The Raisin Bran grapes, the Sugar Smacks’ jingle singer, the narrator and singer of dozens of Disney children’s records…these are just a few of the roles that Robie Lester made memorable, entering the homes of millions and touching the lives of many children daily with her voice and talent. Being interested in voice over and the great VO artists in history, I always love discovering names and learning how they’ve impacted my life without my knowledge. I thought it fitting to start an ongoing series of these people, entitled “Voice Actors You Didn’t Know You Loved.”
I discovered Robie Lester when researching cartoon cereal mascots for Cereal Day on March 7th, and was quite pleased to see her large and impressive resume. I also love seeing a woman breaking ground in the industry. I will say, it is very important to note the success of many female voice over artists, both from the past and in our present. Many of the most successful female artists provide voices for male characters. Still, to see a lesser-known actor pair up with names such as Mel Blanc, as Lester did, allows for me to raise up that lesser-known actor in my mind, not letting history forget her, or push her aside.
Now let’s begin a lookback at some of Robie Lester’s most memorable career roles!
Working with Kellogg’s
Lester was an extremely busy voice actor in the 60s with her Kellogg’s commercial work. The work she did alongside Mel Blanc was voicing Toucan Sam’s infant nephews. Blanc voiced Toucan Sam. Lester was a great singer and found that she could get work best if she paired her singing voice with her ability to do character voices, which is how she found work voicing one of the battling Smackin’ Brothers for Sugar Smacks on top of singing the cereal’s commercial jingle. And before the claymated California Raisins of the 80s, Lester voiced the grapes of Raisin Bran’s commercials in the 60s. Listen below for one of her credits:
Delighting kids and parents alike with her success in cereal commercials was just the beginning of Lester’s career entertaining children. Her next chapter was memorable not in the advertising world, but in the what we today call the audiobook industry.
Disneyland’s Story Reader
After her cereal years, Lester was brought to the attention of Disney’s in-house record label by Richard and Robert Sherman (The Sherman Brothers of Mary Poppins fame, among others). It was then that she got the role that welcomed her into the homes of many in a different way than television commercials. Recording songs and narration as the “Disneyland Story Reader” granted her a resume of dozens of works, for which she both narrated and sang to children on tape.
The Haunted Mansion brought Lester’s talent to another popular voice actor of the time, Thurl Ravenscroft, who sang “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” for the animated Dr. Seuss Christmas special. Speaking of cereal, he also was the original voice of Frosted Flakes’ Tony the Tiger. Lester also held her own in The Haunted Mansion story alongside Ron Howard, who played Richie Cunningham on Happy Days and the became the Oscar-winning director of many films, such as Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code, and A Beautiful Mind (for which he earned the award).
Lester earned a famous phrase during her time with Disney, telling children to turn the page “when Tinker Bell rings her little bells,” after which children would hear windchimes. Lester’s success with this project continued to bring her praise in the form of a Grammy nomination in 1970 for The Aristocats album.
Singing Voices and Christmas Treasurers
Lastly, some of the most notable work that Robie Lester did was for films and television. Showing us that even live-action film sometime needs voice over, Lester provided the singing voice to Vera Ralston in Accused of Murder. Back to her Disney ties, Lester continued to provide the singing voice to the characters Duchess the Cat in The Aristocats and Bianca the Mouse in The Rescuers. For both Duchess and Bianca, Lester sang for Eva Gabor’s speaking role.
On television, Lester’s roles in The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo helped make the show memorable, though short-lived. And perhaps one of her most notable roles is her work as Miss Jessica in the timeless TV special, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Again, this role gave Lester the opportunity to hold her own against Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle and the film’s narrator, Fred Astaire. For the film, Lester wrote and performed “My World is Beginning Today” for her character, the woman who goes on to become Mrs. Claus.
In 2005, Robie Lester died of cancer in Burbank, California at the age of 80. Lester led a life that provided so much joy for so many people, especially children, many of whom may have never known who she even was. While her early work for commercials may no longer be in circulation, Lester’s voice will always be available in her Disney narrations and on the DVDs of the beloved shows and movies (or perhaps even on a worn-out VHS tape). This woman is important for her work and should be viewed as a great, just like her costars have been. I recognize and admire Robie Lester for her accomplishments and her legacy.