Mel Blanc - Bugs Bunny and many more
I had to start with Blanc because this man was the King of them all. Between 1937 and his death in 1989, Mel was the voice of too many WB characters to mention. Take a look at the very abreviated list: Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Pepé Le Pew, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales. But his most famous creation was Bugs Bunny, ironic because, despite the photograph above, Mel was allergic to carrots. A fatal car crash nearly ended his life in 1962, which left him in a deep coma. The doctors tried unsuccessfully to wake him, until one said “Bugs? Bugs Bunny? Are you there?” to which Blanc replied (in the voice of Bugs) “What's Up Doc?”. Blanc is buried in Hollywood, CA - his gravestone inscription reads “That's All Folks!”.
Listen to a sound clip of Mel as Bugs Bunny

Don Messick - Scooby Doo, Muttley
Another long time voice artist with hundreds of credits to his name, Messick is most famously remembered for the voices of Scooby Doo, Dick Dastardly's sidekick, Muttley and Boo-Boo to Daws Butler's Yogi Bear (see below). His original career choice was as a ventriloquist, but after leaving the army, his first voiceover work began a stint that lasted over 40 years, until 1997 when he suffered a stroke whilst in an animation recording studio.
A short sound clip of Messick as Scooby Doo

Arnold Stang - TC
Arnold was the voice of TC in “Top Cat”, the 60s cartoon that resembled ever-so-slightly the TV show Bilko. Amongst other notable appearances, Stang played opposite Arnold Scwarzenegger in the latter's first movie, the camp classic Hercules in New York. Stang still lives in NY, with his wife Joanne, a writer for the New York Times.
(Couldn't find an audio clip of Stang - but here's the Top Cat theme tune)

Alan Reed - Fred Flintstone
In the early 30s, Alan Reed was one of the fledgling radio industry's busiest announcers, but it was his voicing of Fred Flinstone that was to bring his most recognizable success. Reed even thought up the catch-phrase “Yabba Dabba Doo”, and if you only ever contribute one thing to the world that people remember, I can think of worse things than that.
Watch a clip of Fred & Barney having a cigarette break & here's the show opening featuring that famous catchphrase.

Jean Vander Pyl - Wilma Flintstone
There were so few women to include on this list that I felt Jean deserved a place. Provided the voice not only of Wilma, but also Rosie the Robot on The Flintstones' space age equivalent, The Jetsons.

Mae Questel - Bettie Boop, Olive Oyl
Considering most of her voice work was in the early years of animation, her female characters were pretty feisty, independent women. Both Olive & Bettie held their own in a male-oriented world, and it seems that Mae did the same - on one occasion, she even provided the voice of Popeye himself. In later years, she was to become Aunt Bluebell, the spokesperson for the Scott Paper Company, and appeared as Woody Allen's mother in his section of New York Stories.
Listen to Mae sing Betty Boop's famous Boop-oop-be-doop line and here's a short video clip.

Scatman Crothers - Hong Kong Phooey
Recognizable to modern audiences for his roles in movies, most notably One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining, the Scatman also lent his distinctive tones to the one and only Hong Kong Phooey, after being noticed for his voice workas Scat Cat on The Aristocats alongside Phil Harris (see below). Fan-riffic!
Hear Scatman Crothers sing the theme to Hong Kong Phooey

Paul Winchell - Dick Dastardly, Tigger
Many of you may have read about Winchell, who died only recently. It disheartened me a little that in the obits, all people talked about was his work for Disney's Tigger, because to a whole generation, he was also the voice of probably the most lovable bad guy ever to grace the cartoon screen, Dick Dastardly from Wacky Races. At one point, Winchell was clearly a man of many talents. In his early career, he was one of the most famous ventriloquists in the US (in an age when ventriloquists could actually become famous). Virtually all the tapes of this early career were wiped by an acrimonious multimedia company, whom Winchell promptly sued and won a $17.8 million judgement. As also reported widely, he was an inventor, his most famous creation being the artificial heart. But to that you can add patents for over 30 other devices, including a disposable razor, a flameless cigarette lighter, and an invisible garter belt. Winchell died in 2005, one day before the death of John Fielder, the voice of Tigger. Winchell's daughter, April, continues the family tradition, having provided the voice for 101 Dalmations' Cruella De Vil.
Paul Winchell sings “Stop That Pigeon”

