Taw, Tav or Taf is the twenty-second and last letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Taw (Modern Hebrew: Tav) and Arabic alphabet (look below). Its original sound value is .

The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Tau (Τ), Latin T, and Cyrillic Te (Т).

Origins of Taf

Taf is believed to have come from a simple mark; a cross or asterisk-like marking, perhaps indicating a signature.

Hebrew Tav

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Hebrew spelling:

Hebrew Pronunciation

The letter Tav in modern Hebrew usually represents a voiceless alveolar plosive ).

Variations on Written form/pronunciation

The letter Tav is one of the six letters which can receive a Dagesh Kal. The six are Bet, Gimmel, Daled, Kaph, Pe, and Tav (see Hebrew Alphabet for more about these letters). Three of them (Bet, Kaph, and Pe) have their sound values changed in modern Hebrew from the fricative to the plosive by adding a dagesh. The other three have the same pronunciation in modern Hebrew, but have had alternate pronunciations at other times and places. In traditional Ashkenazi pronunciation, Tav represented an (a form which is still heard today, especially among Diaspora Jews) without the dagesh, and had the plosive form when it had the dagesh. In some Sephardi areas, as well as Yemen, Tav without a dagesh represented a voiceless dental fricative without a dagesh and the plosive form with the dagesh. See Bet, Daled, Kaph, Pe, and Gimmel.

Significance of Tav

In gematria Tav represents the number 400, the largest single number that can be represented without using the Sophit forms (see Kaph, Mem, Nun, Pe, and Tzade).

In representing names from foreign languages, a geresh or "chupchik" can also be placed after the tav ('ת), making it represent .

In Judaism

Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew word emet, which means truth. The midrash explains that emet is made up of the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet (Aleph, Mem, and Tav: אמת). Sheqer (falsehood), on the other hand, is made up of the 19th, 20th, and 21st (and penultimate) letters.

Thus, truth is all-encompassing, while falsehood is narrow and deceiving. In Jewish mythology it was the word emet that was carved into the head of the Golem which ultimately gave it life. But when the letter "aleph" was erased from the Golem's forehead, what was left was "met"—death. And so the Golem died.

Ezekiel 9:4 depicts a vision in which the Tav plays a Passover role similar to the blood on the lintel and doorposts of a Hebrew home in Egypt. In Ezekiel’s vision, the Lord has his angels separate the demographic wheat from the chaff by going through Jerusalem, the capital city of ancient Israel, and inscribing a mark, a Tav, “upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.”

In Ezekiel's vision, then, the Lord is counting Tav Israelites as worthwhile to spare, but counts the people worthy of annihilation who lack the Tav and the critical attitude it signifies. In other words, looking askance at a culture marked by dire moral decline is a kind of shibboleth for loyalty and zeal for God.

Sayings with Taf

"From Aleph to Taf" describes something from beginning to end; the Hebrew equivalent of the English "From A to Z".

Syriac Taw

In the Syriac alphabet, as in the Hebrew and Phoenician alphabets, taw () is the last letter in the alphabet. It represents either a hard (voiceless alveolar plosive) or a soft (voiceless dental fricative).

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Arabic tā

The letter is named . It is commonly known in Egypt as . It is written is several ways depending in its position in the word:

The form tā marbuta (), commonly known in Egypt as . It is used in Modern Standard Arabic at the end of words to mark feminine gender for nouns and adjectives which in are considered to be two types of the same general class of words. Final is used to mark feminine gender in third-person imperfective/present tense verbs. Final (kasra, then tā, pronounced , though diacritics are normally omitted) is used to mark feminine gender for third-person perfective/past tense verbs, while final (tā-fata, ) is used to mark past-tense second-person singular masculine verbs, final (tā-kasra, ) to mark past-tense second-person singular feminine verbs, and final (tā-amma, ) to mark past-tense first-person singular verbs. Recently the isolated ت has been used online because it resembles a smiling face.

See also

Tav (number)

Footnotes

Category:Phoenician alphabet Category:Arabic letters Category:Hebrew alphabet

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Name	Mel Blanc
Caption	Blanc in 1976
Birth name	Melvin Jerome Blank
Birth date	May 30, 1908
Birth place	San Francisco, California,United States
Death date	July 10, 1989
Death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Voice actor/Comedian
Years active	1927–1989
Spouse	Estelle Rosenbaum(1933–1989; his death)

Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros. during the "Golden Age of American animation" (and later for Hanna-Barbera television productions) as the voice of such well-known characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, Woody Woodpecker, Barney Rubble, Mr. Spacely, Speed Buggy, Captain Caveman, Heathcliff, Speedy Gonzales and hundreds of others. Having earned the nickname “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” Blanc is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice-acting industry.

At the time of his death, it was estimated that 20 million people heard his voice every day.

Early years and radio work

Blanc was born Melvin Jerome Blank in San Francisco, California, to Frederick and Eva Blank. He grew up in Portland, Oregon, attending Lincoln High School. He claimed that when he was 16, he changed the spelling from “Blank” to “Blanc” because a teacher told him that he would amount to nothing and be, like his name, a “blank.” Blanc joined The Order of DeMolay as a young man, and was eventually inducted into its Hall of Fame.

Blanc began his radio career in 1927 as a voice actor on the KGW program The Hoot Owls, where his ability to provide voices for multiple characters first attracted attention. He moved to KEX in 1933 to produce and host his Cobweb And Nuts show, which debuted on June 15. The program played Monday through Saturday from 11:00 pm to midnight, and by the time the show ended two years later, it appeared from 10:30 pm to 11:00 pm.

Blanc moved to Warner Bros.-owned KFWB in Hollywood, California, in 1935. He joined The Johnny Murray Show, but the following year switched to CBS Radio and The Joe Penner Show. Blanc was a regular on the NBC Red Network show The Jack Benny Program in various roles, including voicing Benny’s Maxwell automobile (in desperate need of a tune-up), violin teacher Professor LeBlanc, Polly the Parrot, Benny’s pet polar bear Carmichael, the tormented department store clerk, and the train announcer (see below).

One of Blanc’s most memorable characters from Benny's radio (and later TV) programs was “Sy, the Little Mexican,” who spoke one word at a time. The famous “Sí...Sy...sew...Sue” routine was so effective that no matter how many times it was performed, the laughter was always there, thanks to the comedic timing of Blanc and Benny.

