People are shocked that Aunt Bethany in 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' was the voice of Betty Boop

Emily Shiffer
Sat, 06 Dec 2025 20:37:02 +0000
Aunt bethany, Betty boop, Chevy chase, Christmas, Christmas movie, Christmas vacation, Christmas vacation movie, Clark griswold, Mae questal, Olive oyl, Popeye, Christmas movies, Voice over, Cartoon, Animation, Animated movies, Cartoons, National lampoon's christmas vacation

One of the most beloved Christmas movies is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, starring actor Chevy Chase as the iconic Clark Griswold. With too many quotable lines and laughs, it's a movie that's played on repeat this time of year. A new 2025 poll by PixelParade of 2,000 Americans found that National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is the clear favorite Christmas movie, with 31% of respondents ranking it No. 1.
But people are just now discovering that actress Mae Questel, who played the hilarious Aunt Bethany, was also the voice behind iconic animated characters like Betty Boop and Olive Oyl from Popeye.
In a Reddit community discussing 1980s culture, people shared their amazement. "I had no idea until now that Aunt Bethany was the voice of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop. That's awesome," one commented. Another added, "I am today years old equating her in Christmas Vacation and Betty F**king Boop. Wow."

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Another commented, "I always loved that Christmas Vacation pulled out a roster of absolute ringers for the older relatives," while another shared, "She is an American icon."

Questel's role in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation was her last before her death in 1998, according to her IMDB. And she had an incredible career before her role as Aunt Bethany.

@timeflowinglikeariver
#nostalgia #nationallampoonschristmasvacation #maequestel #1978

Questel was born in 1908 in the Bronx, New York. She attended the Theatre Guild school in New York before going to Columbia University, where she studied theater, according to the Voice-Over Actors Hall of Fame. After graduation, she found success as a Vaudeville performer known for her outstanding vocal imitations.

The creator of Betty Boop, Max Fleischer, hired Questel in 1931 to voice the famed character after he heard her singing the "boop-oop-a-doop" routine. According to The Washington Post, the character of Betty Boop began as Betty Coed, but transformed once Questel took on the role.

She told the publication in 1978, "There was something about me in those days, I never walked, I hopped. I was very much alive...There was this nostalgia thing, in Arizona, awhile ago, and I saw of the shorts I had made with Rudy Vallee back then, and I'd never seen them before, and well, I hate to say this, but I took a look at myself, and I was so adorable...I couldn't look at myself enough...it's too bad I can't look at myself and say that now, not because I hate myself, but because in those days...how much of me was in Betty Boop? Oh, a lot, a lot. I'm still a real idiot, but I was especially then, bouncy, bubbly, never a straight face. I love Betty Boop, everybody loved Betty Boop."

She voiced Boop until 1939 and even reprised the role decades later for the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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Questel also became the voice of Olive Oyl and Sweat Pea in the Popeye cartoons in 1933. She was the voice of the lanky character from 1931 to 1967.

Although it was her longest role, Questel didn't personally love playing her.

"Olive Oyl, I wasn't so crazy about," she told The Washington Post. "Some people really love Olive Oyl. I say, how the hell can they? So what if it's on three times a day, I don't have to love it. Betty Boop was a sexpot. Olive Oyl is a string bean, with an ugly puss, and a pair of legs that look like spaghetti."

Questel’s career also included a number of television commercials, most notably her long-running role as Aunt Bluebell for Scott Towels, among many others.