Did Otis (Hal Smith) do the voice of Barney Rubble?
Hal Smith (aka Otis) did Barney Rubble only for the first few episodes of The Flintstones (with Bill Thompson as Fred.) Later, Alan Reed took over as Fred, and the great Mel Blanc assumed the role of Barney. (Trivia time: The Flintstones premiered Sept 30, 1960 exactly three days before TAGS did.) Hal Smith did many, many other characters’ voices over the years, including Winne the Pooh (plus Owl and Eeyore), Jiminy Cricket, Goofy, Phillipe (the Horse in “Beauty and the Beast”) and the small soft drink cup in about a zillion McDonald’s Happy Meal commercials (Howard Morris, aka Ernest T. Bass, was the Hamburglar’s voice.) Hal Smith was also the voice of Santa Claus in countless Christmas cartoons. Whenever anyone needed a Santa voiceover, Hal Smith was very often the one they called.
