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Barbara Luddy was an American actress and vaudeville singer from Great Falls, Montana. From the 1950s through the 1970s, she frequently worked as a voice actress for Walt Disney Animation Studios. Her most notable role was voicing Lady, the co-protagonist in the 1955 animated romance "Lady and the Tramp." Other significant voice roles included the heroic fairy Merryweather in "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) and the maternal kangaroo Kanga in the featurettes "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966), "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968), and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too" (1974). Archive recordings of Luddy’s voice were also used for Kanga in the 1977 feature film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh."
Born in 1908 in Great Falls, Montana, a city named for its nearby series of five waterfalls along the Missouri River, Luddy’s hometown was founded in 1883 by businessman and politician Paris Gibson (1830–1920), who intended to harness the waterfalls for hydroelectric power. Great Falls became Montana’s first city with its own hydroelectric dam. Luddy was the daughter of Will and Molly Luddy.
She received her education at a convent run by the Ursulines, a Catholic order focused on educating girls. Luddy began performing as a singer on the vaudeville circuit during her childhood. By the late 1920s, she acted in a touring company alongside fellow vaudevillian Leo Carrillo (1880–1961). In 1929, their troupe toured Australia, where Sydney press praised Luddy for her "pert audacity and vivaciousness."
In the 1930s, Luddy transitioned to voice acting on radio shows. From 1936 to 1943, she was a main cast member of the anthology series "The First Nighter Program" (1930–1953), which mostly featured romantic-comedy stories. In 1937, she signed a long-term contract to provide her exclusive voice talents for the series.
During World War II, Luddy was part of the main cast of the radio soap opera "Lonely Women" (1942–1943), one of many soap operas created by scriptwriter Irna Phillips (1901–1973), known for exploring the complexities of modern life. Luddy voiced Judith Clark, a lovesick secretary. Initially, the series featured an all-female cast, with male characters introduced later.
By the 1950s, Luddy began regularly lending her voice to Disney Animation productions. In the 1960s, she also took on minor television roles, appearing in popular series such as the sitcom "Hazel" (1961–1966) and the soap opera "Days of Our Lives" (1965–).
Barbara Luddy passed away in April 1979 from lung cancer at the age of 70, just a month shy of her 71st birthday. She remains fondly remembered by animation fans for her voice work. Her character Lady became a recurring supporting figure in the Disney comic strip "Scamp" (1955–1988), which followed the adventures of Lady’s son, the titular Scamp.