At times, sharp-eyed audience members (and later, TV viewers) could see Benny struggling to keep a straight face; Blanc’s absolute dead-pan delivery was a formidable challenge for him. Benny’s daughter, Joan, recalls that Mel Blanc was one of her father’s closest friends in real life, because “nobody else on the show could make him laugh the way Mel could.”

Another famous Blanc shtick on Jack’s show was the train depot announcer who inevitably intoned, sidelong, “Train leaving on Track Five for Anaheim, Azusa, and Cucamonga”. Part of the joke was the Angeleno studio audience’s awareness that no such train existed connecting those then-small towns (years before Disneyland opened). To the wider audience, the primary joke was the pregnant pause that evolved over time between "Cuc.." and "...amonga"; eventually, minutes would pass while the skit went on as the audience awaited the inevitable conclusion of the word. (At least once, a completely different skit followed before the inevitable “...amonga” finally appeared.)

Benny's writers would regularly try to "stump" Blanc by asking him to perform supposedly impossible vocal effects and characterizations, such as an "English horse whinny" and a goldfish. For the latter, Mel walked up to the microphone and pursed his lips several times, making no noise.

Blanc’s success on The Jack Benny Program led to his own radio show on the CBS Radio Network, The Mel Blanc Show, which ran from September 3, 1946, to June 24, 1947. Blanc played himself as the hapless owner of a fix-it shop, as well as his young cousin Zookie (who sounded quite a bit like Porky Pig). Many episodes required Mel to impersonate an exotic foreigner or other stranger in town, ostensibly for carrying out a minor deception on his girlfriend's father, but of course simply as a vehicle for him to show off his talents. Other regular characters were played by Mary Jane Croft, Joseph Kearns, Hans Conried, Alan Reed, Earle Ross, Jim Backus, Bea Benaderet and The Sportsmen Quartet, who would supply a song and sing the Colgate Tooth Powder commercials. (Blanc would later work with Reed and Benaderet on The Flintstones.) Shows usually adhered to a predictable formula, involving a date with his girl Betty Colby (Mary Jane Croft) and trying to either impress her father or at least avoid angering him. However, Mr. Colby (Earle Ross) usually had occasion to deliver his trademark line, "Mel Blanc, I'm going to break every bone in your body!"

Blanc appeared frequently on The Great Gildersleeve, uncredited, often voicing two or more supporting characters in a single episode: deliverymen in "Planting a Tree" and "Father's Day Chair" also "Gus", a petty crook in the latter; a radio station manager and a policeman in "Mystery Singer", and many others.

Blanc also appeared on such other national radio programs as The Abbott and Costello Show, the Happy Postman on Burns and Allen, and as August Moon on Point Sublime. During World War II, he appeared as Private Sad Sack on various radio shows, most notably G.I. Journal. The character of Sad Sack was a bumbling Army private with an even worse stutter than Porky Pig. ("I'm Lieutena-eh-Lieutena-eh-Capta-eh-Majo-eh-Colone-eh-p-p-Private Sad Sack.")

For his contribution to radio, Mel Blanc has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6385 Hollywood Boulevard.

Animation voice work during the Golden Age of Hollywood

In 1936, Mel Blanc joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, which made animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Blanc liked to tell the story about how he got turned down at the Schlesinger studio by music director Norman Spencer, who was in charge of cartoon voices, saying that they had all the voices they needed. Then Spencer died, and sound man Treg Brown took charge of cartoon voices, while Carl Stalling took over as music director. Brown introduced Blanc to animation directors Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, and Frank Tashlin, who loved his voices. The first cartoon Blanc worked on was Picador Porky as the voice of a drunken bull. He took over as Porky Pig's voice in Porky's Duck Hunt, which marked the debut of Daffy Duck, also voiced by Blanc.

Blanc soon became noted for voicing a wide variety of cartoon characters, adding Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Pepé Le Pew and many others. His natural voice was that of Sylvester the Cat, but without the lispy spray. (Blanc's voice can be heard in an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies that also featured frequent Blanc vocal foil Bea Benaderet; in his small appearance, Blanc plays a vexed cab-driver.)

In his later years, Blanc claimed that a handful of late 1930s and early 1940s Warner cartoons that each featured a rabbit clearly a precursor of Bugs Bunny all actually dealt with a single character named Happy Rabbit. No use of this name by other Termite Terrace personnel, then or later, has ever been documented, however. Happy Rabbit was noted for his laugh which became more famous as the laugh of Woody Woodpecker (of which Blanc was the original voice) until he won an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. which meant he couldn't do Woody's voice anymore as the Woody Woodpecker cartoons were produced by Walter Lantz Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. Blanc later recorded "The Woody Woodpecker Song" for Capitol Records.

Though his best-known character was a carrot-chomping rabbit, munching on the carrots interrupted the dialogue. Various substitutes, such as celery, were tried, but none of them sounded like a carrot. So for the sake of expedience, he would munch and then spit the carrot bits into a spittoon rather than swallowing them, and continue with the dialogue. One oft-repeated story is that he was allergic to carrots and had to spit them out to minimize any allergic reaction; but his autobiography makes no such claim; in fact, in a 1984 interview with Tim Lawson, co-author of The Magic Behind The Voices: A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors (University Press of Mississippi, 2004), Blanc emphatically denied being allergic to carrots. In a Straight Dope column, a Blanc confidante confirmed that Blanc only spit out the carrots because of time constraints, and not because of allergies or general dislike.

Blanc said his most challenging job was voicing Yosemite Sam; it was rough on the throat because of Sam’s sheer volume and raspiness. (Foghorn Leghorn's voice was similarly raucous, but to a lesser degree.) Late in life, he reprised several of his classic voices for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but deferred to Joe Alaskey to do Yosemite Sam's and Foghorn Leghorn's voices.

Throughout his career, Blanc was well aware of his talents and protected the rights to them contractually and legally. He, and later his estate, did not hesitate to take civil action when those rights were violated. Voice actors usually got no screen credits at all, but Blanc was a notable exception; by 1944, his contract stipulated a credit reading "Voice characterization by Mel Blanc." Blanc asked for and received this screen credit from studio boss Leon Schlesinger when Leon objected to giving Blanc a raise in pay. Other frequent Warner voice artists, such as Arthur Q. Bryan (Elmer Fudd), Stan Freberg (Pete Puma among many other characters), June Foray (Granny) and Bea Benaderet (many female voices), remained uncredited on-screen. However, Freberg did receive screen credit for Three Little Bops, a musical spoof of The Three Little Pigs, directed by Friz Freleng. Freberg is a frequent contributor to the various Golden Collection projects that showcase the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Blanc, himself, is often spoken of with reverence by younger voice specialists in those DVD collections.

