A typical show took two hours to record. She then did the voice of Ursula on “George of the Jungle” television cartoon series.

Foray provided the voice of the Chatty Cathy talking doll. When “Twilight Zone” did an episode with a threatening Talking Tina doll, Foray was hired to provide that voice.

Foray gave up on-camera appearances after doing an episode of “Green Acres” in 1967. She liked the pace of providing voices rather than the longer pace of filming.

Foray urges people to work towards their dream. As she puts it, “whatever I’ve achieved, I made happen.”