Jean Vander Pyl
| Jean Vander Pyl | |
|---|---|
 Jean Vander Pyl behind a prop of Wilma | |
| Born |
October 11, 1919 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died |
April 10, 1999 (aged 79) |
| Other names | Jean Vanderpyl |
| Occupation | Radio, television and voice actress |
| Years active | 1948–1999 |
| Spouse(s) |
Carroll G. O'Meara (his death; 3 children) Roger Wells DeWitt (his death; 1 child) |
Jean Vander Pyl (October 11, 1919 – April 10, 1999) was an American actress on radio, television and movies. Although her career spanned many decades, she is best remembered as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Flintstones.[1] She also provided the voice for Pebbles Flintstone. She also provided the of voice of Rosie the robot maid from the animated series The Jetsons, among many others, such as Fifi in Top Cat and Winsome Witch on The Secret Squirrel Show.[2]
Life and career
Vander Pyl was born in Philadelphia to John H. and Kathleen Hale Vander Pyl. Her grandfather had come from the Netherlands. Her father was the district manager for Knit Underwear, her mother was a Southerner from Tennessee.[3] The two died within six months of each other in the early 1950s.[4] The family came to Los Angeles by the mid-1930s.
On radio she was heard on such programs as The Halls of Ivy (1950–52) and on Father Knows Best during the early 1950s, where she portrayed Margaret Anderson; the role was played on television by Jane Wyatt. Her husband, Carroll G. O'Meara, died on February 18, 1962, at age 53. He was a graduate of Stanford University who worked as a copywriter at KHJ radio in the mid-1930s and later became an advertising executive.[5] She later married Roger Wells DeWitt, who also predeceased her.
Vander Pyl made numerous TV appearances as an actress in programs such as Leave It to Beaver, The Donna Reed Show, Father Knows Best and Petticoat Junction. She also guest starred on The Beverly Hillbillies. One of her final TV appearances was in the opening scene of the Season Two Murder, She Wrote episode, "One Good Bid Deserves a Murder". Vander Pyl also had a very brief cameo appearance in the live-action film version of The Flintstones as Mrs. Feldspar, an elderly woman in a conga line.
Voice work
Vander Pyl was the voice of Wilma Flintstone, her best-known character, in the original Flintstones series. She told an interviewer in 1995 that she received $250 per episode for making The Flintstones, and in 1966, when the series ended, she rushed to accept $15,000 in lieu of residual payments from syndication. When she gave the interview, she lived in San Clemente, California, and remarked: "If I got residuals, I wouldn't live in San Clemente. I'd own San Clemente."[6]
Most of her other voice acting work was also for the Hanna-Barbera studio, where she played her first voice role in 1958 on an episode of The Huckleberry Hound Show, voicing an actress. She did additional voices, particularly Southern belles and beautiful girls, on Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss and The Yogi Bear Show. In 1962, she did another memorable role, as Rosie, the Jetsons' robotic maid, and 23 years later in 1985 she reprised the character on the returning series.
Later, she did the voices of Maw Rugg and her daughter Floral Rugg on a rural cartoon, Hillbilly Bears, and Winsome Witch; both shows were part of The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show (1965–1968). Jean Vander Pyl was also the voice of Little Ogee on Magilla Gorilla.
In the 1970s, she was the voice of Marge Huddles, the main character's wife on Where's Huddles?, in which she played a role similar to that of Wilma Flintstone and was reunited with her Flintstones cast members Alan Reed and Mel Blanc. She went on to voice Mrs. Finkerton on Inch High Private Eye, as well as several female characters on Hong Kong Phooey and The Scooby Doo Show.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the talented voice actress did voices on The Mister T Show, and also on The Flintstone Kids as Mrs. Slaghoople. She mostly reprised Wilma Flintstone on spin-off series and films, such as The Flintstone Comedy Show, The New Fred and Barney Show, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones, I Yabba-Dabba Do!, Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby, and A Flintstones Christmas Carol.
Her last voice roles were again as Wilma Flintstone on The Cartoon Cartoon Show episode "Dino Stay Out" in 1995, on The Flintstones Christmas in Bedrock in 1996, and on The Weird Al Show in 1997.
Death
On April 10, 1999, Vander Pyl died of lung cancer at her home in Dana Point, California. She was 79 years old. She was survived by her three sons, Michael O'Meara, Timothy O'Meara, and Roger DeWitt, Jr. Her daughter, Tina O'Meara, died in the 1970s. Vander Pyl was interred in Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California. The cartoon character Wilma Flintstone is engraved on her gravestone.
References
- ↑ Mouchard, Andre (September 29, 1989). "Meet Jean Vander Pyl, the Real Voice Behind Wilma Flintstone". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ↑ "Jean Vander Pyl; Cartoon Voice of Wilma Flintstone". The Los Angeles Times. April 15, 1999. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ↑ 1920 U.S Government Census
- ↑ California death records, 1952-53
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "Rosary Will Be Recited for Carroll G. O'Meara" (Obituary published February 21, 1962)
- ↑ The New York Times, "Jean Vander Pyl, 79, the Voice of Wilma on 'The Flintstones'" (Obituary published April 15, 1999). Retrieved on October 17, 2008.
External links
- Jean Vander Pyl at the Internet Movie Database
- Jean Vander Pyl at AllRovi
- Official Memorial (Possibly disseminating malware. Do not visit without virus scanner and firewall)
- Jean Vander Pyl at Find a Grave
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