PEEKING INTO THE PAST: Was Huckleberry Hound’s voice discovered in Albemarle?

Dr. William Harward was a veterinarian in Albemarle for many years. His partner, E.M. Martin, was his next door neighbor. Dr. Martin had a daughter, Myrtis, who during World War II left Albemarle to work in Washington D.C. One evening while waiting on a bus to go to a party, she met and sometime later married Daws Butler. Daws had quite an interesting career. He was a voice actor and worked for Hanna-Barbera. Some of Daws’ more well-known characters included Quick Draw McGraw, Cap’n Crunch and Yogi Bear. According to the Butler’s son Charles, back before they were married, Daws would visit Myrtis in Albemarle. Before Daws could get to the door of her house, Dr. Harward, who was next door, would ask him to come over and talk. Dr. Harward had a distinctive Southern accent that Daws remembered years later when he created the voice for Huckleberry Hound. Hanna-Barbera later tried to claim that the voice was modeled after Andy Griffith, but Griffith did not really become well-known until after Huckleberry Hound was introduced and the Butler family has always maintained that Dr. Harward of Albemarle was the true inspiration. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}

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