Blanc's screen credit was noticed by radio show producers, who gave him more radio work as a result. It wouldn't be until the early '60s that the other voice actors and actresses became credited on Warner Brothers theatrical cartoons.

Benny/Bugs crossover

The Warner cartoons were filled with references to the popular media of film and radio, including references to The Jack Benny Program, whose various gags frequently found their way into Warner scripts voiced by Blanc. For example:

Bugs was known for repeating Benny's catchphrase, "Now cut that out!"

The "Anaheim, Azusa and Cuc...amonga" joke was once used by Daffy Duck in the cartoon Daffy Duck Slept Here.

Frank Nelson's "Yeeeeees?" would be invoked by minor characters from time to time.

Blanc's imitations of sputtering cars, squawking parrots, whinnying horses, etc., would be invoked frequently in both series.

On the March 28, 1954 episode of Benny's radio program, Benny encounters Bugs Bunny in a dream.

The ultimate clash of the mythos occurred with the 1959 release of the Warner Bros. cartoon The Mouse that Jack Built. Directed by Robert McKimson, the cartoon features the cast of the Benny radio and TV program drawn as mice. Blanc was credited as the voice of the Maxwell, and besides Benny, co-stars Mary Livingstone, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, and Don Wilson all reprised their Benny show roles.

Car accident and aftermath

On January 24, 1961, Blanc was involved in a near-fatal car accident on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Hit head-on, Blanc suffered a triple skull fracture that left him in a coma for three weeks, along with fractures of both legs and the pelvis.

The accident prompted over 15,000 get-well cards from anxious fans, including some addressed only to "Bugs Bunny, Hollywood, USA", according to Blanc's autobiography. One newspaper falsely reported that he had died. After his recovery, Blanc reported in TV interviews, and later in his autobiography, that a clever doctor had helped him to come out of his coma by talking as-if to Bugs Bunny, after futile efforts to talk directly to Blanc. Although he had no actual recollection of this, Blanc's wife and son swore to him that when the doctor was inspired to ask him, "How are you today, Bugs Bunny?", Blanc answered in Bugs' voice. Blanc thus credited Bugs with saving his life.

Blanc returned home from the UCLA Medical Center on March 17 to the cheers of more than 150 friends and neighbors. On March 22, he filed a US$500,000 lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles. His accident, one of 26 in the preceding two years at the intersection, resulted in the city funding restructuring curves at the location.

Years later, Blanc revealed that during his recovery, his son Noel "ghosted" several Warner Brothers cartoons' voice tracks for him. At the time of the accident, Blanc also served as the voice of Barney Rubble on ABC's The Flintstones. His absence from the show would be relatively brief; Daws Butler provided the voice of Rubble for a few episodes, after which the show's producers set up recording equipment in Blanc's hospital room and later, at his house to allow him to work from his residence. Some of the recordings were made while he was in full-body cast while he lay flat on his back, with the other Flintstones' co-stars gathered around him. He also returned to The Jack Benny Program to film the program's 1961 Christmas show, moving around via crutches and/or a wheelchair.

Voice work for Hanna-Barbera and others

In the early 1960s, after the expiration of his exclusive contract with Warner Brothers, Blanc went to Hanna-Barbera and continued to voice various characters, his most famous being Barney Rubble from The Flintstones (whose dopey laugh is similar to Foghorn Leghorn's booming chuckle) and Mr. Spacely from The Jetsons (similar to Yosemite Sam, but not as raucous). Daws Butler and Don Messick were Hanna-Barbera's top voice men when Blanc began providing voices for the company.

Blanc did those voices plus others for such ensemble cartoons as Wacky Races and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop for Hanna-Barbera in the late '60s. Blanc shared the spotlight with his two professional rivals and personal friends, Butler and Messick: In a short called Lippy the Lion, Butler was Lippy, while Blanc was his hyena sidekick, Hardy Har-Har, and Don Messick was usually the guest villain or other supporting characters. In the short Ricochet Rabbit, Messick was the voice of the gun slinging rabbit, while Blanc was his sidekick, Deputy Droop-a-Long Coyote.

Blanc also worked with Chuck Jones, who by this time was directing shorts with his own company Sib Tower 12 (later MGM Animation), doing vocal effects in the Tom and Jerry series from 1962 to 1967.

In addition, Blanc was the first person to play Toucan Sam in Froot Loops commercials, using a slightly cartoonish version of his natural voice. (The ad agency later decided to give Sam an upper-crust English accent and replaced Blanc with Paul Frees.)

Blanc reprised some of his Warner Brothers characters when the studio contracted to make new theatrical cartoons in the mid-to-late 1960s. For these, Blanc voiced Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales, the characters who received the most frequent use in these shorts (later, newly introduced characters such as Cool Cat and Merlin the Magic Mouse were voiced by Larry Storch). Blanc also continued to voice the Looney Tunes characters on the bridging sequences for The Bugs Bunny Show and in numerous animated advertisements.

Later career and death

Contrary to popular belief, Blanc was not one of hundreds of individuals that George Lucas auditioned to provide the voice for the character of C-3PO for his 1977 film . That distinction instead fell to fellow voice actor Stan Freberg, and it was Freberg who ultimately suggested that the producers use mime actor Anthony Daniels' own voice in the role.

After spending most of two seasons voicing the robot Twiki in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Blanc's last original character, in the early 1980s, was Heathcliff, who spoke a little like Bugs Bunny. Blanc continued to voice his famous characters in commercials and TV specials for most of the decade, although he increasingly left the "yelling" characters like Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn and the Tasmanian Devil to other voice actors, as performing these were too hard on his throat. One of his last recording sessions was for a new .

Blanc died on July 10, 1989 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California of heart disease and emphysema. He was interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Blanc's will stated his desire to have the inscription on his gravestone read, "THAT'S ALL FOLKS."

Blanc's death was considered a significant loss to the cartoon industry because of his skill, expressive range, and sheer volume of continuing characters he portrayed, which are currently taken up by several other voice talents. Indeed, as movie critic Leonard Maltin once pointed out, "It is astounding to realize that Tweety Bird and Yosemite Sam are the same man!"

