Billie Mae Richards

Billie Mae Richards (née Dinsmore, November 21, 1921 – September 10, 2010) was a Canadian actress, voice actress and singer who also appeared onstage and on television. She was the voice of Rankin/Bass' version of the character Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1964 to 1979,[1][2] and of the Kid in the radio series Jake and the Kid.

Billie Mae Richards
Born
Billie Mae Dinsmore

(1921-11-04)November 4, 1921
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedSeptember 10, 2010(2010-09-10) (aged 88)
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Alma materLorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts
Occupation(s)Voice actress, actress, singer, dancer, pianist, accordionist
Years active1946–2004
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1946; div. 1964)​
ChildrenStephen Richards, Judi Richards, Cyndi Richards-Jamieson, Barbara Jayne Richards

Early life and education

Richards was born Billy Mae Dinsmore, in Toronto to parents Garnett and Eva May (Stanton) Dinsmore. Enrolled by her ambitious father in dancing lessons as a toddler, by the age of five she was in a stage show with WW1 veterans.[3] She enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and performed in the show Meet the Navy that travelled across Canada and in Europe. She attended the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto.[4]

Career

Richards worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, speaking and singing in radio dramas. From 1950 to 1956, she was the voice of the Kid in the ongoing radio series Jake and the Kid.[5][6]

As well has her portrayal of Rudolph, Richards 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]

Richards' four other appearances in Rankin/Bass productions animated were in Willy McBean and his Magic Machine, The King Kong Show, The Smokey Bear Show and The Daydreamer (both from the mid-1960s) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and its sequels all written in the United States and animated in Japan. About that same time, she appeared in the original Spider-Man television series. She also voiced Chris and Robbie, plus all the female characters, in The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo and The Toothbrush Family with Len Carlson, who voiced all the male ones. Additionally, she voiced puppet characters in the Canadian produced TV shows We Live Next Door, and its spin-off, Calling All Safety Scouts.[7] She made guest appearances on the television shows Maniac Mansion, My Secret Identity, War of the Worlds and The Hidden Room. She also had a bit part in the 1998 horror film Bram Stoker's Shadow Builder, in which her character was attacked with an axe by Paul Soles (who had played Hermey the elf in the original Rudolph special), and the 2001 short Bluehair.

Personal life

Billie Mae Dinsmore married musician Bill Richards in 1946 in Yorkshire, England, they remained married until their divorce in 1964.[8] Together they have four children, Stephen Richards, Judi Richards, a singer-songwriter,[8] Cynthia "Cyndi" Richards-Jamieson and Barbara Jayne Richards. She also has 12 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Death

Richards died on September 10, 2010, at the age of 88 following a stroke.[9][10][4]

Filmography

Film

Television

References
  1. "Yule watch these 11 holiday TV specials". O Canada.com, Melissa Hank. December 5, 2017
  2. "The reindeer whisperer’s secrets to getting Rudolph to fly right". New York Post, By Barbara Hoffman, December 2, 2016
  3. Schaefer, William M. "Billie Mae Richards: The Voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", billiemaerichards.com; retrieved December 17, 2008.
  4. Nelson, Valerie (2010-09-14). "Billie Mae Richards dies at 88; Canadian actress best known as voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  5. Alan J. Yates. "W.O. Mitchell's Jake & the Kid: the Popular Radio Play as Art & Social Comment.". Trafford Publishing; 10 June 2010. ISBN 978-1-4269-3363-9. p. 173, 279.
  6. Margaret Anne Hume. "Just Mary": The Life of Mary Evelyn Grannan. Dundurn; 11 February 2006. ISBN 978-1-55002-921-5. p. 216–.
  7. "NamesPro.ca | Register with Confidence".
  8. Betty Nygaard King (December 15, 2013). "Judi Richards". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Historica Canada. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  9. Young, John (September 14, 2010). "Billie Mae Richards, voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, dies at 88". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  10. Stephen Jones. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 22. Little, Brown Book Group; 20 October 2011. ISBN 978-1-84901-772-5. p. 431–.
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