Voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, RIP

[MuppetsRule]

http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b200440_voice_of_rudolph_red-nosed_reindeer_rip.html

A Christmas classic has been silenced.

Billie Mae Richards, the Canadian radio actress who provided the male voice for plucky Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, died Friday at her home near Toronto. She was 88.

"Kids won't believe it when my grandchildren tell them that their grandmother is really Rudolph," Richards said in a 2005 interview with Filmfax magazine. She was credited as "Billy Richards" to mask the fact that she was a woman.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, based on the eponymous 1949 song, premiered in 1964 and CBS airs it to this day around the holidays.

"What better legacy can you leave than a show that everybody loves?" Richards told NPR in 2004.

The grandmother of 12 also voiced the sequels Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, and she was Tenderheart Bear in the The Care Bears Movie.

 

[Yorick]

What a talent, and many wonderful memories! I love the characters she voiced to this very day, and I appreciate her contributions to my childhood! And I look forward to Rudolph this year, as I have every year. In this way, she shall live on...

 

[Nick22]

that is so sad R.I.P

 

[beatnikchick300]

May she rest in peace.

 

[SillyRed]

Aw.

 

[Xerus]

May you RIP, Billie. Yes, Billie was famous for giving Rudolph that familiar voice and giving that voice to a lot of other characters over the years. Just a few weeks ago, I heard Billie voice a female turtle in the PBS kids' show, Peep and the Big Wide World.

I did a V/A focus on Billie a while back. Here it is again to honor her.

THE CARE BEARS FAMILY: Brightheart Raccoon
THE CARE BEARS MOVIE: Tenderheart Bear
THE CARE BEARS MOVIE 2: Tenderheart Bear
THE DAYDREAMER: Little Boy
GAMERA THE INVINCIBLE: Toschio(uncredited)
KING KONG(TV SERIES): Billy Bond
THE NEVERENDING STORY(ANIMATED): Giant Seahorse
PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD: Female Turtle
RUDOLPH AND FROSTY’S CHRISTMAS IN JULY: Rudolph
RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER: Rudolph
RUDOLPH’S SHINY NEW YEAR: Rudolph
SPIDER MAN(1967): Billy Connor
THE TROLLS AND THE CHRISTMAS EXPRESS: Additional voices
THE UNDERSEA ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN NEMO: Chris, Robbie
WILLIE McBEAN AND HIS MAGIC MACHINE: Willie McBean

 

[Skeeter Muppet]

Didn't know about this until I read it in People magazine's Passages section; man, I feel like I'm late to the party!

I think I'm gonna go give my Tenderheart Bear an extra cuddle now...

-Kim