Billie Mae Richards (née Dinsmore, November 21, 1921 – September 10, 2010) was a Canadian

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, who also appeared onstage and on television. She was the voice of

Rankin/Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...

' version of the character

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a fictional reindeer created by Robert L. May. Rudolph is usually depicted as the ninth and youngest of Santa Claus's reindeer, using his luminous red nose to lead the reindeer team and guide Santa's sleigh on ...

from 1964 to 1979, and of the Kid in the radio series ''Jake and the Kid''.

Early life and education

Richards was born Billy Mae Dinsmore, in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

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.Schaefer, William M
"Billie Mae Richards: The Voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
billiemaerichards.com; retrieved December 17, 2008. She enlisted in the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

and performed in the show ''

Meet the Navy ''Meet the Navy'' was a musical revue produced by the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. Directed by Hollywood producer Louis Silver and Broadway choreographer Larry Ceballos, the production premiered in a private performance for serviceme ...

'' that travelled across Canada and in Europe. She attended the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto.

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 ''Jake and the Kid'' is a collection of short stories by W. O. Mitchell, originally published in 1961. Many stories in the series appeared in ''Maclean's'' prior to the book's publication. Mitchell also published a sequel volume, ''According to J ...

''.Alan J. Yates.
"W.O. Mitchell's Jake & the Kid: the Popular Radio Play as Art & Social Comment."
'. Trafford Publishing; 10 June 2010. . p. 173, 279.Margaret Anne Hume.
"Just Mary": The Life of Mary Evelyn Grannan
'. Dundurn; 11 February 2006. . p. 216–. As well has her portrayal of Rudolph, Richards also voiced Tenderheart Bear in the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televis ...

movies, as well as the DIC-produced

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

(credited as "Billie Mae Richard"), and Brightheart Raccoon in the Nelvana-produced Care Bears

.Schaefer, William M
"Billie Mae Richards: The Voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
billiemaerichards.com; retrieved December 17, 2008. Richards' four other appearances in

productions animated were in ''

Willy McBean and his Magic Machine Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scree ...

'', ''

The King Kong Show , commonly referred to as ''The King Kong Show'', is an Anime-influenced animation, anime-influenced series produced by Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, Videocraft International and Toei Animation. American Broadcasting Company, ABC ran the ser ...

'', ''

The Smokey Bear Show ''The Smokey Bear Show'' is an American-Japanese animated television series that aired on ABC's Saturday morning schedule, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The show features Smokey Bear, the icon of the United States Forest Service, who was ...

'' and '' The Daydreamer'' (both from the mid-1960s) and ''

'' and its sequels all written in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and animated in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. 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 ''The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo'' is a Canadian animated television series of five-minute cartoons produced in 1975 by Rainbow Animation in Toronto, Ontario. The series follows the underwater adventures of Captain Mark Nemo and his two ...

'' and ''The Toothbrush Family'' with

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman dur ...

, 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''. She made guest appearances on the television shows ''Maniac Mansion'', ''

My Secret Identity ''My Secret Identity'' is a television series starring Jerry O'Connell and Derek McGrath. Originally broadcast from October 9, 1988 to May 25, 1991 on CTV in Canada, the series also aired in syndication in the United States. It was later shown ...

'', ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was i ...

'' and ''

The Hidden Room ''Obsession'', released in the USA as ''The Hidden Room'', is a 1949 British crime film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the 1947 book ''A Man About a Dog'' by Alec Coppel, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. ''Obsession'' was entere ...

''. 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 Paul Robert Soles (August 11, 1930 – May 26, 2021) was a Canadian actor and television personality. He led the voice cast in such series as ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' (1966), voiced the title character in '' Spider-Man'' (1967), and portray ...

(who had played Hermey the elf in the original ''Rudolph'' special), and the 2001

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

''Bluehair''.

Personal life

Billie Mae Dinsmore married musician Bill Richards in 1945 in Yorkshire, England, they remained married until his death in 1995. Together they have four children, including their daughter,

Judi Richards Judi Richards (born 12 August 1949) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter. Born in Toronto, Richards is the daughter of musician Bill Richards and actress Billie Mae Richards (née Dinsmore). She has sung numerous jingles for the Canadian B ...

