Billie Mae Richards
Billie Mae Richards
From Wikipedia; Born as Billy Mae Dinsmore in Toronto, she was best known for voicing the role of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964's television special (credited as "Billy Richards" to mask the fact that she was a woman[1]).[2] She also voiced Tenderheart Bear in the first two Care Bears movies, as well as the DIC-produced television series (credited as "Billie Mae Richard"), and Brightheart Raccoon in the Nelvana-produced Care Bears television series.[3] In an interview, she stated "I'm just so glad that my kids, my grandkids, my great-grandkids and probably my great-great-grandkids will see Rudolph."[3] She voiced Rudolph again in two other Rankin-Bass productions, 1976's Rudolph's Shiny New Year and 1979's summertime sequel Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. Richards' four other appearances in Rankin-Bass productions were in Willie McBean and his Magic Machine, The King Kong Show, The Smokey Bear Show and The Daydreamer (both from the mid-1960s). About that same time, she appeared in the original Spider-Man television series. She also voiced all the female characters in The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo and The Toothbrush Family with Len Carlson, who voiced all the male ones.[citation needed] She also made a guest appearances on the television shows Maniac Mansion, My Secret Identity, War of the Worlds and The Hidden Room. She appeared in Pennies from Heaven (1981; with Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters).
