Heather North, the actor behind the voice of Daphne Blake in numerous cartoon iterations of Scooby-Doo, has died. She was 71.
North began her career in acting during the 1960s, taking guest roles in sitcoms like My Three Sons, Gidget, and The Monkees. But she began her most iconic role in 1970, taking over as the voice of Daphne during the second season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? From there, she went on to voice the cartoon through more than three decades of TV series and specials, including The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, and more. During that time, she continued to work in film and television, co-starring with a young Kurt Russell in the 1971 Disney film The Barefoot Executive, as well as other TV appearances on shows such as Adam-12 and Circle Of Fear.
North’s last voice performance as Daphne was in 2003 for a pair of direct-to-DVD special, Scooby-Doo And The Legend Of The Vampire and Scooby-Doo And The Monster Of Mexico. She retired from acting shortly thereafter. She reportedly died after a lengthy illness, but the nature of her ailment has not been disclosed.