Here’s What Happened to the Cast of ‘The Jetsons,’ Plus How the Show Predicted the Future

George O’Hanlon is George Jetson

Born on November 23, 1912, George Samuel O’Hanlon, in the years prior to The Jetsons, was best known for his role as Joe McDoakes in a series of live-action short films produced by Warner Bros. Outside of that, he was mostly a character actor, moving from project to project and he was also a writer, penning scripts for shows like The Flintstones and Petticoat Junction. Speaking of The Flintstones, he actually auditioned for the role of Fred, which ultimately went to Alan Reed, but he was remembered by producers when casting began for The Jetsons. Regarding playing George Jetson, The New York Times quotes him as saying, “George Jetson is a very average man. He has trouble with his boss, he has problems with his kids, and so on. The only difference is that he lives in the next century.”

George gave George Jetson his voice in every version of The Jetsons, although for the 1980s revival he had suffered a stroke and was rendered blind with limited mobility as a result. For that reason, he chose to record alone in the booth, with someone feeding him the lines that he repeated into the mic. On February 11, 1989, he suffered a second stroke while in the midst of recording his role in Jetsons: The Movie, and sadly passed away in the booth.

The Video Phone is Now Commonplace

There is one invention featured on the The Jetsons that is very much a part of our everyday lives, and that's the video phones that allowed the characters to communicate with each other. You need no further proof than the the iWatch on your wrist, the iPhone in your pocket or using Skype on your computer — all of which allows us to see anyone we're talking to virtually anywhere around the globe.

Penny Singleton is Jane Jetson

Prior to The Jetsons, the actress, who was born on September 15, 1908, was best known as Blondie Bumstead — based on the Blondie newspaper comic strip — between 1938 and 1950, and even voiced her on radio from 1939 to 1950. She voiced the character of Jane Jetson originally in the 1962-63 season, and did so again for the revival series in the 1980s, various specials and the 1990’s Jetsons: The Movie. Sadly, she died following a stroke on November 12, 2003.

Flying Cars Are Coming!

Yes, The Jetsons, just like Back to the Future, lied to us about flying cars being commonplace, but we're certainly getting closer. The TF-X would be a car which can fly rather than a plane which can drive. Massachusetts-based Terrafugia is hoping that futuristic airborne cars will soon become a reality. The company was founded in 2006 by a team of MIT graduates, and they're planning to start selling its flying car, named the TF-X, in as little as eight years. Start saving your pennies.

Daws Butler is Elroy Jetson

Daws, who was born on November 16, 1916, did voice work from 1957 to 1978, with many of his characters likely filling your childhood. Among the animated characters he brought to life are Baba Looey and the title character from Quick Draw McGraw, Barney Rubble on a handful of episodes of The Flintstones, Cap’n Crunch from the TV commercials, Huckleberry Hound, Peter Potamus, Snoopy in Snoopy Come Home, and Yogi Bear. He passed away from a heart attack on May 18, 1988.

Taking to the Sky With Jetpacks

Elroy Jetson enjoyed zipping around the skies (and within his house) on a jetpack, and while this is one of those instances where we’re not quite there yet, we’re absolutely getting closer. Most current jetpacks, like the one pictured above, utilize water as part of getting airborne.

Not so long ago we had the opportunity to speak with British inventor and former soldier Richard Browning, who, adorned in what looks like Iron Man-inspired technology, we saw him lift off the ground and fly down the street, hovering for several seconds before touching down again.

“Our vision,” Richard explains in an exclusive interview, “is to build an entirely new generation of human flight systems for commercial and entertainment applications. I’ve got this belief that the human mind and body is a pretty amazing machine and rather than put that into a machine, what about augmenting them with a machine? Just how close can you get to human-powered flight in a completely reimagined way? I think I’ve always been just on the edge of the crowd, wondering what’s beyond it. In a strange way, this project started with a question around just what you could achieve by combining the human body, the human mind and the best of technology.”