That range was partially aided by recording technology; for instance, Blanc's standard Daffy Duck voice is essentially his Sylvester voice played a few percent faster than it was recorded to give it a higher pitch, as well as pronouncing "s" with a "th" sound. Blanc would later develop the skill to reproduce such "sped-up" voices himself live as necessary. Other Blanc character voices that were given this special treatment included Porky Pig, Henery Hawk, and Speedy Gonzales.

After his death, Blanc's voice continued to be heard in newly released properties. In particular, a recording of his Dino the Dinosaur from the 1960s Flintstones series was used without a screen credit in the 1994 live-action theatrical film based upon the series. This resulted in legal action against the film studio by the Blanc estate, which claimed his recordings were used without permission or proper credit. The credit was later added to the home release of the movie. Less problematic was the retention of older recordings of Blanc as Uncle Orville and a pet bird in the 1994 update of the Carousel of Progress attraction at Walt Disney World, despite cast changes in other roles. Blanc's distinctive voice can still be heard in the Audio-Animatronic presentation. In addition, Blanc's archive recordings of the Maxwell are used for the AMC Gremlin in the 2003 film .

Children

Blanc trained his son, Noel, in the field of voice characterization. Though the younger Blanc has performed his father's characters (particularly Porky Pig) on some programs, he has chosen not to become a full-time voice artist. Noel appeared in the booth as a celebrity guest for the 2002 and 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 NASCAR Races featuring the Looney Tunes characters in themed paint schemes for Chevrolet drivers and did the voices of the characters. Noel is a regular featured guest on radio shows throughout the United States and Canada. Noel's wife, Katherine Blanc, is an artist and book author.

Animation records

Mel Blanc holds a few very important records in the field of animation (none of which are currently recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records), the most famous being, of course, the "1000 Voices" he was said to have performed. Not as notable are two records of longevity: his original characterization of Daffy Duck (for over 52 years) is the longest time any animated character has been performed by his or her original voice contributor. He also voiced Porky Pig for exactly the same amount of time as Daffy — since the same cartoon (Porky's Duck Hunt) — through to his death, though Porky was not originally voiced by Blanc. Blanc was also the original voice of almost every character he voiced, leaving him as the clear runaway for the record of "Most Characters Originally Voiced By One Actor," and he almost certainly provided voices in more cartoons than any other voice actor. And to top that off, he is runner-up to his own 52-year record of his original characterization of Daffy, by voicing Bugs Bunny for almost 49 years from the date of his debut (July 27, 1940). In third place is Clarence Nash, who voiced Donald Duck for 48 and a half years.

List of cartoon characters

Porky Pig (1936–1989, assumed from Joe Dougherty)

The Maxwell (Jack Benny's car in "The Mouse that Jack Built")

Daffy Duck (1937–1989)

Bugs Bunny's prototype/Happy Rabbit (1938–1940)

Papa Panda from the Andy Panda series

Bugs Bunny (1940–1989)

Woody Woodpecker (1940–1941)

Slapsie Maxie Rosenbull (1940)

Hiawatha (1941)

Cecil Turtle (1941–1947)

Tweety Bird (1942–1989)

Private Snafu, numerous World War II related cartoons (1943)

Yosemite Sam (1945–1987)

Pepé Le Pew (1945–1989)

Sylvester (1945–1989) aka Thomas (1947) in some films.

Foghorn Leghorn (1946–1987)

The Barnyard Dawg (1946–1989)

Henery Hawk (1946–1989)

Charlie Dog (1947)

Mac (of Mac & Tosh) (1947)

K-9 (1948) (sidekick to Marvin the Martian)

Marvin the Martian (1948–1989)

Sylvester J. Pussycat, Jr. Mel also plays Sylvester's son Sylvester Junior when the young cat was introduced (1949)

Beaky Buzzard (1950)

Curt Martin (1950-1 episode Hillbilly Hare)

Elmer Fudd (The Scarlet Pumpernickel, 1970s and 1980s, replacing Arthur Q. Bryan)

Bruno the Bear (1951)

Wile E. Coyote (silent until 1952, first spoke in the short "")

Speedy Gonzales (1953–1989)

Rocky and Mugsy (Bugs and Thugs 1954)

The Tasmanian Devil (1954–1960) aka Taz

Ed (Jack Benny's underground valet guard in "The Mouse that Jack Built", since Joseph Kearns was unavailable to reprise his role as Ed the Vault Guard in that cartoon)

Blacque Jacque Shellacque (1959–1962)

Barney Rubble (1960–1989)

Dino (1960–1989) (Fred Flintstone's pet.)

Cosmo G. Spacely (The Jetsons, 1962–1989)

Hardy Har Har (1962–1964)

Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse (1963–1967)

Sneezly Seal (1964–1967)

Secret Squirrel (1965–1966)

Frito Bandito (1967–1971)

Bubba McCoy from "Where's Huddles?"

Chugga-Boom/Yak Yak/The Bully Brothers also from "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop"

Speed Buggy (1973)

Tucker the Mouse from "The Cricket in Times Square" (1973) and two sequels

Captain Caveman (1977)

Twiki from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979–1981)

Heathcliff (1980, appeared in syndication from 1984–1987)

Gideon from Pinocchio (hiccups)

Bertie Mouse (of Hubie and Bertie)

Marc Antony

Moo the Cow in Berkeley Farms Radio Ads. "Farms in Berkeley....Moooo"

Officer Short Shrift, several Lethargians, three out of five of the royal palace guards, The Word Speller, The Dodecahedron, and The Demon of Insincerity from The Phantom Tollbooth (1969)

Go Go Gomez, Flat Top, B.B. Eyes, additional voices from The Dick Tracy Show

Besides these, Blanc also voiced many minor and one time characters and animal sound effect roles.

List of noteworthy radio characters

Besides voicing characters on his own radio show (which ran from 1946–47) Blanc was a regular on such comedy classics as The Jack Benny Show, Burns & Allen, and Abbott & Costello, providing both voices and sound effects ranging from people to animals to backfiring cars.

The Happy Postman (Burns & Allen)

Professor LeBlanc (The Jack Benny Program)

Mr. Technicolovich (Abbott & Costello)

Sy the Mexican (Jack Benny, radio & TV)

Himself (The Mel Blanc Show)

Zookie (The Mel Blanc Show)

Polly the Parrot (The Jack Benny Program)

Carmichael the Polar Bear (The Jack Benny Program)

Train Station Announcer (The Jack Benny Program; "Train now departing on Track Five for Ana-heim, A-zuza, and Cuc-a-monga!!")