, a singer-songwriter.

Death

Richards died on September 10, 2010 at the age of 88 following a stroke.Stephen Jones.
The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 22
'. Little, Brown Book Group; 20 October 2011. . p. 431–.

Filmography

Film

*''

'' (1946) - *''

'' (1965) - Willie McBean (voice) *'' The Daydreamer'' (1966) - Various voices *''Jailbait Babysitter'' (1977) - *''

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July ''Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'' (titled on-screen as ''Rudolph and Frosty: Christmas in July'', or simply ''Rudolph and Frosty'') is an American-Japanese Christmas/Independence Day television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions ...

'' (1979) - Rudolph (voice) *''

The Care Bears Movie ''The Care Bears Movie'' is a 1985 animated musical fantasy film directed by Arna Selznick from a screenplay by Peter Sauder. This was the second feature film from the Canadian animation studio Nelvana (after the 1983 film ''Rock & Rule''), ...

'' (1985) - Tenderheart Bear, Mrs. Cherrywood (voices) *'' Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation'' (1986) - Tenderheart Bear (voice) *'' The Video Adventures of Clifford the Big Red Dog'' (1988) (Direct-to-Video Series) - Various voices *''

The Big Slice ''The Big Slice'' is a 1991 American and Canadian comedy film directed by John Bradshaw. This film starring Casey Siemaszko, Leslie Hope, Louis Ferreira, Kenneth Welsh and Heather Locklear in the lead roles. Cast * Casey Siemaszko as Mike Sawye ...

'' (1991) - Lady Overboard *''

Shadow Builder ''Shadow Builder'' is a 1998 horror film directed by Jamie Dixon. It is based on the story " The Shadow Builder" by Bram Stoker. Plot An evil Archbishop and his followers summon a demon to destroy the world, but the demon's first act is to kill i ...

'' (1998) - Mrs. Butterman *''Bluehair'' (2001) - Peg *''Care Bears: Forever Friends'' (2004) - Brightheart Raccoon (voice)

Television

*'' Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' (1964) (TV Special) - Rudolph (voice) *'' Mr. Piper'' (1964) - Various *''

'' (1966) - Billy Bond (voice) *'' Spider-Man'' (1967–1970) - Billy Conner, Boy, Additional voices *''

'' (1969–1970) - Cub Smokey, Bessie the pig (voices) *''

Festival of Family Classics ''Festival of Family Classics'' is a Rankin/Bass animated anthology series that originally aired between 1972 and 1973. The show originally aired in syndication. It was re-aired 1 November 2005 on the Boomerang channel and on 16 June 2011 via the ...

'' (1973) - Tom Sawyer, Peter, Danny (voices) *''

'' (1974) - Chris, Robbie (voices) *''

Rudolph's Shiny New Year ''Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' is a 1976 American-Japanese Christmas and holiday season, Christmas and New Year's stop motion animation, animated television special and a standalone sequel to the 1964 special ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV s ...

'' (1976) (TV Special) - Rudolph (voice) *''The Toothbrush Show'' (1977–1983) - Narrator, Tess, Tina, Cecily Comb, Suzy Sponge (voices) *''We Live Next Door'' (1981) - Joey, Mayor Morris, Additional voices *''Calling All Safety Scouts'' (1982) - Joey, Mayor Morris, Additional voices *''

The Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televisi ...

'' (1985–1988) - Tenderheart Bear (voice, DIC version), Brightheart Raccoon (voice, Nelvana version) *''

'' (1988) - Matron #1 *''

'' (1989) - *''

'' (1991) - Nonnie *''

Maniac Mansion ''Maniac Mansion'' is a 1987 graphic adventure video game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It follows teenage protagonist Dave Miller as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Sandy Pantz from a mad scientist, whose mind has been ensla ...

'' (1992) - Aunt Winnie *'' Rupert'' (1994) - Young Sea Serpent (voice) *'' Melanie Darrow'' (1997) - Ma Harper

References

External links

*
Profile
baltimoresun.com; accessed March 6, 2015. *
Radio interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Billie Mae 1921 births 2010 deaths Actresses from Toronto Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian voice actresses 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom