NPR

Whatever The Character, June Foray's Voice Was Warmly Familiar

Foray voiced a wide variety of animated characters, and she brought the same genial humor and warmth to them all — except one.
Now Here's Something We Hope You'll Really Like: An appreciation of the late June Foray, voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and many others, shown here arriving at an Oscars reception in 2013. / Getty Images

June Foray is gone, leaving an absence, an ache, a cloud of whirling bobby pins in her wake.

The voice of many beloved animated characters, including the plucky Rocky the Flying Squirrel, the sinister spy Natasha Fatale, the tow-headed moppet Cindy-Lou Who and — most delightfully, to my mind — the girlishly ghoulish Witch Hazel, Foray died Thursday at the age of 99.

She was called the Queen of Animation for a reason — she was a passionate lifelong advocate for the form, and for recognizing the efforts of those who work in it. on her role in

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