Christmas sales clerk (The Jack Benny Program; in most holiday episodes of the radio and TV version, Blanc would appear as a sales clerk in a department store who's driven insane by Jack's style of shopping and returning gifts.)

The Maxwell (The Jack Benny Program)

Other credits

Mel Blanc was hired to perform the voice of Gideon the Cat in Walt Disney's Pinocchio. However, it was eventually decided for Gideon to be mute (just like Dopey, whose whimsical, Harpo Marx-style persona made him one of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' most comic and popular characters), and all of Blanc's recorded dialogue in this film had been deleted, save for one military hiccup, which was heard three times in the film (he was still paid for all of the unused dialogue so if you consider his salary against the actual used "hiccup", he holds the record for highest paid—per word—voice-over actor). This and Who Framed Roger Rabbit are the only known work he ever did for Disney animation. He was, however, heard on occasional radio projects featuring Disney characters, such as The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air.

In 1949, Mel appeared in the film Neptune's Daughter with Esther Williams, Red Skelton and Ricardo Montalban.

Blanc was one of three regular panelists in the 1955 game show Musical Chairs. Occasionally, he was asked to sing in the style of a popular singer.

Blanc once called into the game show Press Your Luck during the end credits when host Peter Tomarken mistakenly gave the answer to the question "Which cartoon character uses the phrase 'Sufferin' succotash'?" as Daffy Duck. Blanc informed him that the correct answer was Sylvester. (In reality, both characters have used the phrase, although it is more commonly associated with Sylvester.) Blanc spoke to Tomarken in Sylvester's voice to explain the error, as well in the voices of Speedy Gonzales and Porky Pig. Tomarken apologized for the error and promised that all three contestants would be allowed to return to play the game again.

Blanc was the voice of Bob and Doug McKenzie's father in the movie Strange Brew.

In 1970, Blanc narrated an educational film that was commissioned by the City of Dallas called How Motor Cars and Other Living Things Can Find Happiness in the Dallas Freeway System. He also did the sound effects for the animated car.

In 1971, he appeared as himself in one of the American Express "Do you know me?" credit card TV commercials. The ad campaign centered on famous people whose faces were nonetheless usually not recognized by the public.

Blanc appeared in a public service announcement for the Shriners Burns Institute on the dangers of burns on children.

He also provided the voice of Quintro the Puppet in Snow White and the Three Stooges.

Blanc did virtually all of his famous Looney Tunes characters' voices in NFL Films' The Son of Football Follies

In addition to hundreds of credited vocal roles, Blanc also provided many brief incidental voices and vocal effects for TV sitcoms, almost never receiving screen credit. Two noted examples were regularly providing the voice of the raven cuckoo clock in The Munsters' and voicing a parrot (who even spoke in the courtroom) in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Perjured Parrot."

In his autobiography, That's Not All, Folks!, Blanc confessed to a minor bit of deception regarding his nickname, "The Man of a Thousand Voices," stating that by his estimate, he had provided only 850 voices. The simple inscription on the print reads: "Speechless." According to Warner Bros., it is the highest selling piece of animation art ever produced. The picture was also made into an animated picture, with sound and changing scenes, and sold in the now-defunct Warner Brothers chain of retail stores. In the The Office episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day", boss Michael Scott acts out Blanc's "Cucamonga" bit, even including a pause.

In the Histeria! episode "General Sherman's Campsite", during the sketch about the Transcontinental Railroad, Loud Kiddington acts as a conductor and does the "Cucamonga" bit.

On an episode of Night Court, Harry's father, Buddy (John Astin), tells Harry (Harry Anderson) that he had wanted to name him Mel, after Mel Blanc. The joke is that Harry is an avid fan of singer Mel Tormé, and assumes that to be what Buddy meant.

Listen to

Mel Blanc sings Somebody Stole My Gal (Capitol F2470)

40 MP3 downloads of The Mel Blanc Show

References

Notes

Bibliography

That's Not All, Folks!, 1988 by Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe. Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-39089-5 (Softcover), ISBN 0-446-51244-3 (Hardcover)

Terrace, Vincent. Radio Programs, 1924–1984. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0351-9

External links

Warner Bros. Animation Chronology

Mel Blanc Show Archive in MP3 format

Toonopedia article about Mel Blanc

Category:1908 births Category:1989 deaths Category:American Jews Category:American radio actors Category:American voice actors Category:Voice actors Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in California Category:Jewish actors Category:Looney Tunes Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Portland, Oregon Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:Jewish comedians Category:Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Name	Ofra Haza
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Bat Sheva' Ofra Haza Bat Shoshana / Yefet Haza
Alias	Ofra Haza
Born	November 19, 1957
Died	February 23, 2000Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel
Origin	Ha'tikva neighborhood, Tel Aviv, Israel
Instrument	Vocals, Piano
Genre	World, Pop, Ethnic electronica, Middle eastern
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, actress
Years active	1969–2000
Movies	"Shlager" (1979 Israel), "Suburban Girl" (1979 Israel), "Primal Justice" (1997 Israel), "Prince Of Egypt" (1999 USA)
Label	Hed ArziEastWest RecordsShanachie RecordsBMG AriolaAusfahrtSire/Warner Bros. Records
Url	Ofra.Haza.Co.IL}}

Ofra Haza ( November 19, 1957 – February 23, 2000) was an Israeli singer, actress and international recording artist. She was one of the most popular and appreciated female singers in Israel.

Haza was born the youngest of nine children in the poor Tel Aviv neighborhood of Hatikvah in 39 Boaz Street. At an early age she became a local, then national, success story, the subject of great pride for many Israelis.

Her voice has been described as mezzo-soprano, of near-flawless tonal quality, capable of lending itself to a variety of musical styles with apparent ease.

Inspired by a love of her Yemeni Jewish culture, the appeal of her musical art quickly spread to a wider Middle Eastern audience, somehow bridging the divide between Israel and the Arab countries. As her career progressed, the multi-lingual Haza was able to switch between traditional and more commercial singing styles without jeopardizing her credibility. The music, too, fused elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat. Success was to follow in Europe and the Americas; during her singing career, she earned many platinum and gold discs.

Early career

At the age of twelve and one-half years, Haza joined a local theater troupe, and manager Bezalel Aloni spotted her exceptional singing talent. He staged many of his productions around Haza as the centrepiece and later on he became her longtime manager and mentor. At the age of 19, she was Israel's first pop princess and retrospectively, music journalists described her as "The Madonna of the East".

By the time she had completed her military service in 1979, Aloni's protégée had matured as a singer and was ready to launch a solo career.

