Berneice Edna Hansell (July 11, 1897 – April 16, 1981), known as Bernice Hansen, was an American voice actress who was best known for providing the voice for female and young characters in the mid to late 1930s for various cartoon studios, most notably Warner Bros. Cartoons, where she played Little Kitty in I Haven't Got a Hat (1935).
Because of a lack of on-screen voice credits on cartoons throughout the 1930s, identifying many actors has been a challenge to historians, resulting in incorrect guesses, especially with many female voices portraying young animals that sound very similar. She has, for example, been incorrectly identified as providing the voice of Sniffles.[1]
Early life and career[]
Hansell was born in the state of Los Angeles, California on July 11, 1897[2] to Edward and T. Belle (Carey) Hansell.[3] Her father was an Englishman who arrived in the United States in 1877. Her mother was from Iowa. Edward Hansell worked as a jeweller and then an optician during the 1920s, and as an elevator operator during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Hansell found work as a stenographer and then as a dressmaker on the Warner Bros. lot.[4] She managed to find work in cartoons at the Walt Disney Studios and provided squeaks for Mickey Mouse.[5] That same year, she found work in the Leon Schlesinger Productions and Walter Lantz Productions.
Her animation career ended in the early 1940s. By this point, the small, "cutesy" style characters that had been popular in the 1930s (in which Hansen had specialized) were falling out of fashion; Sara Berner, who had a reputation as a more dynamic performer and skilled impersonator, succeeded Hansen as Warner Bros.' primary female vocalist for much of the 1940s.
Death[]
Hansell died in Los Angeles on April 16, 1981. She was 83 years old.
Filmography[]
- Buddy the Dentist (1934) - Cookie
- Country Boy (1935) - Peter Rabbit, Bunny Rabbits
- Buddy's Theatre (1935) - Cookie
- I Haven't Got a Hat (1935) - Little Kitty, Ham and Ex
- Buddy's Bug Hunt (1935) - Butterfly
- Buddy Steps Out (1935) - Cookie
- The Merry Old Soul (1935) - Babies giggling, Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
- Hollywood Capers (1935) - Little Kitty
- Gold Diggers of '49 (1935) - Little Kitty
- Flowers for Madame (1935)
- The Fire Alarm (1935) - Ham
- Plane Dippy (1936) - Little Kitty
- I Wanna Play House (1936) - Bear Cubs
- The Phantom Ship (1936) - Ham and Ex
- The Cat Came Back (1936) - Kitten, Mother Cat
- Page Miss Glory (1936) - Little Girl
- The Blow Out (1936) - Additional Voices
- Westward Whoa (1936) - Little Kitty
- Let It Be Me (1936) - Emily the Chicken
- Fish Tales (1936) - Additional Voices
- Bingo Crosbyana (1936) - Giggles
- I Love to Singa (1936) - Fat Chicken Singer
- At Your Service Madame (1936) - Giggles
- Toy Town Hall (1936) - Danny
- Boulevardier from the Bronx (1936) - Emily the Chicken
- Don't Look Now (1936) - Kathleen
- The CooCoo Nut Grove (1936) - Dionne Quintuplets
- Porky in the North Woods (1936) - Benny Beaver
- Pigs is Pigs (1937) - Piglets
- The Fella with the Fiddle (1937) - Little Mice
- Ain't We Got Fun (1937) - Mice giggling
- Uncle Tom's Bungalow (1937) - Little Eva
- Streamlined Greta Green (1937) - Junior
- Porky's Building (1937) - Little Rabbit
- A Sunbonnet Blue (1937) - Susie Mouse
- Dog Daze (1937) - Bull Terrier Puppy
- I Wanna Be a Sailor (1937) - Patricia Parrot
- The Lyin' Mouse (1937) - Mouse
- The Sneezing Weasel (1938) - Wilbur
- A Star is Hatched (1938) - Baby Chick
- Cinderella Meets Fella (1938) - Cinderella
- A-Lad-In Bagdad (1938) - Sultan's Daughter
- Porky in Wackyland (1938) - Squeaky Creature
- Porky's Naughty Nephew (1938) - Pinky Pig
- Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas (1938) - Poker-Huntas
- The Mice Will Play (1938) - Susie Mouse
- Robin Hood Makes Good (1939) - Squirrel #1, Squirrel #2
- Porky's Picnic (1939) - Pinky Pig
- Little Brother Rat (1939) - Mice
- The Bear's Tale (1940) - Baby Bear, Goldilocks
- Wacky Wildlife (1940) - Bluebird
See also[]
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929–1939)
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1950–1959)
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1960–1969)
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1970–present and miscellaneous)
References[]
- ↑ Costello, E.O., "Sniffles" entry at The Warner Bros. Cartoon Companion. Accessed 2008-05-13 Archived July 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ California Death Records
- ↑ U.S. Census reports, 1900-1930
- ↑ Leon Schlesinger interview, Baltimore Sun, June 20, 1937, from the Ledger Syndicate
- ↑ United Press story, Dec. 13, 1934
External links[]
Bernice Hansen at the Internet Movie Database
