Robie Lester
| Robie Lester | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Roberta Lester |
| Also known as | Roby Charmandy |
| Born |
March 23, 1925 Megargel, Texas, United States |
| Died | June 14, 2005 (aged 80) Burbank, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Voice artist, singer, author |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1958-2002 |
| Labels | Liberty, Warner Brothers, A&M, Disney |
Robie Lester (March 23, 1925 – June 14, 2005) was an American Grammy-nominated voice artist and singer.
Lester was born in Megargel, Texas and raised in northern Ontario, Canada. After a few years in Detroit, she joined the US Army Air Corps before attending UCLA with a major in music. In Hollywood, she worked with Henry Mancini and Herb Alpert, recorded for Liberty, Warner Brothers and A&M, and sang demos for songwriters. At A&M Records Lester recorded one of her most frequently heard, though uncredited, contributions—the Spanish verse in the Sandpipers 1966 hit "Guantanamera".
Lester was one of the busiest voice-over artists in early 1960s commercials, working in many commercials for Kelloggs breakfast cereal. She was first heard as both of Toucan Sam's infant nephews, with Sam played by Mel Blanc. She also voiced one of the two battling Smackin' Brothers for Sugar Smacks, and sang the commercial's jingle.
In the early 1960s, Disney songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman brought Lester to the attention of Disney's in-house record label. Lester's voice was heard as narrator and singer on dozens of Disney's children's records. One such record was The Story and Song of the Haunted Mansion which also featured the voices of Thurl Ravenscroft and Ron Howard. Her singing voice was heard on the song "Hippity Hop" from the Disney album Peter Cottontail and Other Funny Bunnies. Beginning in 1965, Lester was the "Disneyland Story Reader" on records where she read the stories, acted out all the parts and reminded children to "turn the page" in their accompanying booklet. Her famous phrase “...when Tinker Bell rings her little bells like this (wind chimes)...turn the page" was heard by countless children of a generation. In Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records, authors Tim Hollis and Greg Ehrbar state, "It is impossible to calculate how many lives Robie Lester touched by singing, acting, and narrating on more individual Disneyland records than any other performer."
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