Her first album, entitled Al Ahavot Shelanu (Our Love), was released in 1980 and yielded a string of popular radio hits, including "Hageshem" (The Rain), "Shir Ahava La'chayal" (Love Song For The Soldier), "Kmo Tzipor" (Like A Bird) and what ultimately became her signature song in her homeland, "Shir Ha'frecha" (The Bimbo Song). The latter was written for the film Shlagger (1979) in which Haza played a leading role. At first, radio stations across the country refused to play the song due to its explicit lyrics but it quickly climbed the charts and reached #1, where it stayed for five consecutive weeks.

A second album soon followed, Bo Nedaber (Let's Talk), which included the hugely popular hits "Tfila" (Prayer) and "Simanim Shel Ohavim" (Lovers Signs).

Her third album, Pituyim (Temptations) came out in 1982 and enjoyed equal success with such hits as "Gabriel" and "Kol Yom Matchila Shana" (A New Year Starts Everyday). With this album, more well-known writers agreed to write her songs, including Tzvika Pick and Nurit Hirsh.

In 1983, Haza's career jumped to a new level of success and popularity. At the Eurovision Song Contest, she came in a close second to the Luxembourg entry with the song "Chai" (Alive). Her popularity in Israel reached enormous heights. Her 1983 album, Chai, became her biggest-selling album to date and the title track was voted the #1 song of the year. Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History that Haza's performance of this song was highly symbolic as it contains the lyric "Israel Is Alive". As the contest was held in Munich, Germany, the scene of the 1972 Olympic's massacre, there was considerable patriotism involved with the Israeli entry. Additional hits from the album included "Amen Lamilim" (Amen For Words) and "Sof Hakayitz" (End Of Summer). Haza was voted "Female Vocalist Of The Year" four years in a row, from 1980 through 1983. Later that year, Haza released Shirey Moledet which consisted of her renditions of well-known Israeli folk songs. Public response was so overwhelming, she went on to release two more volumes (in 1985 and 1987).

Bait Ham (A Place For Me) was released in 1984 and included such hits as "Yad Beyad" (Hand In Hand), "Itcha Halayla" (With You Tonight) and the title track. The album quickly went gold. In December that year, Haza released what was to become the turning-point of her career, a collection of Yemenite songs, simply titled Yemenite Songs. Despite lukewarm radio airplay, the album went on to become a best-seller, quickly reaching platinum status. This LP was reissued in the United States by Shanachie Records under the title Fifty Gates of Wisdom.

The album Adama (Earth) followed in 1985 and saw the top writers in the country contribute to the album: Sasha Argov, Naomi Shemer, Ya'akov Orland and Ehud Manor, among others. The album produced the enormously popular hits, "Adama", "Goral Echad" (One Destiny) and "Mishehu Holech Tamid Iti" (Someone Always Walks With Me).

In 1986, Haza tried to update her sound and gathered with acclaimed producer Yizhar Ashdot to create what some consider to be her most interesting work, Yamim Nishbarim (Broken Days). The album had an edgy rock sound and the lyrics were deep and personal and written by Haza herself, a first. The album went gold and produced the hits "Kol Haklafim" (Open Your Cards), "Bo Ve-Nagen Oti" (Come and Play Me) and "Hake'ev Haze" (This Pain).

When asked about her musical roots in an interview on KCRW-FM radio (1993, Santa Monica), Haza spoke of her Yemenite Jewish parents, a childhood filled with music and singing and a passion for traditional Yemenite songs, picked up from her mother. Questioned about the theatre troupe, she spoke of poverty and the total neglect of successive governments for the Hatikvah region; and how, by way of protest, the community had rallied to create something positive and dramatic, which would make others sit up and take notice of a forgotten neighbourhood. Throughout the interview, Aloni can be heard in the background, adding information and correcting Haza about her age (by subtracting two years), when asked about her first album.

International artist

2000"]] Her greatest international recognition came with the single "Im Nin'Alu", taken from the album Shaday (1988), which won the New Music Award for Best International Album of the Year. The song topped the Eurochart (Europe's equivalent to the American Billboard charts) for two weeks in June that year and was on heavy rotation on MTV channels across the continent. For years to come, this song would be extensively re-released, re-mixed and sampled, for example on Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full," and by DJ Cheb I Sabbah in La Kahena. The single made only a brief appearance in the UK top 40 singles chart, but became a dancefloor favorite across Europe and the USA, topping the German charts for nine weeks. Subsequent singles were also given the dance-beat / MTV-style video treatment, most notably, "Galbi", "Daw Da Hiya" and "Mata Hari", but none quite matched the runaway success of her first hit. "Im Nin' Alu" would go on to be featured on an in-game radio playlist of the video game , released in 2005 and featured on Panjabi MC's album "Indian Timing" in 2009.

Haza also received critical acclaim for the albums Fifty Gates of Wisdom (1988), Desert Wind (1989), Kirya (1992), Ofra Haza (1997) and for her collection of children's songs, L'Yeladim (1982).

Kirya (co-produced by Don Was) received a Grammy nomination.

In 1994, Haza released her first Hebrew album in seven years, Kol Haneshama (The Whole Soul). Though not an initial chart success, the album produced one of her biggest hits to date, "Le'orech Hayam" (Along The Sea). The song did not have any substantial chart success upon its release to radio but became an anthem after Haza performed it on the assembly in memorial to deceased Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a week after he was assassinated. Radio stations around the country started playing it and people took notice. Its lyrics became even more symbolic following Haza's own death in 2000.

Collaborations and performances

as the narrator]] Her collaborative work with internationally established acts included the single "Temple of Love (Touched by the Hand of Ofra Haza)", recorded with The Sisters of Mercy in 1992. Thomas Dolby co-produced Yemenite Songs and Desert Wind, where he was also a guest musician. Haza guested on Dolby's album Astronauts And Heretics (1992), singing on the track "That's Why People Fall In Love". She recorded "My Love Is for Real" with Paula Abdul in 1995 and on Sarah Brightman's album Harem, Haza's vocals were included on "Mysterious Days", thanks to an idea by Brightman's partner Frank Peterson (ex-Enigma), who produced both Harem (2003) and the album Ofra Haza (1997).

