Violet (Peanuts)

Violet Gray
Peanuts character
First appearance	February 7, 1951 A Charlie Brown Christmas (television special) A Boy Named Charlie Brown (film)
Last appearance	November 27, 1997 Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (film) He's A Bully, Charlie Brown (television special) Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown (television special)
Voiced by	Sally Dryer (1963, 1965) Karen Mendelson (1966) Ann Altieri (1966-1969) Linda Ercoli (1972-1975, 1976) Lynn Mortensen (1974) Linda Jenner (1974) Roseline Rubens (1980) Stacy Ferguson (1985) Deanna Tello (1992) Ashley Edner (2000) Kaitlyn Maggio (2003) Jolean Wejbe (2006) Taya Calicetto (2008-2009) Blesst Bowden (2011) Madisyn Shipman (2015)
Information
Gender	Female
Family	Unknown

Violet Gray is a fictional character in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. She was initially a major character, until she began to fade into the background. Violet and Patty are best friends.

Personality

Snobbery

Violet is characterized as a snob. She often teases the other characters because she thinks she is superior to them. This has caused them to be irritated at her. However, she sometimes stops from bragging.

Violet was supposedly of upper class upbringing, and brags about how her father possessing something her friends' fathers don't. However, in a Father's Day strip, her boasts are quelled by Charlie Brown when he takes her to his dad's barber shop. After telling her about how his dad would always smile at him no matter how bad a workday he was having, a humbled Violet walked away, but not before quietly wishing Charlie Brown a Happy Father's Day. Her bragging about her father backfired another time (when a character named "5") fired back at her with "My dad goes to PTA meetings!" Charlie Brown once deflated her with the comeback: "My dad has a son."^[1]

In the early strips, Violet often acted like a preschool-age Suzy Homemaker: making mud pies, playing "house," and being linked to romantic scenarios involving Charlie Brown. She also collects stamps as a hobby. On some occasions, Violet was shown walking and keeping company with Shermy.

Her surname (Gray) was mentioned only once, on April 4, 1953.

Violet never really developed a strong personality, especially compared to the next three characters who would be introduced after her (Schroeder, Lucy, and Linus). She tended to be used mostly as a straight woman to set up the punchline. Schulz admitted as much in a 1988 interview. "Some characters just don't seem to have enough personality to carry out ideas," he said, referring to Violet, Patty, and Shermy. "They're just almost born straight men."

Relationship with other Peanuts characters

Interactions with Charlie Brown

Violet often teased Charlie Brown (often adding a series of Nyah's), who often makes comebacks. In an example of such, Violet once said to him, "It simply goes without saying that you are an inferior human being." His adroit reply to this was, "If it goes without saying, why did you have to say it?" She, along with Patty, do not invite him to their parties. Charlie Brown is usually depressed by this, but sometimes he decides to turn the tables on the two girls. For example:

• November 23, 1951: When they mentioned excluding Charlie Brown from their party, he let it roll off his back saying he did not want to go to their "dumb ol' party" anyway. After he left, they pondered whether he meant it. Violet was convinced he did, so Patty suggested "In that case, maybe we'd better invite him."
• January 29, 1954: Charlie Brown replied to them saying if they did not like him they were better off not inviting him. Stunned to silence, the girls just walked away, with Charlie Brown smiling after them.
• September 1, 1954: Charlie Brown uncharacteristically threatened to strafe, then bomb their house if he was not invited, to which both girls replied, "Okay, you're invited."

In early strips, she was linked to romantic scenarios involving Charlie Brown.

Although Charlie Brown was the usual recipient of Violet's cruelty, he was not the only one. One memorable Sunday strip featured her hurling a series of volatile insults at Lucy (so volatile that Charlie Brown remarked that he was glad she wasn't yelling at him, because he wouldn't have been able to take it), although ultimately Lucy won this battle by unleashing her own string of rapid-fire insults at Violet, causing Violet to walk away in tears. Even Linus wasn't immune - one 1961 strip involved her and Patty mocking Linus for carrying a blanket (to which Linus responded by wrapping himself in his blanket and doing an impression of Count Dracula, leading both girls to flee in terror).

Notes

External links

• First appearance of Violet, Peanuts, 7 February 1951
• Violet in Snoopy Street Fair Game.

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