Every
Princess has a Royal Villain.
Snow
White's Villain, The Evil Queen
Lucile
La Vern
November
7th, 1872 – March 4th, 1945
Lucille La Verne (November 7, 1872 – March 4, 1945) was an American actress known for her
appearances in silent, scolding, and vengeful roles in early color films, as
well as for her triumphs on the American stage.
La Verne was born in Nashville, Tennessee.
She began her career as a child in local summer stock. As a teenager, she
performed in small touring theater troupes. When she was fourteen she played
both Juliet and Lady Macbeth back to back. Her ability to play almost any part
quickly caught the attention of more prolific companies, and she made her Broadway
debut in 1888. She then became a leading lady with some of the best stock
companies in America, scoring triumphs in San Francisco and Boston among other
cities. She eventually ran her own successful stock company.
On the New York stage, she was known for
her range and versatility. Among her hits on Broadway were principal roles in Uncle
Tom's Cabin, Seven Days and Way Down East. She was also known
for her blackface roles. Her biggest stage triumph came in 1923, when she
created the role of Widow Caggle in the hit play Sun Up. Between the
Broadway run, US tour, and European tour, La Verne would give over 3,000
performances. She also worked on Broadway as a playwright and director. In the
late 1920s, a Broadway theater was named for her for a short period of time
She made her motion picture debut in
1914. Her best known part is that of the voice of the Wicked Queen, and her
alter ego, the old crone from Disney's 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
She was also the Disney artists' model for the old crone that the Queen
transforms herself into in order to give Snow White the poisoned apple. (Her
resemblance to the crone can be noted in Little Caesar (1931), in which Ms. La
Verne plays Ma Magdelena, as well as MGM's film version of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities,
in which she plays a confederate of Madame Defarge called The Vengeance.) She
died in Culver City, California, after suffering from cancer. Her interment was
located at Inglewood Park Cemetery.
At a recording session, Lucille La Verne, the voice of
the Wicked Queen, was told by the Disney animators that they needed an older,
raspier version of the Queen's voice for the Old Witch. Ms. Laverne stepped out
of the recording booth, returned a few minutes later, and gave a perfect
"Old Hag's voice" that stunned the animators. When asked how she did
it, she replied, "Oh, I just took my teeth out."
