Sara Berner, a talented voice actress, began her career in the 1930s and 1940s, making a name for herself with her impressive range of accents and dialects.
Born Lillian Herdan in Albany, New York, in January 1912, Sara's family moved to Oklahoma where she studied drama at Tulsa University for two years.
Before gaining fame, Sara worked in retail, but her natural talent for mimicry often got her into trouble, including being fired from a job at a Philadelphia department store for mimicking customers.
However, this setback ultimately led to her success in the entertainment industry, as her versatility and comedic skills earned her numerous job offers and a fivefold increase in salary compared to her retail job.
Sara's impressive vocal range included exaggerated ethnic dialects, such as Hillbilly, Yiddish, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Polish, and Armenian, which she developed by telephoning various Armenian rug dealers.
By the 1950s, Sara had her own comedy detective series, "Sara's Private Caper," on network radio, playing a former police secretary turned sleuth. Although the show didn't gain much traction, Sara continued to work extensively in Hollywood, primarily in animation.
Sara's voice acting credits include various Disney, Warner Brothers, and Walter Lantz productions, as well as her iconic roles as Beaky Buzzard's Italian Mamma and Jerry the cartoon mouse in Anchors Aweigh.
Throughout her career, Sara worked with notable directors and actors, including Walt Disney, Walter Lantz, and Gene Kelly. She also made appearances in films and television, including a memorable role as the dog-owning upstairs neighbor in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window.
Sara Berner passed away in 1969 at the age of 57, leaving behind a legacy as a talented and versatile voice actress.