Jim Backus - Mr. Magoo
Backus brushes with destiny started early - in grade school, his teacher was Margaret Hamilton, famously to screech “I'll get you, my pretty” as The Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. In films, he would memorably play James Dean's father in Rebel Without A Cause, on TV he was Thurston Howell III on Gilligan's Island, but for us cartoon fans, he'll always be Mr. Magoo.
Jim Backus & Mel Blanc perform a PSA for the American Cancer Society

Daws Butler - Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and many more
Another giant in the field, Butler provided the voices for, amongst others: Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quickdraw McGraw, Jinks the Cat and Elroy Jetson. He was also the co-creator and voice of Captain Crunch, and was the original voices for both Fred & Barney in The Flagstones, the pilot for The Flintstones. In his later years, he established a respected actors' workshop in his home, training students in voice techniques. His most famous alumni: Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson.
Hear Daws Butler as Yogi Bear and as Mr. Jinx reading “Mary had a little lamb”.

Joe E. Ross
Perhaps more famous for his onscreen work in Sgt. Bilko and Car 54, Where Are You?, Ross also brought his “Ooh Ooh” catchphrase and bumbling character to multiple cartoon roles, including Botch in Help, It's The Hair Bear Bunch, and Sgt. Flint in Hong Kong Phooey. Ross actually made his film debut in the rather less kid-friendly Teaserama, which featured strippers Bettie Page & Tempest Storm, and it was to these seedy origins that he would return late in life, with films such as Linda Lovelace for President, The Happy Hooker goes to Washington and Gas Pump Girls.
A video clip from Bilko featuring both Ross and Paul Lynde (see below)

Arthur Q. Bryan - Elmer Fudd
Before Bugs or Daffy or most of the other WB stars, there was Elmer Fudd, who first starred against Porky Pig. The greatest tribute one can make to Arthur Bryan's unique voice work for Fudd was that, after his death in 1959, even the great Mel Blanc found it impossible to accurately reproduce the sound of Elmer, and so the character was effectively retired.
Here's a whole bunch of audio clips of Arthur Q. Bryan as Elmer Fudd and an early video clip of Elmer & Bugs

Phil Harris - Balloo, Thomas O'Malley
While not one of the “voice greats, Harris (the radio band-leader and comic on Jack Benny's radio show) has the distinction of voicing my two favorite Disney movie characters - Baloo the Bear from the Jungle Book, and Abraham Delacy Giusseppe Casey Thomas O' Malley, from The Aristocats. And as far as I'm concerned, the man who brought us The Bare Necessities deserves a place on this kind of list.

Paul Lynde - The Hooded Claw
Comedian Lynde found fame with recurring appearances on Bewitched and Hollywood Squares, and often joked that his lifelong bacherlorhood was due to being broken-hearted by a high-school sweetheart. Yet his life was to end dramatically under mysterious circumstances, after he was found drowned in a swimming pool, after more than year battling an illness that was never disclosed. After being poshumously ”outed“, it's not hard to connect the dots and see a tragic end for Lynde, and to find other meanings in his quote ”I have so many friends who were lovers. After they got married, it was over“. When I teased this article the other day, Jellio guessed almost immediately the subject matter, and assumed I was including Lynde due to his voiceover work for Charlotte's Web. But for me, Lynde defined a mostly overlooked cartoon character of almost Shakespearian tragedy, the astonishingly creepy, uncle-turned-evildoer, The Hooded Claw, who was forever trying to subdue the beautiful Penelope Pitstop.
Watch video clip of Lynde as the Hooded Claw

Read more “Top Ten” features on YesButNoButYes.com