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Margie Hines
Hines in 1933 Vitaphone short, Harry Warren: America's Foremost Composer
Born	Margaret Louise Hines (1909-10-15)October 15, 1909 New York City, U.S.
Died	December 23, 1985(1985-12-23) (aged 76) Seaford, New York, U.S.
Other names	Marjorie Hines Marjorie Heidtmann
Occupation	Voice actress
Years active	1930–1943
Known for	Betty Boop, Olive Oyl
Spouses	Jack Mercer ​ ​(m. 1939; div. 1950)​ Raymond Brenneis ​ ​(m. 1951; div. 1954)​ Jesse William Heidtmann ​ ​(m. 1956)​

Margaret Louise Hines (October 15, 1909 – December 23, 1985), also known as Marjorie Hines or Margie Hines, was an American animation voice artist.

She was known for her work at Fleischer Studios, where she was the original voice of Betty Boop. Hines served from 1930 until 1932 and again from 1938 until 1939, before voicing Olive Oyl and Swee' Pea in the Popeye the Sailor cartoons from 1938 to 1944. She also provided the voices for Fleischer's animated films Gulliver's Travels and Mr Bug Goes to Town.

Career

Hines was the original voice actress for Fleischer's cartoon character Betty Boop, whilst she was touring vaudeville she was heard by vocalist Billy Murray, an employee at Fleischer studio who suggested she was the right choice for the voice of the character she made her who debut in the cartoon short Dizzy Dishes in 1930, studio head Max Fleischer hired Hines, as she was a Helen Kane sound-alike, and Kane was the basis for the character. Hines and several other actresses voiced Betty until Mae Questel took over the role in 1931.

Beginning in 1932, Hines also did vocals for Aesop's Film Fables and Tom and Jerry produced by Van Beuren Studios. Her Van Beuren credits were erroneously attributed to Bonnie Poe, another actress who had worked for Fleischer on Betty Boop cartoons.

Mae Questel, who was Fleischer's voice for Betty Boop and Popeye characters Olive Oyl and Swee'Pea during the mid-1930s, left show business in 1938 to start a family. It was that year when Margie Hines was recalled as Questel's replacement. She moved with the Fleischer Studios staff when they left New York City for Miami. As a result, Hines assumed the roles done by Questel in both the Betty Boop and Popeye series. Hines voiced Betty Boop through her final series entries in 1939, and continued to voice Olive until 1943, when the studio, by then taken over by Paramount Pictures and renamed Famous Studios, returned to New York. The Marry-Go-Round (1943) was Hines' final short as the voice of Olive, with Mae Questel returning to the role in 1944 in The Anvil Chorus Girl.

Personal life

Hines was born in Glendale, Queens, New York City, in October 1909, as Margaret Louise Hines.

On March 3, 1939, at the purported age of 21 (more likely 29 since she was born in 1909), Hines married her 29 year old co-star Winfield B. "Jack" Mercer, who provided the voice of Popeye. At the time of her marriage, her mother lived on Long Island and had the two remarry at a New York church. The two later divorced in 1950. Hines married for a second time in 1951, to Raymond Brenneis (1922–1981), in Greenwich, Connecticut. However, the couple divorced in 1954. In 1956, Hines married Jesse William Heidtmann (1918–1997) in Southold, New York.

Under the name Marjorie L. Heidtmann, Hines died in Seaford, New York on December 23, 1985, at age 76.

Filmography

Notes

1. Some sources suggest she was aged 21, or alternatively 24, when she married in 1939. However, the New York Birth Index shows Margaret L Hines as born in Queens, New York on October 15, 1909. The 1910 US Federal Census has Margaret L Hines aged 6 months, living with parents Andrew T and Cecilia M Hines at 7 Van Horn St, Queens. The 1915 New York Census has her, aged 5, with the same parents at 7 Delta Place, Queens. The 1920 Federal Census has Margaret Hines, aged 10, living with Cecile Hines, still at 7 Delta Place. The 1930 Federal Census has Margaret L. Hines aged 20, "singer", living with Cecilia M Hines at 6164 Ralph Ave., Queens. The 1940 Federal Census has Marjorie R (?) Mercer aged 30, "artist", born in Queens, living with Winfield B Mercer, at 3130 Gifford Lane, Miami, Florida. All these records are public records which can be accessed via websites such as Ancestry.com.

References

1. "Clipped From The Sun and the Erie County Independent". The Sun and the Erie County Independent. April 17, 1941. p. 2. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
2. "New York Birth Index, 1909". Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
3. "US Federal Census, 1910". Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
4. "New York State Census, 1915". Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
5. "US Federal Census, 1920". Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
6. "US Federal Census, 1930". Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
7. "US Federal Census, 1940". Archived from the original on May 4, 2024. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
8. Milestone column Time (March 20, 1939)(subscription required)
9. Scott, Keith (October 3, 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media. pp. 668, 678.
10. "Margie Hines: Betty's First Voice!". Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
11. Grandinetti, Fred M. (December 31, 2003). Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History (2nd ed.). McFarland (published 2004). p. 60. ISBN 0-7864-2687-X.
12. ^ "Florida Marriages, 1830-1993," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V65G-ZPK Archived October 1, 2023, at the Wayback Machine : July 12, 2019), Winfield B Jack Mercer and Margaret Louise Hines, March 3, 1939; citing Marriage, Broward, Florida, United States, citing multiple County Clerks of Court, Florida; FHL microfilm 2,241,554.
13. ^ Stout, Wesley W. (April 22, 1957). "The Beachcomber: You may know or maybe not". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 6. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
14. "Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK7F-LKK Archived October 1, 2023, at the Wayback Machine : December 25, 2014), Jack W Mercer and Marjorie Mercer, 1950; from "Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com Archived November 27, 1999, at the Wayback Machine : 2005); citing Dade, Florida, certificate 11372, volume 517, Florida Department of Health, Jacksonville.
15. "Ancestry: Marjorie Mercer in the Connecticut Marriage Records, 1897–1968". Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
16. "Ancestry: Marjorie Brenneis in the Alabama, U.S., Divorce Index, 1950–1959". Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
17. "Ancestry: Marjorie L. Hines/Brenneis in the New York State, Marriage Index, 1881–1967". Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
18. "Ancestry: Marjorie Heidtmann in the U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014". Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
19. "Marjorie Hines/Heidtmann gravestone". Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
20. Ancestry: Jesse William Heidtmann in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007

External links

• Margie Hines at IMDb

• 1909 births
• 1985 deaths
• 20th-century American actresses
• Actresses from New York City
• American voice actresses
• Famous Studios people
• Fleischer Studios people