Purv Pullen

Purv Pullen

Born: February 2, 1909
Died: October 18, 1992
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
He began performing as a voice actor in films in the 1930s. He was the voice of Cheetah in Tarzan films and produced the bird sounds in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Pullen's vocal contributions appear in many cartoons featuring Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop, and Popeye. Pullen was also the voice of the howling coyote in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Crusaders", and the squawks and jungle sounds for Martin Denny's "Quiet Village".

In 1945, Pullen began a collaboration with Spike Jones, providing sound effects and other comic gimmicks on many of the classic Jones recordings. Jones gave Pullen the stage name "Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath."

Pullen was the voice of Pierre the Parrot in Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland and Disneyworld. He was also heard in the San Francisco Bay Area as the voice of Roscoe the Dog on the Dr. Don Rose show on KFRC.

Pullen also appeared in nightclubs as a ventriloquist with a dummy named Johnny. Pullen was a longtime resident of Vacaville, California, where he performed puppet shows at the Nut Tree in the 1970s and 1980s and where he appeared with "Roscoe the Dog," a supposedly invisible dog puppeted by means of a stiffened dog leash.

Movies for Purv Pullen...

Figaro and Frankie
Title: Figaro and Frankie
Character: Frankie (uncredited)
Released: May 31, 1947
Type: Movie
Figaro is hungry for a small, yellow canary named Frankie but must pass a barrier; Minnie Mouse.
bee
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Character: Birds (voice) (uncredited)
Released: December 21, 1937
Type: Movie
A beautiful girl, Snow White, takes refuge in the forest in the house of seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother, the wicked Queen. The Queen is jealous because she wants to be known as "the fairest in the land," and Snow White's beauty surpasses her own.
bee
Who Killed Cock Robin?
Title: Who Killed Cock Robin?
Character: Cock Robin's Whistling (voice) (uncredited)
Released: June 25, 1935
Type: Movie
A robin is shot so the woodland community holds a trial to investigate.
bee
Stolen Harmony
Title: Stolen Harmony
Character: Little Nell in Skit (uncredited)
Released: April 20, 1935
Type: Movie
Band leader Jack Conrad is impressed by prison inmate Ray Ferrera on saxophone. Conrad hires Ray to join his band and tour upon his release. Ray hooks up with Jean, a dancer in the show, and the two become a successful dance act. However, when an ex-inmate buddy of Ray's robs the tour bus, Ray is suspected of wrongdoing by Jack and the others in the group. After a gang of thugs hijacks the tour bus, Ray tries to use his street smarts to redeem his reputation.
bee
The Golden Touch
Title: The Golden Touch
Character: Bird (voice) (uncredited)
Released: March 22, 1935
Type: Movie
King Midas is visited by an elf; the elf turns his cat to gold, then claps his hands and it changes back. Midas begs for the golden touch, but the elf warns him it would be a curse to him. Midas insists. He dances about joyfully at first, but discovers the drawbacks when he sits down to dinner. Fearing death by starvation, he summons the elf and agrees to surrender everything he owns to have the curse lifted.
bee
Holiday Land
Title: Holiday Land
Character: (voice) (uncredited)
Released: November 9, 1934
Type: Movie
Scrappy does not want to get up and go to school. As the days peel off his calendar, the holidays come to life, personified. Father Time takes Scrappy on a tour through Holiday Land.
bee
The Goddess of Spring
Title: The Goddess of Spring
Character: (voice) (uncredited)
Released: November 3, 1934
Type: Movie
The goddess is greeted by dancing flowers and fairies. The devil comes and takes her away to be his queen. She's despondent, as winter settles in above ground. But the devil isn't happy either, and offers anything to make her happy. They reach an agreement: she'll spend six months above ground and six below. Thus we have seasons.
bee
The Flying Mouse
Title: The Flying Mouse
Character: Birds (voice) (uncredited)
Released: July 14, 1934
Type: Movie
To the tune "I Would Like to Be a Bird," a young mouse fashions wings from a pair of leaves, to the great amusement of his brothers when his attempts to use them fail. When the butterfly he rescues from a spider proves to be a fairy, he wishes for wings. But his bat-like appearance doesn't fit in with either the birds or the other mice, and he finds himself friendless; even the bats make fun of him. Written by Jon Reeves
bee
The Wise Little Hen
Title: The Wise Little Hen
Character: Baby Chicks (voice) (uncredited)
Released: June 8, 1934
Type: Movie
Join Donald Duck in his debut in the classic animated short The Wise Little Hen. The Little Hen is planting corn and would like to have help from Peter Pig and Donald Duck, but they refuse stating they each have a "tummy ache." When it comes time to harvest the corn, Peter Pig and Donald still refuse to help the Hen, so she and her chicks do the harvest by themselves. Finally, the hen cooks the corn and offers some to Donald and Peter Pig, but when they look more carefully they discover a surprise.
bee
Birds in the Spring
Title: Birds in the Spring
Character: Birds (voice) (uncredited)
Released: March 11, 1933
Type: Movie
Two birds rejoice over the hatching of their three eggs; as they grow, the hatchlings are taught to sing and fly. One falls from the nest and has adventures with a rattlesnake and a beehive before finding his way home.
bee
Babes in the Woods
Title: Babes in the Woods
Character: Cat (voice) (uncredited)
Released: November 19, 1932
Type: Movie
Two Dutch children stumble on a clearing in the woods where gnomes are going about their business. The gnomes are friendly to the children. A witch comes and takes them away on her broom to her gingerbread house, where she turns nasty on them, turning the boy into a spider, her yowling cat to stone, and tries to turn the girl into a rat when a gnome's arrow stops her. While the gnomes are fighting the witch, Hansel and Gretl free the other children who have been imprisoned and transformed by the witch.
bee
Mickey Steps Out
Title: Mickey Steps Out
Character: Cat (voice) (uncredited)
Released: July 6, 1931
Type: Movie
Mickey heads over to see Minnie, but Pluto won't leave him alone. He gets there and watches through the window, standing on Pluto, while Minnie plays piano. Pluto runs off to chase a cat and leaves Mickey stuck in the window. Minnie has him in, and he dances to her playing. Pluto chases the cat into the house and causes havoc. The chase leads into the piano, where Pluto picks up the player-piano roll as an extended tail, and the destruction continues.
bee
Mother Goose Melodies
Title: Mother Goose Melodies
Character: Whistling (voice) (uncredited)
Released: April 15, 1931
Type: Movie
A book of nursery rhymes plays for Old King Cole.