Joseph Tapley Dougherty (November 4, 1898 – April 19, 1978) was an American actor, who provided the original voice of the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

animation character,

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many crit ...

, starting with the character's debut in '' I Haven't Got a Hat'' in 1935 through '' Porky's Romance'' in 1937.

Treg Brown Tregoweth Edmond "Treg" Brown (November 4, 1899 – April 28, 1984) was an American motion picture sound editor who was responsible for the sound effects in Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons from 1936 to 1963. ...

changed his voice for Porky. Due to his stutter, Count Cutelli was brought for additional lines due to the length of the audio and budgetary issues. After that,

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy ra ...

took over the role and voiced Porky for 52 years. Dougherty spoke with a natural

stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

which became one of the character's trademarks; Dougherty's inability to control his stutter was a factor in the part being recast. According to

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ' ...

, the director of ''I Haven't Got a Hat'', Dougherty would get nervous every time they said cut. Freleng also called the casting for someone who stuttered and they landed on Dougherty.Friz on Film
/ref>

Early life and career

Dougherty was born in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Before becoming an actor, Dougherty attended medical school at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, where he was a member of the

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Ph ...

fraternity. When

needed someone who had stuttering issues do the role of

, the casting director hired Dougherty. Dougherty would continue voicing the character from 1935 until 1937 where

took over the role of the character because Dougherty could not control his stuttering issues. Before he was fired, Count Cutelli was bought in to provide the additional lines for Porky.

Death

Dougherty died on April 19, 1978, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

. He was 79 years old.

Partial filmography

References

External links

* 1898 births 1978 deaths People from Missouri American male voice actors 20th-century American male actors People with speech impediment Warner Bros. Cartoons voice actors {{US-voice-actor-stub