Lake, Arthur (1905-1987)
Actor who made a career out of playing the comic strip character Dagwood Bumstead (from Blondie) on both the screen and on radio. Lake was the voice of Hook, the sailor who was the rough equivalent of Private Snafu in films produced for the U.S. Navy. He might also have provided the voice for the caricature of Dagwood in Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946), since he was doing Hook at that time for WB
Lake, Veronica (1919-1973)
Glamour-girl star of the 1940s, famous for her peek-a-boo over-the-eye hairstyle (which she stopped wearing during World War II, because women war workers were suffering industrial accidents from the long hair). Examples of her style being spoofed are in Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (Jones, 1944, as one of the poses of Mama Bear in her wooing of Bugs) and Eatin on the Cuff (Clampett, 1942 in which one of the moths takes a Lake-like pose, spoiled by a protruding nose). Bodies (so to speak) of water are named after her in Crazy Cruise (Avery/Clampett, 1942) and A Lad in His Lamp (McKimson, 1948).
Lamarr, Hedy (1913-fl. 1995)
Exotic European actress who made a splash with her beauty when she arrived at MGM in 1938, if not for her acting talent, which was somewhat limited. Lamarr is one of the three guesses Fudd makes as to who is covering his eyes in A Wild Hare (Avery, 1940). Lamarr is also one of the stars (literally) Daffy Duck sees after getting clouted on the head by a studio cop in Hollywood Daffy (Freleng, 1946).
Lamour, Dorothy (b. 1914)
Famed sarong girl of the Hope-Crosby movies, Lamour was a very popular film star of the 1940s. A canine version of Lamour (in sarong) is seen listening to Bing Crosby and then swooning over Frank Sinatra in Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946). One of the stars (the only sarong-clad one) that Daffy sees after getting clouted on the head by a studio cop in Hollywood Daffy (Freleng, 1946) is Lamour. Cecil Crow, in Aloha Hooey (Avery/Clampett, 1942) mentions Dorothy Lammer as one of the reasons he wants to see the South Seas.
Landsman, Lew
WB story writer whose sole on-screen credit is Porky at the Crocodero (Tashlin, 1938).
Lanny Hoss
One of the caricatures in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1938). Based on Lanny Ross (d. 1988), a popular tenor of the 1920s and 1930s (theme song: Moonlight and Roses) who appeared on the Maxwell House Show Boat radio program. Ross was also the signing voice of Prince David in the Fleischer feature cartoon Gullivers Travels (1939).
Latin Names
While the ersatz Linnean names for creatures are associated in WB cartoons most closely with the Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, similar names were used earlier in Dog Tired (Jones, 1942). The stork, for example is given the name Infantus Portus.
Laughton, Charles (1899-1962)
British actor famed for a variety of memorable roles (e.g. Ruggles of Red Gap, Witness for the Prosecution, The Big Clock ), whose most memorable roles may have been as Henry VIII in The Private Life of Henry VIII (for which he won an Oscar) and as Captain Bligh in the Clark Gable version of Mutiny on the Bounty. These two roles were parodied numerous times; the Henry VIII role in Have You Got Any Castles? (Tashlin, 1937) and to a certain extent in Shishkabugs (Freleng, 1962), and the Bligh role in Castles, as well as Porkys Road Race (Tashlin, 1937), Buccaneer Bunny (Freleng, 1948) and Good Noose (McKimson, 1962).
Laurel and Hardy
The archetype of the comic duo, thin, fussy featherbrained Englishman Stan Laurel (1890-1965) and chubby, dignified and often exasperated Oliver Hardy (1892-1957) made a long string of highly successful films for Hal Roach and MGM for a number of years. The duo were famous for a number of classic routines, including a small insult that would usually escalate into a furious, all-out conflict.
Of course, caricatures of the two comics would have been instantly recognizable, and thus were often used. See, for example The Organ Grinder (Harman/Ising, 1933), in which the monkey does imitations of both characters, You Ought to be In Pictures (Freleng, 1940), in which Porky sneaks by a studio gate cop disguised as Hardy, Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946), showing the duo (as dogs) washing dishes (or, more accurately, the same dish). Holiday for Shoestrings (Freleng, 1945) utilizes the pair as elves, with Laurel painting the tongue of an exasperated Hardy. Porky does a Hardy finger twiddle to go with a sem-caricature in The TImid Toredor (Clampett/McCabe, 1940). Even Private Snafu does a Laurel turn in Fighting Tools (Clampett, 1943).
