Julie McWhirter

Julie McWhirter, also known as Julie Dees and Julie McWhirter-Dees, is a retired American voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Jeannie in the animated version of Jeannie, Bubbles in Jabberjaw and Baby Smurf and Sassette in The Smurfs.

McWhirter graduated from DePauw University in 1970, with a degree in speech. She studied acting and improvisational comedy under the guidance of Howard Storm and Charles Conrad.[citation needed ]

One of her first voice roles was as the title character in Jeannie, alongside Mark Hamill, Bob Hastings and Joe Besser. She also portrayed the character in her multiple appearances in other Hanna-Barbera series. She did the voice of Kanga in Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, taking over the role from Barbara Luddy. Her voice acting also includes numerous other animated programs, such as Casper and the Angels, Drak Pack, The Smurfs, The Flintstone Kids, and the Ruby-Spears series Thundarr the Barbarian.

McWhirter made her stage debut as Eliza Doolittle in the Lawrence Theatre production of My Fair Lady. She dubbed the singing voice for Blousey Brown in the film Bugsy Malone. The actress was also one of the hosts of the 1977 sketch comedy series Wacko. She portrayed Betty Rubble in The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones TV movie and was the voice of Huckleberry Pie in the 1980s Strawberry Shortcake specials.

She has been married to disc jockey Rick Dees since 1977.[citation needed ]