June Foray to be Honored with Governors Award

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Board of Governors has voted to bestow its prestigious Governors Award this year to prolific and Emmy Award-winning voice actress June Foray.

June Foray has been called "The First Lady of Cartoon Voices" and it was director Chuck Jones who said, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc is the male June Foray." For over sixty years, Ms. Foray has been the most prolific, oft-heard voice in animation, to say nothing of her constant work before and since in radio, commercials, film dubbing and narration.

Ms. Foray has enjoyed a show business career that has spanned more than eighty years, and for sixty of them, she has been one of the most famous and beloved voices in animation. She has lent her voice to such famous characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale on "The Bullwinkle Show," Nell Fenwick on "The Dudley Do-Right Show," Cindy Lou Who in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Granny, the owner of Tweety and Sylvester on "The Bugs Bunny Show," and Jokey Smurf on "The Smurfs." Most recently, Ms. Foray received the 2012 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for her work on "The Garfield Show." She continues working to this day, providing the voice of Granny on "The Looney Tunes Show" and Magica DeSpell for the "DuckTales: Remastered" video game.

"Each year the Board of Governors recognizes a person or organization whose contributions to our industry will forever live on," said Television Academy Chairman and CEO Bruce Rosenblum. "June Foray absolutely embodies everything that this honor represents. A legend and a pioneer, June is not only in a class of her own, but she literally created that class. There is simply no one more deserving of this honor."

Ms. Foray will be honored at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 15, 2013. Highlights of the program will be telecast on Saturday, September 21 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on the new FXX network.

Hear June Foray talk about her remarkable career in this exclusive interview with the Archive of American Television.