Scooby-Doo: Daphne Voice Actress Heather North Dies

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Heather North, Voice of Daphne on Scooby-Doo, Passes Away At Age 71

By Kevin Melrose

Published Dec 20, 2017

Actress Heather North, who voiced danger-prone Daphne on Scooby-Doo for more than three decades, has died after a long illness.

Actress Heather North, the voice of Daphne Blake on Scooby-Doo for more than three decades, has passed away at age 71.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, she died on Nov. 30 at her home in Studio City, California, following a long illness.

Born in Pasadena in 1945, North appeared in several live-actions projects, including Disney's The Barefoot Executive (opposite Kurt Russell), but she's best known as "danger-prone" Daphne, the enthusiastic but clumsy teen who solved mysteries alongside Fred, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby on Hanna-Barbera's beloved Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and subsequent incarnations.

North was actually the second actress to voice Daphne, replacing Stefanianna Christopherson for the 1970 second season of the original series. She continued in the role across the next three decades, on such Saturday morning cartoons as The New Scooby-Doo Movies, The Scooby-Doo Show, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, and, more recently, the direct-to-DVD animated movies Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire and Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico.

North's live-action work also included guest roles on Gidget, The Fugitive, The Monkees, Days of Our Lives, Adam-12 and Love, American Style.

She was married to Emmy-winning director/producer H. Wesley Kenney (All in the Family) from 1971 until his death in 2015. North's survivors include son Kevin, stepdaughter Nina, stepson Wes and their families.