So here's what John Grady wants to know…
I just watched the old Merrie Melodies, Backwoods Bunny (1959). Lots of Mel Blanc, of course but also lots of Daws Butler, who was not credited. Were they friends?
"Friends" might be too strong a word. Something like "colleagues" might be more proper. They worked together often, respected each other's talents and competed often for the same jobs. In '59, Daws was getting a lot of attention because he was on Ruff 'n' Reddy, Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw, plus he was heard on some of the Jay Ward cartoons. The new Hanna-Barbera shows were getting plenty of media attention and Daws was mentioned and interviewed a lot. So the public was learning that there was someone else in the world besides Mel Blanc who could speak for animated cartoon characters.
Maybe "friendly rivals" is the term we need here. Mel was, in a nice way, pretty protective of his reputation and, of course, he also had an on-camera presence on Jack Benny's shows, a lot of talk shows and occasional other appearances. Daws usually turned down offers to act on-camera. So they kind of nicely co-existed and always spoke well of each other. The one time I had a long conversation with Mel, he referred to Daws as "my only rival."
But I doubt they ever went to dinner together or went camping together or anything like that. Daws was one of the nicest, most wonderful human beings it has ever been my privilege to know and he was wholly non-competitive, often recommending other actors for jobs. I didn't know Mel as well but the only complaints I ever heard about him from other actors were about his deal with Warner Brothers that prevented others from receiving screen credit when they co-starred. And I don't think that was a big deal for most of them. Voiceover actors do a lot of non-credited work.
Daws didn't like not getting credit but he also kind of liked the anonymity of being a "star" who didn't get recognized in public. Mel got a lot of fame due to a series of commercials he did for the American Express card. Here's one…
Daws was offered the same deal but he declined it. He wasn't as into self-promotion as Mel…and that's probably part of the reason they got along well.
