“Josie and the Pussycats” Inspiration Josie DeCarlo Dies [VIDEO]
Josie DeCarlo, the inspiration for cartoon sensation singer-guitarist Josie McCoy of the 1970 Hanna-Barbera series Josie and the Pussycats, has passed away, according to a report in Big Cartoon News.
The character of Josie McCoy was drawn to resemble the real life Josie by her husband, comic book legend Dan DeCarlo, who died in 2001.
Josie McCoy was voiced by Janet Waldo in the original Josie and the Pussycats series, as well as the 1972 Hanna-Barbera shows Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space and The New Scooby-Doo Movies.
DeCarlo described in a NY Times interview how she became the inspiration for the leader of the Pussycats.
“We went on a Caribbean cruise, and I had a costume for the cruise, and that’s the way it started,” Josie DeCarlo said of her cat suit, described in the lyrics of the original cartoon series’ theme song: “Josie and the Pussycats/Long tails and ears for hats.”
“The hairdo came after,” Josie DeCarlo said. “One day, I came in with a new hairdo with a little bow in my hair, and he said, ‘That’s it!’”
Dan DeCarlo then sketched his wife in that outfit, and named the “star” after her when he went shopping to several syndicates for a proposed newspaper strip, the article states.
Josie and the Pussycats were a staple of Saturday morning programming for kids and teens in the 1970's. Here is the intro from the show:
Then a clip of Josie and the Pussycats performing 'You've Come a Long Way Baby'
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