August 16, 2024 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Billie Mae Richards is a Canadian actress best known for voicing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the 1964 stop-motion television classic. The special first aired on December 6, 1964, on NBC. Here’s Billie Mae to share her story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And to search for the Our American Stories podcasts, go
to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. Billy May Richards is the Canadian actress best
known for voicing rut Off, the Red Nose Reindeer. The
(00:32):
special first aired on December sixth, nineteen sixty four, on NBC.
Here's Billy May to share her story.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I go back almost over seventy five years now. I've
been in every kind of child business. I'm quite proud
of the work in the Navy show as part of
the war effort in World War Two, we went all
across Canada back and then overseas and we did a
command performance for the King and Queen and went into
(01:04):
Paris and we played for the American troops in Paris,
and then Brussels and Amsterdam and THENTO Germany. So after
the World War Two, that is so you know how
long ago it is, I took my credits from the
Navy and I joined Lauren Green's Academy of Radio Arts,
and he, of course did a very famous Canadian and
(01:26):
he did Bonanza. That was a great series. And so
I joined the Academy of Radio Arts because I had
already done stage work and I was a musician and
an actor and everything, but I didn't know the technique
for actually for radio and drama. So that's why I
went there, and out of that I graduated in everybody
(01:48):
that heard me gave me a part of the child.
So that's where my first big show was a big
drama and on the stage series and in Canada, so
that it went from there. So I spent twenty five
years in the CBC doing school podcasts, and then when
the cartooning came our way, then it was just sort
(02:10):
of a natural progression to go into voice works because
you're not you know, I'm not a I'm not a
television actor and certainly not now. Hey, Clarice, Hey, after practice?
Would you would you go? You'll get back here, it's
you're trying at allee. I gotta go back. Would you
(02:32):
want to go? Would be.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Uh huh Rudolph, I think you're cute.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'm cute, I do mad not I'm kid. I gud
shit that. I I just want you to know that
I'm still cute. Well, I see Hermie once in a while,
and I always wanted to be like Hermie. I wanted
(03:03):
to be independent. He wanted to be a dentist. So
we were mixed together. Hey, what do you say we
both be independent together? Huh? You wouldn't mind my red nose.
Not if you don't mind me being a dentist. It's
(03:24):
a deal. So that was fun, you know. So the
whole show was fun to do, and it was all Canadian.
All the voices are Canadian except for Burlives. They'll say,
I thought it wasn't an American show. No, while it
was partly Bernard collin A was directing it along with
(03:46):
with Jewels Bath, and they came up to Toronto because
we we have all the voices from radio, because our
radio never died, you know, it's it kept on with
because of the Canadian broadcast in corporation. You know, we'd
all been still working in radio. So we had the
voices for radio. Because the puppets are actually three dimensional
(04:11):
and they have to be filmed, you know, one little
teeny movement at a time. With the three D puppets,
you might say, but they're not puppets, they're moved each little,
teeny little bit as they moved through the snow. For instance,
the snowman goes through the snow and he's he's the
snow is pushed in front of him. It's a unique
(04:33):
process that Rankin and Bath first developed, and they went
on to do other ones. Of course, the shows I
did were all aim for children, because that's all I
ever did were a voice voices, so like care bears
and things like that. You know, I don't tell anybody either,
because it spoils the illusion, especially for children. I hate
(04:55):
to say that, you know, especially now. Oh I have children, grandchildren,
great grandchildren. They think it's wonderful. They when they were little,
they went to school and told their teachers that their
mother was Rudulf, and the teacher looked at them and said, oh, yes, dear,
of course. So we get on with the work now,
you know. You know, but I sometimes I go to schools,
(05:17):
and it's very good to teach kids how important it
is to learn to read, not only for pleasure, but
there actually is a side of that that can be
a profession. So it's a it's a boost for children
and in the reading, and that's when your character voice
is you know, fine, then you can say, by the way,
(05:40):
we thought it did go one year, maybe two at
the most, and that was it. But that's you know,
that's fine. Look what's happened to it? You realize that
it had become a classic, you know, sort of like
you know Wizard of All you know that that type
of show that has a it has a moral to it,
and uh, you know, everything works out in the end,
(06:02):
and so I mean, there you go. What more can
you ask? You know, it all worked out in the end.
It revived Rudolph from being just the talk and a
little Christmas book and made it into something that could
be watched every Christmas. It became a Christmas classic because
you know, my grandchildren even now are you know, they're
(06:26):
almost beyond it, but they they still watch because they say, oh,
but it's so cute. You know. Rudolph is also of course,
I'm Rudolph in Rudolph's Shiny New Year and the one
that's Christmas in July with Frocky Snowman. So whatever, there's
a Rudolph that's my voice. Rudolph with your nose so bright,
(06:48):
won't you guide my slide tonight? It will be an honor, sir,
And it was wonderful to see it all put together
with the actual figures, because if we didn't really know
what they were going to look like. So it was
the really fun thing. And I'm very proud that it's
been on this long. They're not too many people that
can say that, so it's really great. But I enjoyed
(07:13):
the work that I do and I'm quite happy, and
that's good enough for me.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
At a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. The story of the woman
who voiced Rudolph Here on our American Stories. Here are
in our American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith,
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
(07:39):
need to be told. But we can't do it without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love our stories in America
like we do, please go to our American Stories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot Com.