Leaf, W. Munro
Author of the classic book Ferdinand the Bull . Leaf, during World War II, did some work on the Private Snafu series, collaborating with Dr. Seuss/Ted Geisel in Its Murder She Says (Jones, 1945).
Lehr, Lew
Comedian best known for his narration on the Fox Movietone newsreel novelty segments, usually with a reference to: Monkeys is the cwaziest peoples!
Various cartoons have Lehr caricatures or people doing the Lehr schtick. These include: She Was an Acrobats Daughter (Freleng, 1937), which has a caricature of Lehr; Russian Rhapsody (Clampett, 1944), where Adolf Hitler says: Nazis is the cwaziest peoples!; Porky in Egypt (Clampett, 1938) done by the Camel; and Daffy Duck Hunt (McKimson, 1949), said by Daffy at the very beginning. Porky does a Lew Lehr imitation as he narrates a novelty bit in Porkys Snooze Reel (Clampett/McCabe, 1941).
Leonard, Sheldon (1907-1997)
Writer-actor-producer-director and one of the most respected men in television. It was Leonard who gave Bill Cosby one of his first big breaks by casting him in I Spy in the 1960s. But before that, Leonard had a long career on the stage, in movies and in radio playing Damon Runyon-esque like characters (including Harry the Horse in Guys and Dolls , which of course is based on Runyon stories).
One of his highest-profile roles on radio was as a semi-regular on the Jack Benny radio show. Leonard played a racetrack tout type, talking out of the side of his mouth, who would try to convince Benny to change his mind regarding a selection.
I would speculate that Mel Blanc, a stalwart of both the WB studio and the Jack Benny show, may have had a hand in getting Leonard to play a role in cartoons. Leonard provided the voice for Dodsworth, the fat, lazy and shiftless cat who made two appearences in Bob McKimson cartoons of the early 50s.
Lescoulie, Jack
Voice actor who has now been identified as the provider of Jack Benny-like voices for a number of characters in the late 1930s, most notably Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (Jones, 1939)
Levitow, Abe
Longtime animator in the Jones unit, who was given a chance to direct on his own ( Unnatural History , 1959) and with Jones ( Baton Bunny , 1959 and Martian Through Georgia , 1962) in the same era that colleagues such as Ken Harris also got to direct. Levitow would also work with Jones at MGM in the 1960s, where he would direct some of the later Tom and Jerry cartoons produced by that unit.
Lewis, Ted
Clarinet player known as The Top-hatted Tragedian of Jazz: his trademarks were a battered topper, and the line Is everybody happy? .
The mannequin character in A Great Big Bunch of You (Harman/Ising, 1932) imitates Lewis, top hat, phrase and all. A caricature of Lewis plays Plenty of Money and You in Speaking of the Weather (Tashlin, 1937).
Liberace (ne Wladziu Valentino LIberace)
Flamboyant pianist who had a variety of television shows throughout the 1950s and 1960s. LIberace combined genuine talent with an outlandish wardrobe, a toothy smile, and constant references to his violinist brother George and his mother.
Spoofs of this character (in more sense than one) can be seen in The Three LIttle Bops (Freleng, 1957), when the piano playing pig refers to George, in Hyde and Hare (Freleng, 1955), when Bugs plays the piano, and in a delightful spoof in Wideo Wabbit (McKimson, 1956), complete with 88-key grin, references to George and Mother, and a dreadful pun.
Life Goes to a Party
One of the features in Life magazine in the 1930s was a photo essay, where a photographer from the magazine would go to a party (usually a high society party), and take pictures of the partygoers. This feature is spoofed when, after an allegedly savage native takes our picture with a camera in The Isle of Pingo Pongo (Avery, 1939), this phrase is flashed as a subtitle.
Lilly, Lou
1940s era WB story writer. Story credits: Russian Rhapsody (Clampett, 1944), Angel Puss (Jones, 1944), Hare Ribbin (Clampett, 1944), Buckaroo Bugs (Clampett, 1944), Draftee Daffy (Clampett, 1945).
Lily Swans
Character in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937). See Pons, Lily.
Livingstone, Mary
Wife of Jack Benny and a supporting player on his radio show. Known for her ability to needle Jack, which is reflected in the caricatures of her in Malibu Beach Party (Freleng, 1940), and The Mouse That Jack Built (McKimson, 1959, which she voiced herself, along with Benny and the rest of the cast). Livingstone is seen in a brief two-second sketch with Jack Bunny and Andy Bovine in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937).