For the Kirya album, Iggy Pop, a friend of Don Was, performed the narration on "Daw Da Hiya" and Haza joined him and a host of other stars for the video and single release "Give Peace A Chance" in 1991. She also sang on the soundtracks of Colors (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), Wild Orchid (1990), Queen Margot (1994) and The Prince of Egypt (1998). In The Prince of Egypt, she voiced the small role of Yocheved, as well as singing "Deliver Us". When Hans Zimmer, who was working with Haza on the music for The Prince of Egypt, introduced her to the artists, they thought that she was so beautiful that they drew Yocheved, whom Haza voiced, to look like the singer. For The Prince of Egypt's soundtracks, Haza sang the song "Deliver Us" in 17 languages (including Czech — "Tak vyveď nás", Dutch — "Verlos ons, Heer", English — "Deliver Us", Finnish — "Johdata", French — "Délivre nous", German — "Erlöse uns", Greek — "Eleftheri", Hebrew — "Hoshia Na", Hungarian — "Szabadíts", Italian — "Ascoltaci", Norwegian — "Befri Oss", Polish — "Uwolnij Nas", Portuguese — "Liberte Nos", Spanish — "Libranos", Swedish — "Befria Oss"; about half of these were sung phonetically). On the soundtrack of The Governess (1998), Haza is the featured singer on seven of the twelve tracks and worked closely with film music composer Edward Shearmur. In 1999, she performed (together with late Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) the track "Forgiveness", on the contemporary symphony album The Prayer Cycle by Jonathan Elias. As a featured background vocalist, Haza's voice has been recorded, re-mixed or sampled for Black Dog's "Babylon" single, Eric B and Rakim's "Paid In Full (Coldcut Remix)" and for the M/A/R/R/S hit "Pump Up The Volume". The single "Love Song" has been re-mixed by DJs many times, its powerful vocal performance and comparatively sparse musical arrangement making it the perfect vehicle for a dance-rhythm accompaniment.

Covers of songs by other artists included the Carole King / James Taylor classic "You've Got a Friend", Madonna's "Open Your Heart", Gary Moore's "Separate Ways", and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

There were many distinguished live performances and Haza spoke with fond memories of her visits to Japan and Turkey. Notable too, was her performance at the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, where she appeared alongside Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. "Paint Box" was written specially for the event. Her 1990 live recording, Ofra Haza At Montreux Jazz Festival was released in 1998.

Haza shared duets and concert performances with Glykeria, Yehudit Ravitz, Paul Anka, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Iggy Pop, Hoite, Buddha Bar, Ishtar, Gidi Gov, Whitney Houston, Tzvika Pick, Khaled, Prachim Yerushalaim, The Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Stefan Waggershausen, Eric B and Rakim, Gila Miniha, Hans Zimmer, Hagashash Hachiver, Yaffa Yarkoni, Shoshana Damari and posthumously with Sarah Brightman.

At the fall of 1999, Haza recorded new material for a new album that she worked on with Ron Aviv, a music producer from Petah Tikva. At the time, she also worked with the Finnish violinist Linda Brava, who released a previously unreleased track called Tarab on her MySpace page on 14 May 2010. On the track, Haza sings in English, Arabic and Hebrew, while Brava plays the electric violin. The track might be the last recording of Haza, before she died.

Marriage

On 15 July 1997 Haza married businessman Doron Ashkenazi. They had no children together. Ashkenazi died of a suspected drug overdose on 7 April 2001, leaving a daughter from his previous marriage and a 14-year-old adopted son Shai Ashkenazi.

Death

Ofra Haza died on 23 February 2000 at the age of 42, of AIDS-related pneumonia. While the fact of her HIV infection is now generally acknowledged, the decision by the major Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz to report about it shortly after her death caused controversy in Israel.

After Haza's death was announced, Israeli radio stations played non-stop retrospectives of her music and Prime Minister Ehud Barak praised her work as a cultural emissary, commenting that she also represented the Israeli success story — "Ofra emerged from the Hatikvah slums to reach the peak of Israeli culture. She has left a mark on us all".

The disclosure that Haza had likely died as a result of AIDS added another layer to the public mourning. That a star with a reputation for clean living could be stricken caused shock among fans, debate about the media's potential invasion of her privacy, and speculation about how she had become infected, particularly blaming her husband.

Other reports indicate that she may have contracted the virus as a result of a blood transfusion in a Turkish hospital following a miscarriage.

She is buried in Yarkon Cemetery, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Legacy

Bezalel Aloni, Haza's manager and producer of 28 years, published a book Michtavim L'Ofra (Letters to Ofra) in 2007. The book is partially an autobiography of Aloni and partially a biography of Haza, which also consists of compiled letters written by Aloni.

On 22 March 2007, the Tel Aviv Jaffa Municipality and the Tel Aviv Development Fund renamed part of the public park in the Hatikva Quarter to Gan Ofra (Ofra's Park) on the seventh anniversary of her death, in honour of Haza. The park is placed at the end of Bo'az street where Haza's childhood home was built. The designated area features a children's playground, symbolizing her love for children and the old quarter where she grew up and always came back to.

Tributes

Touched By The Hand of Ofra Haza Fanzine (2008–2009) was a tribute fanzine.

Sharim Ofra (Singing Ofra) 2002 — A tribute concert to commemorate the life of Ofra Haza where Israeli singers sang Haza's songs.

Documentaries

Life & Death of Ofra Haza 2002 — Aired on the Israeli channel 2, 29 Januray 2002. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's entire life and career until her sad death.

Sodot (Secrets) 2005 — Aired on Israeli channel YES, this documentary in Hebrew and partly English is about Haza's life and attempts to answer questions surrounding her death.

Dokoceleb Ofra Haza 2007 — Aired on the Israeli entertainment station HOT, 22 February 2007. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's career, achievements and marriage.

Lost Treasure of Ofra Haza 2010 — Aired on the Israeli channel 10, 22 February 2010. This documentary in Hebrew and partly English focuses on Haza's inheritance.

