The classic Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated Christmas film, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer debuted in 1964. It is typically associated with the United States, but every character (except one) was voiced by a Canadian. Let’s learn more about the Canadians who brought this movie to life!
When work began on the movie, Rankin and Bass decided to use Canadian voice actors for every character except Sam the Snowman, who was voiced by Burl Ives. One reason for this was the lower labour costs in Canada for voice actors.
Another major reason was that the United States had stopped making radio dramas for the most part. In Canada, they were still made for the CBC and this gave Canada a much larger talent pool for voice actors than was available in the United States at the time.
Rudolph was voiced by Billie Mae Richards. She had worked on CBC’s Jake and the Kid and later voiced Tenderheart Bear on Care Bears. She was credited as Billy Richards as producers did not want people to know a woman did the voice. Richards voiced Rudolph until 1979.
Larry Mann voiced Yukon Cornelius. He had appeared in many CBC productions prior to getting the role in Rudolph. Through the 1980s, he was known to Canadians as The Boss in Bell Canada TV commercials.
Paul Soles was the voice of Hermey. He was well known to Canadians as the voice of Peter Parker Spider-Man on the 1960s animated series. He also hosted Take 30 for 18 seasons, was a veteran of the Stratford Festival and won a Gemini Award in 2006.
Bernard Cowan played Clarice’s Father. He also worked as an announcer on Front Page Challenge, The Pierre Berton Show and Wayne and Shuster. His voice work included Rocket Robin Hood and the animated Spider-Man 1960s show. His cousin was Paul Soles.
Alfie Scopp played various Male Elves, Fireball and Charlie-in-the-Box. He had worked on various NFB productions, The Wayne and Shuster Hour, The Littlest Hobo, Street Legal, and The Edison Twins. He died at the age of 101.
Paul Kligman played Donner and Coach Comet. He often worked on CBC, including with Wayne and Shuster, and also voiced J. Jonah Jameson on the 1960s animated Spider-Man show and Friar Tuck on Rocket Robin Hood.
Carl Banas played the Head Elf and various Misfit Toys. He later acted as Byron James on Wojeck, and was a radio personality on CKFM-FM and MIX 99.9. He was also Titanor on Rocket Robin Hood, Schaeffer in The Raccoons and Old Tusk in Babar.
Finally, Stan Francis played Santa Claus and King Moonracer, while Peg Dixon was Mama Claus and various female elves. She voiced Mary Jane Watson on the 1960s animated Spiderman TV show, and also played Mrs. Morrison on the 1956 TV movie Anne of Green Gables.
I hope you enjoyed that look at the Canadian voice actors on Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, sourced by Canadian History researcher and storyteller, Craig Baird.
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