Lockheed
Aircraft manufacturing firm that had a plant in Burbank, not far from the WB main lot. (It was said that during World War II Jack Warner, concerned that the Japanese might mistake the studio for the plant, painted a sign on the roofs of the sound stages of WB with an arrow and a message: Lockheed That-a-way. Apparently, the government was not amused by his little joke.)
Lockheed is referred to in some wartime WB cartoons. The mother in Brother Brat (Tashlin, 1944) is a welder at Blockheed, Grandma has left a note for Red in Little Red Riding Rabbit (Freleng, 1944) that she is working the swing shift (the overnight shift) at Lockheed, and the egg plant in Swooner Crooner (Tashlin, 1944) is named Flockheed. (See also the references in the Avery MGM cartoons Big Heel-watha and Swing Shift Cinderella )
Log Gag
Classic Bugs Bunny gag in which he first gets a pursuer to chase him through a log, and then traps the pursuer in the log, turning it around so that no matter what happens, the pursuer always ends up over a cliff. Bugs used the gag four times, in All This and Rabbit Stew (Avery, 1941), The Big Snooze (Clampett, 1946), Foxy by Proxy (Freleng, 1952), and Person to Bunny (Freleng, 1960).
Lola Beverly
Gushy columnist type who (sort-of) interviews Bugs in A Hare Grown in Manhattan (Freleng, 1947). Bugs at one point refers to her as Lolly, which was the nickname of feared Hollywood columnist Louella Parsons, leading the author to suspect that Lola was an indirect caricature of Parsons.
Lombard, Carole (1908-1942)
One of the leading screen comediennes of the 1930s and 1940s, Lombard was known for her wit and charm, as expressed in comedy classics like Twentieth Century and To Be or Not To Be, which were sorely missed when she died tragically in a plane crash while returning from a war bond drive. Her second husband, Clark Gable, was devastated by her death.
Lombard is one of the guesses Fudd makes in A Wild Hare (Avery, 1940), when Bugs covers his eyes. Reissue prints replace her name with Barbara Stanwyck, perhaps as a mark of respect.
Lone Ranger
Exceptionally popular character of radio, movies, and later television, from 1933 on. The opening (indelibly linked with the the theme song of the show, the William Tell Overture) is to a certain extent spoofed in Buckaroo Bugs (Clampett, 1944). The Lone Stranger and Porky (Clampett, 1939) is probably the most detailed spoof of the show, though other cartoons, including The Film Fan (Clampett, 1939), Dripalong Daffy (Jones, 1951) also poke fun at the series. Fans of the series are spoofed in Thugs With Dirty Mugs (Avery, 1939), when the nogoodniks spin a safe dial, which turns out to be a radio dial, that allows the gang to tune into the show.
Lord Hee Haw Tokio Jokio (McCabe, 1943) features a donkey with this title reading German propaganda. The character is based on Lord Haw Haw, a broadcaster of German propaganda over Nazi radio during World War II. His real name was William Joyce; he was hung for treason after the war.
Lorre, Peter Small, bug-eyed Central European actor who first came to prominence in the Fritz Lang film M and later made a career of playing twisted murderers and mad scientist types. Lorre was also the star in a number of low-budget Mr. Moto movies (parodied by Porky Pig as Mr. Motto in Porkys Movie Mystery (Clampett, 1939), and gave some memorable performances in Casablanca (as Ugarte) and The Maltese Falcon (as Joel Cairo).
Lorre caricatures appear in Birth of A Notion (McKimson, 1946, as a mad scientist in search of a duck wishbone [guess whose]), as another mad scientist in Hair-raising Hare (Jones, 1946), as a fish so amazed by the sight of Horton the elephant being transported, tree and all, across the ocean that he shoots himself ( Horton Hatches the Egg (Clampett, 1942)), and as a diner at Ciros mesmerized by the Sally Rand bubble dance in Hollywood Steps Out (Avery, 1941).
A movie poster showing Lorre is defaced by Daffy, the mustache fiend in Daffy Doodles (McKimson, 1946).
Love dat man Tag-line of Beulah, the black maid who first appeared on Fibber McGee and Molly, and was played on radio by Marlin Hart. The line is said by Bugs at the end of The Big Snooze (Clampett, 1946), and a version of it by the pig at the end of The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Clampett, 1946).
Lyman, Abe
Bandleader whose Brunswick Recording Orchestra (a/k/a the Californians) provided the music for the first few Merrie Melodies in 1931.