I want to write a fan letter to Patricia Kugler Whitely

[Anime Girl]

I know, I haven't been on the forum in years, stuff has kinda been crazy at home lately (on the positive side, last year I got to meet my first celebrity in person, but if I talk about that I'll veer off topic haha). Might put a life update later, but idk. I miss being here but I miss when there was more people tbh. Anyways, I discovered 80's Astro Boy is on Tubi (they also got a lot of Black Jack stuff too), so I've been rewatching it (they use the weird dub/VHS order for the episodes, I've gotten used to the original order they had on the Manga Entertainment DVD set). What can I say, I've been missing it again. But honestly, I've kinda wondered if it's possible to get into contact with Astro's voice actress. I don't know if she'd answer if I found her contact info, but I'd like to write her a fan letter. Honestly, I was curious about the prospect of that years ago, but I guess I never thought to ask for whatever reason. But being that she's only really voiced in one show, she's pretty much impossible to look up. I did find something interesting when I googled her name though. Last year in Australia, there was an Astro Boy convention (that sounds like fun!), and she was there for meet and greet, and I heard wonderful things about her from people who got to meet her there. I guess it kinda makes sense, Astro has a lot of fans in Australia, the 80's series is pretty popular there, I kinda wish more people liked it here in the states. Most people seem to know about Astro, but I don't think a lot of people actually watched him, my dad shared him with me as a child and so he's special to me. Also I heard that the 80's dub, which was syndicated, had aired on a few PBS stations between the 80's and 90's, at least according to Wikipedia. I never knew that, I just never saw PBS airing anime before. I do remember here that the voice actors for Skunk and Mr. Mustachio were on the forum too, but they've probably been inactive for some time (I hope they're still around and healthy). Yeah it's a long shot, but I want to tell the lady who played Astro how much that character meant to me growing up, so I thought coming here was worth a shot. Hope everyone is doing well.

[Shiyonasan]

Welcome back, Anime Girl! Don't worry about being inactive, the forums have been that way in general for some time. There have been some old members who have come back to check in in the last several years and it's been nice to see them again.

As it happens, I'm following the man who set up that Australia Astro Boy convention through social media, and he follows me as well. I've been able to chat with him in the past, so I'll see if I can send him a message with your request. He's actually an Astro Boy Online Forums member as well; his username is Dizrythmia. Maybe he can help you out.

[Anime Girl]

Welcome back, Anime Girl! Don't worry about being inactive, the forums have been that way in general for some time. There have been some old members who have come back to check in in the last several years and it's been nice to see them again.

As it happens, I'm following the man who set up that Australia Astro Boy convention through social media, and he follows me as well. I've been able to chat with him in the past, so I'll see if I can send him a message with your request. He's actually an Astro Boy Online Forums member as well; his username is Dizrythmia. Maybe he can help you out.

Thank you for the kind words. And that's amazing! Yes I'd really appreciate it if you can set me up with Dizrythmia to make that happen. Is he usually active here? Thank you so much for responding.

[Dizrythmia]

I have doubts about the PBS airings, and I can't seem to get confirmation about them. From what I understand, PBS screens educational programming. No matter how much we love the show, I think we can all agree that Astro Boy does not fit in to this mould.

Yes, I was speaker at the Astro Con event, and I put the organiser in touch with Patty. Being an Astro fan from way back, he was thrilled to run the first ever Astro Boy event with the voice of Astro Boy.

As far as your letter is concerned, I will reach out to Patty for you. Send me an email. My personal email address is this username at gmail dot com. (Written that way to avoid any bots)

[DrFrag]

I was able to contact Patricia many years ago when she worked at a theatre in Wisconsin. Googled her name, found a play she was in, and emailed the theatre. They forwarded it on to her and she replied. But theatres have since had a hard time with covid and I don't know the state of things now, so Dizrythmia's offer sounds like the best way forward.

She's also on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/patricia.whitely/

Also came up in a google search that she's married to George Whitely. In the 1980s Astroboy episode The Human-Faced Rock, the old man was named George Whitely. Huge co-incidence? Or a fun character naming decision? I know Astro's First Love had a train station named Battaglia (named after one of the directors). Jay Rath would probably know, he voiced Mr Whitely and has a treasure trove of stories. I assume Patty was already married to George then because she was pregnant during recording.

[Dizrythmia]

I was able to contact Patricia many years ago when she worked at a theatre in Wisconsin. Googled her name, found a play she was in, and emailed the theatre. They forwarded it on to her and she replied. But theatres have since had a hard time with covid and I don't know the state of things now, so Dizrythmia's offer sounds like the best way forward.

She's also on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/patricia.whitely/

Also came up in a google search that she's married to George Whitely. In the 1980s Astroboy episode The Human-Faced Rock, the old man was named George Whitely. Huge co-incidence? Or a fun character naming decision? I know Astro's First Love had a train station named Battaglia (named after one of the directors). Jay Rath would probably know, he voiced Mr Whitely and has a treasure trove of stories. I assume Patty was already married to George then because she was pregnant during recording.

She is about to start a new play actually. Not sure about the practicality of contacting the theatre, but you are welcome to do so if you prefer.

I have let her know there is a fan who wants to contact her. She asked me to forward the message to her, so if the email comes to me, I will pass it on.

I was not aware of the character of "George Whitely" in the show. It was probably a fun character naming decision, like the Battaglia character at the station. Carl Battaglia did tell me about how they got him into the booth for that brief time during one of the Uran episodes.

Yes, Patty was married and pregnant during the original December 1980 "audition" session (of which I still have mixed stories as to what happened), but when recording the show between February and August of 1982, her daughter was well and truly born.

[Anime Girl]

Hey Dizry. Thanks for answering. I'm gonna send you a private message here in this site with my email address so you know what it is (just so I don't have to put my personal email out in public), and then I'll send you the email to your address in a few hours. I just came back to check this since I had a busy week haha. Also as for the PBS thing, I still think it might be plausible that Astro Boy aired in some stations, many stations would play Doctor Who during the weekends (they started in the 80's with the 4th Doctor as portrayed by Tom Baker, and it's how it first became popular in the US, and I actually remember seeing a few reruns of it in my hometown during the early 2000's as a kid). I do remember when Doctor Who started it was thought out to be an educational show, but I think that aspect got dropped or downplayed somewhat later (long before Tom Baker's tenure as the Doctor in the 70's) but I can't answer that one. In any case, I could see both shows being played on the weekend since they're both family friendly sci-fi shows. And apparently there was a station in San Jose California was well known for broadcasting anime. So it happens, but it's rare. And I wasn't around when the dub was first out, so I can't tell you if my local station aired the show (I'm in Ohio haha), and it's not like I could get records of it. I only got to see the series when my dad got videotapes in the 2000's, and later DVDs. Also I think it's pretty wonderful that Patty is still doing theater.