This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And to search for the Our American Stories podcasts, go
to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
your podcasts. Billy May Richards is the Canadian actress best
known for voicing rut Off, the Red Nose Reindeer. The
(00:32):
special first aired on December sixth, nineteen sixty four, on NBC.
Here's Billy May to share her story.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I go back almost over seventy five years now. I've
been in every kind of child business. I'm quite proud
of the work in the Navy show as part of
the war effort in World War Two, we went all
across Canada back and then overseas and we did a
command performance for the King and Queen and went into
(01:04):
Paris and we played for the American troops in Paris,
and then Brussels and Amsterdam and THENTO Germany. So after
the World War Two, that is so you know how
long ago it is, I took my credits from the
Navy and I joined Lauren Green's Academy of Radio Arts,
and he, of course did a very famous Canadian and
(01:26):
he did Bonanza. That was a great series. And so
I joined the Academy of Radio Arts because I had
already done stage work and I was a musician and
an actor and everything, but I didn't know the technique
for actually for radio and drama. So that's why I
went there, and out of that I graduated in everybody
(01:48):
that heard me gave me a part of the child.
So that's where my first big show was a big
drama and on the stage series and in Canada, so
that it went from there. So I spent twenty five
years in the CBC doing school podcasts, and then when
the cartooning came our way, then it was just sort
(02:10):
of a natural progression to go into voice works because
you're not you know, I'm not a I'm not a
television actor and certainly not now. Hey, Clarice, Hey, after practice?
Would you would you go? You'll get back here, it's
you're trying at allee. I gotta go back. Would you
(02:32):
want to go? Would be.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Uh huh Rudolph, I think you're cute.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I'm cute, I do mad not I'm kid. I gud
shit that. I I just want you to know that
I'm still cute. Well, I see Hermie once in a while,
and I always wanted to be like Hermie. I wanted
(03:03):
to be independent. He wanted to be a dentist. So
we were mixed together. Hey, what do you say we
both be independent together? Huh? You wouldn't mind my red nose.
Not if you don't mind me being a dentist. It's
(03:24):
a deal. So that was fun, you know. So the
whole show was fun to do, and it was all Canadian.
All the voices are Canadian except for Burlives. They'll say,
I thought it wasn't an American show. No, while it
was partly Bernard collin A was directing it along with
(03:46):
with Jewels Bath, and they came up to Toronto because
we we have all the voices from radio, because our
radio never died, you know, it's it kept on with
because of the Canadian broadcast in corporation. You know, we'd
all been still working in radio. So we had the
voices for radio. Because the puppets are actually three dimensional
(04:11):
and they have to be filmed, you know, one little
teeny movement at a time. With the three D puppets,
you might say, but they're not puppets, they're moved each little,
teeny little bit as they moved through the snow. For instance,
the snowman goes through the snow and he's he's the
snow is pushed in front of him. It's a unique
(04:33):
process that Rankin and Bath first developed, and they went
on to do other ones. Of course, the shows I
did were all aim for children, because that's all I
ever did were a voice voices, so like care bears
and things like that. You know, I don't tell anybody either,
because it spoils the illusion, especially for children. I hate
(04:55):
to say that, you know, especially now. Oh I have children, grandchildren,
great grandchildren. They think it's wonderful. They when they were little,
they went to school and told their teachers that their
mother was Rudulf, and the teacher looked at them and said, oh, yes, dear,
of course. So we get on with the work now,
you know. You know, but I sometimes I go to schools,
(05:17):
and it's very good to teach kids how important it
is to learn to read, not only for pleasure, but
there actually is a side of that that can be
a profession. So it's a it's a boost for children
and in the reading, and that's when your character voice
is you know, fine, then you can say, by the way,
(05:40):
we thought it did go one year, maybe two at
the most, and that was it. But that's you know,
that's fine. Look what's happened to it? You realize that
it had become a classic, you know, sort of like
you know Wizard of All you know that that type
of show that has a it has a moral to it,
and uh, you know, everything works out in the end,
(06:02):
and so I mean, there you go. What more can
you ask? You know, it all worked out in the end.
It revived Rudolph from being just the talk and a
little Christmas book and made it into something that could
be watched every Christmas. It became a Christmas classic because
you know, my grandchildren even now are you know, they're
(06:26):
almost beyond it, but they they still watch because they say, oh,
but it's so cute. You know. Rudolph is also of course,
I'm Rudolph in Rudolph's Shiny New Year and the one
that's Christmas in July with Frocky Snowman. So whatever, there's
a Rudolph that's my voice. Rudolph with your nose so bright,
(06:48):
won't you guide my slide tonight? It will be an honor, sir,
And it was wonderful to see it all put together
with the actual figures, because if we didn't really know
what they were going to look like. So it was
the really fun thing. And I'm very proud that it's
been on this long. They're not too many people that
can say that, so it's really great. But I enjoyed
(07:13):
the work that I do and I'm quite happy, and
that's good enough for me.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
At a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler. The story of the woman
who voiced Rudolph Here on our American Stories. Here are
in our American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith,
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
(07:39):
need to be told. But we can't do it without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love our stories in America
like we do, please go to our American Stories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot Com.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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