The Yogi Bear Show Voice Actress Julie Bennett Dies from Coronavirus Complications at 88
Julie Bennett, the actress who famously voiced Cindy Bear in The Yogi Bear Show cartoons, has passed away at the age of 88.
The star died from complications related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, her talent agent and longtime friend, Mark Scroggs, confirmed to PEOPLE.
“She was definitely a personality and a throwback to Hollywood glamour,” Scroggs said in a statement.
Born in New York City on January 24, 1932, Bennett relocated to Los Angeles with her family when she was very young. Bennett attended Beverly Hills High School before returning to New York, finding work onstage as well as in radio soaps and early television dramas.
Bennett later returned to Los Angeles, where she had small roles on Dragnet, Leave It to Beaver, Superman, Gunsmoke and Love, American Style. She also appeared on The Tonight Show, The Sid Caesar Show and multiple Bob Hope comedy specials.
Everett Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear
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However, the star found her biggest success as a voiceover artist. In addition to voicing Cindy Bear on The Yogi Bear Show and its 1964 spinoff feature film Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear, her vocal talents were featured in to popular cartoons such as The Bullwinkle Show, Mr. Magoo, The Bugs Bunny Show and Spider-Man: The Animated Series
In the early 1990s, Bennett became a personal manager under the name Marianne Daniels. She went on to represent new and established artists for the next 20 years.
Bennett is survived by what she called her “mutually adopted family” — close friends Carol, Nick and Mark Scroggs.
Donations can be made in her name to The Actors’ Fund.
As of Thursday morning, there have been at least 234,483 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States, with 5,708 deaths from coronavirus-related illness.
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