Joseph Tapley Dougherty (November 4, 1898 – April 19, 1978) was an American actor, who provided the original voice of the

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

animation character,

Porky Pig Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created man ...

, starting with the character's debut in '' I Haven't Got a Hat'' in 1935 through '' Porky's Romance'' in 1937.

Treg Brown Tregoweth Edmond "Treg" Brown (November 4, 1899 – April 28, 1984) was an American motion picture sound editor who was responsible for conceiving, recording and selecting the sound effects library in Warner Bros.' ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Mer ...

changed his voice for Porky. Due to Dougherty's stutter, Count Cutelli was brought for additional lines due to the length of the audio and budgetary issues. After that,

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

took over the role and voiced Porky for 52 years. Dougherty spoke with a natural

stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized externally by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses called blocks in which the person who ...

that became one of the character's trademarks; Dougherty's inability to control his stutter was a factor in the part being recast. According to

Friz Freleng Isadore "Friz" Freleng (; August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, Film director, director, Film producer, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons ...

, the director of ''I Haven't Got a Hat'', Dougherty would get nervous every time they said cut. Freleng also called the casting for someone who stuttered and they landed on Dougherty.Friz on Film
/ref>

Early life and career

Dougherty was born in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. Before becoming an actor, Dougherty attended medical school at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, where he was a member of the

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

fraternity. When

needed someone who had stuttering issues do the role of

, the casting director hired Dougherty. Dougherty would continue voicing the character from 1935 until 1937 where

took over the role of the character presumably because Dougherty could not control his stuttering issues. Before he was fired, Count Cutelli was brought in to provide the additional lines for Porky. His last role ever was in the TV program '' Pistols 'n' Petticoats,'' where he played the role of Floyd Sullivan in one episode before officially retiring.

Death

Dougherty died on April 19, 1978, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. He was 79 years old.

Partial filmography

References

External links

* 1898 births 1978 deaths Actors from Missouri American male voice actors 20th-century American male actors People with speech disorders {{US-voice-actor-stub