Madeleine Joan Blaustein (born Adam Blaustein, October 9, 1960 – December 11, 2008), also known as Kendra Bancroft, was an American voice actress and comic writer who was known for her voice acting work for

4Kids Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Leisure Concepts, Inc. and later known as 4Licensing Corporation) was an American licensing company. The company was previously also a film and television production company that produced English- dub ...

DuArt Film and Video DuArt Film & Video is an American film and recording studio founded in New York City by Al Young in 1922.
DuArt has been involv ...

and NYAV Post, for her reprising role as the character Meowth from the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'' anime series and for comics written for Milestone Comics, in which she introduced one of superhero comics' first transgender female characters. She was the first intersex and transgender voice artist for many of her respective agencies.

Career

In the late 1980s, Blaustein worked for Marvel Comics, as an editor (several issues each of '' Web of Spider-Man'', '' Marvel Tales'', and ''

Marvel Saga ''The Marvel Saga: The Official History of the Marvel Universe'' was a comic book series which attempted to condense the first 25 years of Marvel Universe events into a sequential, narrative story. Publication history The series was researched an ...

'') as a writer (several issues of ''Conan the King''), and penciling a one-shot of ''Power Pachyderms.'' She wrote assorted comics published by DC Comics in the early 1990s, including a few for the Impact Comics imprint and TSR line. In 1994 she went to work for Milestone Media as production manager and writer. With assistance from her partner Yves Fezzani – sometimes billed together as "Adam & Yves" – she wrote issues of flagship titles '' Hardware'' and '' Static'' (in which she co-created the character Rubber-Band Man). She also wrote (with Fezzani) Milestone's first limited series ''Deathwish'', which featured as its central character transgender female police officer Marisa Rahm, one of the first trans heroes featured in mainstream superhero comics. During this time she was sometimes referred to in editorial copy in the comics as "Addie Blaustein". After leaving Milestone, she served as Creative Director for '' Weekly World News''. Blaustein was a voice actress at

, where she worked on the English dub version of the ''Pokémon'' anime. She provided "filler" voices for various characters until episode #31, when she took over from

Nathan Price Nathan C. Price was an American engineer and inventor. He made substantial contributions to several US aircraft projects during the first half of the twentieth century. Pressurized cabin Before World War II, American airplane manufacturer Boeing ...

in the role of Meowth, which she played through season 8. During the 2004 Democratic Party primaries, she voiced

Sméagol Gollum is a fictional Tolkien's monsters, character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 Fantasy (genre), fantasy novel ''The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, ''The Lord of the Rings''. Gol ...

on the

Mike Malloy Show ''The Mike Malloy Show'' is a syndicated progressive radio talk show hosted by long-time radio personality Mike Malloy. Malloy came to talk radio in 1987, moving from his position as a writer and producer at CNN. He is married to producer Kathy ...

, announcing a satirical presidential bid. Beginning in 2004 under the pseudonym ''Kendra Bancroft'', Blaustein was a content creator on the '' Second Life'' platform, earning a reputation as an innovative, competent, and reliable 3-D modeller in the communities where she participated.

Personal life

Blaustein was born the second oldest of five children in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She was intersex, and was

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...

before transitioning to female. Her experience as an activist in the transgender community helped her to organize and support groups of people in ''Second Life''. Video game

localization Localization or localisation may refer to: Biology * Localization of function, locating psychological functions in the brain or nervous system; see Linguistic intelligence * Localization of sensation, ability to tell what part of the body is a ...

coordinator and translator

Jeremy Blaustein Jeremy Blaustein is an American translator and voice director. Blaustein has worked as a localizer, translating Japanese media into English. He has worked on games such as ''Metal Gear Solid'' and '' Castlevania: Symphony of the Night''. Early ...

is her brother.

Death

Blaustein died on December 11, 2008 at age 48 in Christ Hospital of

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydra ...

) that she had been suffering from a couple of weeks prior. She is buried at the Congregation B'nai Israel Cemetery in Northampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts.

Work

Voice roles

* '' Cutie Honey'' (live action movie) – Sister Jill * '' Cubix'' – Dr. K * '' Dinosaur King'' – Helga (Season 1) * '' One Piece'' - Dr.Kureha (4kids Dub) * ''Domain of Murder'' – Detective Shimizu * ''

Funky Cops ''Funky Cops'' is an animated television series about two cops in San Francisco during the 1970s. The series is created by Thierry Sapyn and co-produced by Antefilms Production, TPS Cinéma (season 1) and Greenlight Media AG (season 1) for M6, i ...

'' - Additional voices * '' G.I. Joe: Sigma 6'' - Overkill * '' Huntik: Secrets & Seekers'' – Rassimov (Ep. "Mission"; Posthumous release) * '' Impy's Island'' – Shoe the Shoebill * ''Impy's Wonderland'' – Shoe the Shoebill * ''

Jungle Emperor Leo ''Jungle Emperor Leo'', known in Japan as is a 1997 Japanese animated film focusing on the last half of Osamu Tezuka's manga, ''Jungle Taitei'' (known in earlier US productions as ''Kimba the White Lion'' and '' Leo the Lion''). Plot At the ...

'' - Mother, Trainer *'' Kirby: Right Back at Ya!'' - Chef Kawasaki, Waddle Doo, Professor Curio, Tuggle, Gengu, Melman, Biblio * ''Mutant Rampage Bodyslam'' – L. Wolf Jam * ''

'' – Meowth (episodes 32-416), additional voices ** ''

Pokémon Chronicles ''Pokémon Chronicles'', partly known in Japan as , is a spin-off series of the original ''Pokémon'' anime, revolving around characters other than Ash Ketchum. It first aired in Japan on October 15, 2002 on TV Tokyo and concluded on Septembe ...

'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon: The First Movie'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon: The Movie 2000'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon 3: The Movie'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon 4Ever'' – Meowth ** ''

Pokémon Heroes ''Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias'' is a 2002 Japanese animated fantasy film, the fifth in the ''Pokémon'' series, the first to use digital ink and paint, the last to receive a North American theatrical release until '' Pokémon the Movie: I C ...

'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon: Jirachi Wish Maker'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys'' – Meowth ** '' Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew'' – Meowth * '' Samurai Deeper Kyo'' – Migeira * '' Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters'' - Solomon Muto * '' Yu-Gi-Oh! GX'' - Sartorius Kumar * ''

Slayers Try is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. The novels have been serialized in ''Dragon Magazine'' since 1989, before being published into individual volumes. They follow th ...

'' – Jillas Jillos Jilles * '' The Little Panda Fighter'' – Grizzlepuss * ''Tiny Robots'' - Nev1 * ''

Viva Piñata ''Viva Piñata'' is a video game franchise created and produced by Xbox Game Studios and Rare. The series' first game, ''Viva Piñata'' (2006), was conceived as a mobile gardening game before Rare was acquired by Microsoft. It was released on ...

'' – Corinna * '' Wild Cardz'' - King

Video games

* '' Pokémon Channel'' - Meowth * '' Shadow the Hedgehog'' – President * ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

'' - E-123 Omega * '' Valkyrie Profile'' – Arngrim, Barbarossa, Lawfer, Lezard Valeth

Writing

*''Deathwish #1-4'' (Milestone Comics, 4-issue miniseries, with Yves Fezzani) *'' Hardware'' #20-21, 24, 26-28, 33 (Milestone Comics, ''The Hunt for Deathwish'' with Yves Fezzani) *'' Static'' #30-34 (Milestone Comics, with Yves Fezzani) *''Icon #18'' (Milestone Comics)

Art

*''Power Pachyderms'' (pencils) – Marvel Comics (1989)

References

External links

* *
Interview with Maddie Blaustein
from Trans-Ponder
Maddie Blaustein
at the English Voice Actor & Production Staff Database

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaustein, Maddie 1960 births 2008 deaths American comics writers American voice actresses Female comics writers Intersex women Intersex rights in the United States Intersex rights activists Jewish American actresses LGBT comics creators LGBT Jews LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT rights activists from the United States American LGBT writers People from Long Island Transgender actresses Transgender writers Transgender Jews Transgender rights activists 20th-century American actresses 20th-century American people 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 20th-century LGBT people American LGBT actors 21st-century American women