Bill Thompson (voice actor)
| Bill Thompson | |
|---|---|
Thompson circa 1939
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| Born |
William H. Thompson July 8, 1913 Terre Haute, Indiana U.S. |
| Died | July 15, 1971 (aged 58) Culver City, California U.S. |
| Cause of death | Septic shock |
| Resting place | Remains scattered at sea |
| Occupation | Radio actor, voice actor |
| Years active | 1934–1971 |
| Notable work |
Droopy theatrical shorts (1943–1958) Peter Pan Alice in Wonderland |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Margaret McBride (m. 1950–1971; his death) |
Bill Thompson (July 8, 1913 – July 15, 1971) was an American radio actor and voice actor whose career stretched from the 1930s until his death. He was best known as the first voice of Droopy in most of the MGM theatrical shorts from 1943–1958.
Born to vaudevillian parents, Thompson began his career in Chicago radio, where his early appearances included appearances as a regular on Don McNeill's morning variety series The Breakfast Club in 1934 and a stint as a choir member on the musical variety series The Sinclair Weiner Minstrels around 1937. While on the former series, Thompson originated a meek, mush-mouthed character occasionally referred to in publicity as Mr. Wimple. Thompson soon achieved his greatest fame after he joined the cast of the radio comedy Fibber McGee and Molly around 1936 and brought back the Wimple voice in 1941. Also, in Fibber McGee and Molly, he played a man named Horatio K. Boomer, and although Wallace Wimple and Nick Depopulis were two of his greater roles in the show, his best was the Old-Timer.
On Fibber McGee and Molly, Thompson essayed a variety of roles, including a boisterous conman with a W. C. Fields voice, originally named Widdicomb Blotto but soon re-christened Horatio K. Boomer, and Nick Depopulis, the Greek restaurant owner. His two most famous roles on the series, however, were as the Old Timer and Wallace Wimple. The Old Timer, introduced in 1937 was a garrulous old gent who would drop in and listen to McGee's rambling stories and jokes. He inexplicably referred to McGee as "Johnny," as in: "That's pretty good, Johnny, but that ain't the way I heerd it!" This soon became a national catchphrase and surfaced in Warner Bros. cartoon shorts, notably Tortoise Wins by a Hare in which Bugs Bunny disguises himself as a bearded old man and tries to trick the tortoise into telling him "how he beat that rabbit!")
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