Mae Questel

Actress

September 13, 1908 (89 years)

† January 4, 1998

The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Biography

Mae Questel (September 13, 1908–January 4, 1998) was an American actress and vocal artist best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. She began in vaudeville, and played occasional small roles in films and television later in her career, most notably the role of Aunt Bethany in 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Filmography

7.5

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Self

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

5.7

Naked City

Mrs. Annette Faber

Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.

7.1

Popeye the Sailor

Olive Oyl (voice)

Follows the adventures of the famed spinach-eating sailor man. Popeye is one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time. This spunky but loveable spinach-eating sailor continues to delight young and old with his comic adventures, and the entire gang is around to provide plenty of rousing fun and action: Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, Wimpy and Bluto.

7.1

77 Sunset Strip

Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this Warner Brothers drama. They work out of an office located at 77 Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California, right next door to a snazzy restaurant where Kookie works as a valet. The finger-snapping, slang-talking Kookie occasionally helps Stu and Jeff with their cases, and eventually becomes a full-fledged member of the detective agency. Rex Randolph and J.R. Hale also join the firm, and Suzanne is their leggy secretary.

7.5

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Betty Boop (voice)

'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.

7.2

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

Aunt Bethany

It's Christmastime, and the Griswolds are preparing for a family seasonal celebration. But things never run smoothly for Clark, his wife Ellen, and their two kids. Clark's continual bad luck is worsened by his obnoxious family guests, but he manages to keep going, knowing that his Christmas bonus is due soon.

7.2

Funny Girl

Mrs. Strakosh

The life of famed 1930s comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of New York, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, as well as her marriage to the rakish gambler Nick Arnstein.

6.2

New York Stories

Mother

Three tales of love, ambition, and neurosis unfold in the city that never sleeps. In "Life Lessons" (Martin Scorsese), a tormented painter channels heartbreak into his art. In "Life Without Zoë" (Francis Ford Coppola), a precocious 12-year-old navigates privilege and loneliness in a Manhattan hotel. And in "Oedipus Wrecks" (Woody Allen), a man’s domineering mother literally becomes a looming presence over New York.

7.4

Zelig

Helen Kane (voice) (uncredited)

Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.

5.7

New Shoes

Girl's Shoes (voice)

A love affair blossoms between two pairs of shoes after a couple purchases the shoes.

6.7

Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor

Olive Oyl (voice) (uncredited)

After wrecking Popeye's ship and stealing away Olive Oyl, hero of Arabic legend Sindbad decides to test him and his ever-resilient new rival's strength in order to prove their supremacy as the "most remarkable, extraordinary fella" of Sindbad's menagerie island.

6.2

It's Only Money

Cecilia Albright

Lester is a clumsy and awkward TV repair man who is nevertheless gifted technically. In helping out a friend, he is drawn into a mystery involving a missing heir in a rich family. He begins to notice little things, like how much those family portraits look like him. Surely..no..he can't be...can he ?

6.5

One Hour with You

Office Worker (uncredited)

Andre and Colette Bertier are happily married. When Colette introduces her husband to her flirtatious best friend, Mitzi, he does his best to resist her advances. But she is persistent, and very cute, and he succumbs. Mitzi's husband wants to divorce her, and has been having her tailed. Andre gets caught, and must confess to his wife. But Colette has had problems resisting the attentions of another man herself, and they forgive each other.

6.3

Mr. Bug Goes to Town

Buzz (voice) (uncredited)

The happy tranquility of Bugville is shattered when the populace learns that a colossal skyscraper is to be built over their tiny town.

6.6

Brotherly Love

Olive Oyl (voice) (uncredited)

Olive preaches the need for brotherly love on the radio. Popeye, hearing this, does a number of good deeds: helping two workmen raise a safe, straightening a wrecked car, and helping two boys sneak into a baseball game. But when he tries to break up a fight, it's more than he can handle alone. Olive and her followers come along and try to help, but it's too much for them, too. Of course, once Popeye has his spinach...

6.2

Birds in the Spring

Baby Birds (voice) (uncredited)

Two birds rejoice over the hatching of their three eggs; as they grow, the hatchlings are taught to sing and fly. One falls from the nest and has adventures with a rattlesnake and a beehive before finding his way home.

6.9

Hospitaliky

Olive Oyl (voice) (uncredited)

To get at nurse Olive, Popeye and Bluto fake various illnesses. Olive sees through this and tells them they need to be either very sick or hurt real bad, so they try to get hurt, but both have a sudden run of what would normally be very good luck. Out of desperation, Popeye feeds Bluto the spinach when they start fighting.

7.0

Bridge Ahoy!

Olive Oyl (voice) (uncredited)

Popeye and Olive are taking a ferry run by Bluto. When they find out the fare, they decide, with Wimpy, to build a bridge. Bluto does what he can to sabotage this plan - until spinach time, of course.

6.9

Popeye the Sailor

Betty Boop (voice) (uncredited)

Popeye and Bluto fight for the love of Olive Oyl in their debut short, featuring Betty Boop.

3.5

Popeye and the Giant

Sea Hag (voice)

Popeye is walking across the street, while Wimpy is practicing his hamburger-mooching talk. Brutus notices him and puts growth pills on a hamburger. Wimpy then eats it, and it causes him to grow very big. Brutus takes the towering moocher to the circus, but they refuse to hire him. Wimpy seeks help from the Sea Hag, who puts him in a baby carriage. Popeye sees his friend's large size and tries to shrink him down by feeding him spinach, but it only makes him grow bigger. He gives Wimpy a hamburger, which turns him back to normal. Wimpy thanks Popeye and promises to pay him Tuesday for today's hamburger.