Albums

1974 — Ahava Rishona (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1976 — Ve-hutz Mizeh Hakol Beseder (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1977 — Atik Noshan (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1979 — Shir HaShirim Besha'ashu'im (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)

1980 — Al Ahavot Shelanu

1981 — Bo Nedaber

1982 — Temptations

1982 — Li-yeladim (Children's Songs)

1983 — Hai

1983 — Shirei Moledet A

1984 — Bayt Ham

1984 — Shirei Teyman (a.k.a. Yemenite Songs or Fifty Gates of Wisdom)

1985 — Adamah

1985 — Shirei Moledet B

1986 — Yamim Nishbarim

1987 — Album HaZahav (The Golden Album)

1988 — Shaday

1988 — Yemenite Love

1989 — Desert Wind

1989 — Shirei Moledet A + B

1992 — Kirya

1993 — Oriental Nights

1994 — Kol Haneshama

1995 — The Golden Album (Double Compilation CD, Hed Arzi 2ANP15190))

1995 — Queen in Exile (Unreleased)

1997 — Ofra Haza

1998 — Ofra Haza At Montreux Jazz Festival (Live - recorded 1990)

1998 — Shirei Moledet 3

2000 — Greatest Hits vol.1/Bemanginat Halev (Melody Of The Heart)

2001 — Music History

2004 — Greatest Hits vol.2/Bemanginat Halev (Melody Of The Heart)

2008 — Forever Ofra Haza - Her Greatest Songs Remixed (incl. previously unreleased track)

Soundtracks

1988 — Colors

1990 — Dick Tracy

1990 — Wild Orchid

1994 — La Reine Margot (Queen Margot)

1998 — The Prince of Egypt

1998 — The Governess

1999 — The King And I (Hebrew version)

2000 —

See also

Mizrahi Music

References

External links

Ofra Haza Official Website

ofra haza in Internet Movie Database Website

ofra haza in "Jewish Women Encyclopedia"

ofra haza memorial page in Find a Grave Website

Category:1957 births Category:2000 deaths Category:AIDS-related deaths in Israel Category:Dance musicians Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1983 Category:Israeli columnists Category:Israeli Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Israeli female singers Category:Israeli film actors Category:Israeli Jews Category:Israeli pop singers Category:Jewish musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:People from Tel Aviv Category:Sire Records artists Category:Yemenite Jews

Sister Marie Keyrouz (also spelled "Kairouz") is a chanter of Oriental Church music, a member of the Congrégation des Soeurs Basiliennes Chouérites and founder-president of the National Institute of Sacred Music in Paris.

Biography

She was born in Deir el Ahmar in Lebanon, close to the ancient Roman city of Baalbeck. Raised in the Maronite Church, but being a Melkite through her religious congregation, she took her vows in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. From an early age, she undertook several disciplines of study simultaneously, earning a joint doctorate in musicology and anthropology from the Sorbonne in 1991. She has collected a variety of so-called "Oriental" Christian chants, mostly preserved in Greek, Syrian, and Arabic manuscripts and through oral tradition.

Her debut album Chant byzantin took Europe by surprise upon its arrival in 1989, not only with the apparently ancient repertoire it represents, but also due to her own virtuosity, having a great ability to sing the intervals in rapid flourishes, notes that are difficult for most singers to reproduce.

On the production of the various Maronite chants, Melkite chants, Milanese chants and even mainstream Gregorian chants, she is accompanied by L'Ensemble de la Paix, a small band of Arabic instrumentalists which she leads.

Marie Keyrouz is founder of L'Instituit International de Chant Sacré (International Institute of Holy Songs) in Paris, which promotes research into ancient sacred song. She has also written several books.

See also

Syrian chant

External links

Official site of Sister Marie Keyrouz

Category:Catholic music Category:Performers of Christian music Category:Melkite Greek Catholics Category:Christian nuns Category:University of Paris alumni Category:Lebanese immigrants to France Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics Category:Lebanese nuns

Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Name	GZR
Background	group_or_band
Alias	G//Z/R, Geezer
Genre	Heavy metal
Years active	1995–present
Label	TVT Records
Associated acts	Black Sabbath, Fear Factory, Anacrusis, Cacophony, Social Distortion, Journey, Bad English, Ozzy Osbourne, Hardline
Current members	Geezer ButlerPedro HowseChad SmithClark Brown
Past members	Deen CastronovoBurton C. BellMario Frasca

GZR is a band led by Black Sabbath bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler. The band has actually been marketed with three different names on the three releases they've had. In 1995, the band was marketed as G//Z/R. In 1997, it was merely Geezer, and in 2005, it was GZR. Most fans refer to the band as Geezer, although Butler himself refers to the band name as GEE-ZED-R. This incarnation of the band is not to be confused with Geezer's previous attempt in 1985 to form a solo band, then known as The Geezer Butler Band - the two bands are totally separate.

The band's name is derived from the name of its creator: Terence "Geezer" Butler.

Pedro Howse, the guitarist in the band, is Geezer's nephew.

Band history

The music is generally of a much harder edge than Butler is known for in Black Sabbath. This isn't a surprise, as the vocalist on his first album (Plastic Planet) was Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory, who is known for more driving and harder edged vocals than ever was displayed in Black Sabbath. The album also featured Pedro Howse on guitar, as well as Deen Castronovo (of Journey fame) on drums. Bell did not stay with the band past the recording of Plastic Planet due to Fear Factory commitments. In 1996 the band re-emerged with an exclusive track for the Mortal Kombat: More Kombat compilation, entitled 'Outworld' and featuring Anger On Anger vocalist, Mario Frasca.

This proved to be a one-time collaboration and Frasca was replaced by Clark Brown (SYMATIC) for their second album Black Science, released in 1997. G//Z/R did play a few live dates in 1997 behind the release of the album, however this was not a full fledged tour, most of these gigs were played concurrent to the Ozzfest tour of that year. The band opened for such folks as Bruce Dickinson, who was playing some live gigs at the time. Castronovo recorded, but did not play any of the live gigs. He was replaced on drums by Chad Smith (not to be confused with the Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer with the same name).

After the handful of live gigs in 1997, the band was mostly put on ice, as Geezer was busy with various things Black Sabbath related for quite a while. Geezer eventually got back into the studio with the same lineup that played the live gigs from 8 years previous, and recorded their third album, Ohmwork, which was released on May 9, 2005.

Discography

1995: Plastic Planet

1996: Cycle of Sixty/X13 EP

1996: (exclusive compilation contribution, 'Outworld')

1997: Black Science

2005: Ohmwork

Appears On

"Mortal Kombat: Motion Picture Soundtrack" (1995) - performing "The Invisible"

Band members

Current members

Geezer Butler - bass guitar, keyboards

Pedro Howse - guitar

Chad Smith - drums (2005–present)

Clark Brown - vocals (1997–present)

Former members

Deen Castronovo - drums (1995–1997)

Burton C. Bell - vocals (1995) ("Plastic Planet")

Mario Frasca - vocals (1996) (appearance only - "Outworld")

External links

Geezer Butler's homepage

Geezer at Sanctuary Records

Geezer at TVT Records

Category:Heavy metal musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1995 Category:Musical quartets