Julie Bennett (January 24, 1932 – March 31, 2020) was an American actress and voice artist whose career is remembered chiefly for roles in classic animated series. She was born in Manhattan, New York, and worked regularly in animation and related film projects from the mid-20th century onward. Bennett's most widely recognized character is Cindy Bear, the companion of Yogi Bear.
Her association with Hanna-Barbera productions brought her voice to family audiences. Bennett supplied the speaking voice for Cindy Bear on The Yogi Bear Show and in the feature film Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!, contributing to a series of characters that became staples of Saturday-morning and syndicated television. Her work exemplified the mid-century American voice-acting tradition, which relied on clear, expressive character voices for animated comedy and children's entertainment.
Career highlights
- Bennett voiced Cindy Bear for Hanna-Barbera, a role that connected her to the broader Yogi Bear franchise and its film adaptation.
- In the 1990s she joined the voice cast of the animated Fox Kids era series Spider-Man, where she took over the role of Aunt May following the death of fellow actor Linda Gary.
- Her performances were part of a generation of voice actors who helped establish the sound and pacing of American television animation.
Bennett's career illustrates the steady, often unsung work of character performers in animation: many of these actors moved between television series, feature films, and occasional live-action appearances while remaining primarily identified with a handful of memorable parts. Her Evanescent public profile contrasts with the lasting familiarity of the characters she portrayed.
Julie Bennett died on March 31, 2020, in Los Angeles from complications related to COVID-19 at the age of 88. Her death was noted in obituaries that remembered her for the warmth and clarity of her voice performances and for the continuity she provided to long-running animated franchises.
Notable facts: she spanned early television animation into modern syndicated cartoons, performed for both television and a theatrical animated feature, and is one of several mid-20th-century voice actors whose work continues to be heard in reruns and classic-animation collections.