Paddi Edwards: Ghostly Entertaining
If you’re a fan of Disney Animation like I am, Halloween is as a time for celebrating and (or at least acknowledging) Disney villains. Throughout the history of Disney, the villains have always been voiced by talented actors—all of whose voices have unique qualities, from deep tones to harsh rasps. In this blog, I’d like to tell you about an actress who was known for having a raspy voice that she lent to a variety of films, most notably The Little Mermaid (1989).
Patricia Mary Ursula Edwards was born on March 8th, 1931, in Bristol, England. She and her family relocated to Waban, Massachusetts where she officially became a U.S. citizen at the age of 21. In 1960, she made her official debut in the British film Inn for Trouble, a spin-off of a television series. In 1982, she starred as the Secretary in Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. Not long after that, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were casting for their upcoming film project in Ghostbusters (1984), having just cast Yugoslavian actress Slavitza Jovan to portray the ruthless deity Gozer, they decided that her Slavic accent was too comical. Since they wanted the character of Gozer to be one of the scarier elements of the film, Paddi Edwards’ spookier voice turned out to be just what they were looking for.
After lending her voice to “Ghostbusters,” Paddi Edwards made a guest-star appearance on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, playing the role of Anya the shape-shifting mother figure in “The Dauphin” episode which aired on television in 1989. The same year, Edwards was hired by Disney to voice the dual role of Ursula’s two evil eels in “Little Mermaid.” It is ironic, considering that Flotsam and Jetsam worked for a sea witch named Ursula in the movie, and one of Paddi Edwards’ real middle names is Ursula! In 1997, she was rehired by Disney to voice one of the Fates in Hercules (1997) which was co-written/co-directed by John Musker and Ron Clements who also co-wrote/co-directed “Mermaid.” She also lent her voices to Disney’s direct-to-video sequels to The Brave Little Toaster (1987), The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue (1997) and The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars (1998). Around the time of these movies, Edwards also lent her voices to Disney television shows as well, including 101: Dalmatians: The Series (1997-1998) and Pepper Ann (1997-2000), voicing the character of Vera Groober-Schwartz. She continued to voice that character, along with lending her voice to An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000), the direct-to-video sequel to A Goofy Movie (1995), before her untimely death due to respiratory failure on October 19th, 1999 at the age of 68.
Paddi Edwards has a unique body of work in the entertainment industry. Remembered as the voices of Gozer in “Ghostbusters,” Flotsam and Jetsam in “Little Mermaid,” or to Trekkies as Anya in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” though I’m sure we can all agree that her spooky voice served as an asset to every film and/or television show that she was a part of.
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