Janet Waldo is Judy Jetson

Janet enjoyed a career filled with roles in radio, film, and on TV. Born February 4, 1919, she co-starred in the early (1949-50) sitcom Young Love, had a recurring role on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and spent eight seasons starring in the CBS radio series Meet Corliss Archer. Fans of I Love Lucy can catch her in the episode “The Young Fans,” where she is romantically infatuated with Ricky Ricardo. She voiced the character of Judy Jetson in every version of The Jetsons, although after voicing her for Jetsons: The Movie the controversial decision was made to have pop singer Tiffany — pop flavor of the moment in 1990 — re-record the dialogue and replace her. In a bit of poetic justice, the film tanked and many critics pointed out Tiffany’s awful performance. Janet passed away on June 12, 2016 at the age of 97.

Motorized Walkways Became a Reality, Too

Oftentimes in the background on The Jetsons, we could see people commuting to work via motorized walkways. Obviously, that particular brand of technology has come to pass, as anyone who has gone to an airport has come to realize. Admittedly we haven't gotten to the point where this mode of transportation is available on exterior streets, but — you never know — it could be coming.

Don Messick is Astro

Don is another actor who will be more recognizable to you from the famous characters that he brought to vocal life. Among them are Droopy Dog, Boo-Boo Bear and Ranger Smith from Yogi Bear, Bamm-Bamm Rubble on The Flintstones, Muttley from Wacky Races, and, of course, Scooby-Doo, who we still think of as Astro’s great-great-great grandfather or something. Two memorable Astro lines on The Jetsons: “Rut-roe, Reorge” and, when George was shrunk to tiny size, “Rook at the rimp; rook at the rimp!” Don was born on September 7, 1926, and passed away on October 24, 1997.

Jean Vander Pyl is Rosie the Robot

Wilma Flintstone was two-timing it on Fred with George Jetson! Well, sort of. In truth, while actress Jean Vander Pyl (born October 11, 1919) was voicing Wilma on The Flintstones, she took on the role of Rosie the Robot on The Jetsons. Prior to both, she enjoyed a successful career in radio, including as Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best. She made a number of guest appearances on TV shows, but continued voicing both Wilma and Rosie until her death on April 10, 1999.

‘The Jetsons’ Predicted Robots in the Home

Rosie the Robot was pretty standard in terms of housekeeping on the show, and you're no doubt saying, "Hey, I don't have a robot cleaning my house," but it's really not that far away if you think about it. We already have robot vacuum cleaners (the Roomba), and, as the photo above proves, there are definitely advancements being made in Rosie's direction. Of course, one might want to look at the results of artificial intelligence in things like The Terminator, Battlestar Galactica or Westworld before pushing that particular envelope.

Mel Blanc is Mister Spaceley

George's boss was brought to life by the acclaimed "man of a thousand voices," Mel Blanc. He, of course, was also the voice of Barney Rubble on The Flintstones and was the man behind all of the Looney Tune characters (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pigg, Elmer Fudd, etc.). Born May 30, 1908, Mel was a regular on The Jack Benny Program, both the radio and television versions. His last work was as Mr. Spacely in 1990's Jetsons: The Movie, released following his July 10, 1989 death.

Doggie treadmills now exist in real life.

It was pretty cool back on the show that George would walk Astro by stepping outside onto a motorized treadmill (though most of the time it malfunctioned, causing great pain to George while Astro sat back and laughed). Well, at New York City's D. Pet Hotel, treadmills for dogs have been in operation for a while. Located in the Chelsea neighborhood, D. Pet Hotel caters to the well-pampered pets of the rich and famous.

And We Can’t Forget Hanna-Barbera

No look back at The Jetsons is complete without paying some tribute to the show's executive producers, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, two men who have impacted millions of childhood imaginations over the decades. Besides working on early Tom & Jerry theatrical shorts, just check out this list of TV shows they were behind over the decades: The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, The Flintstones, The Yogi Bear Show, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Johnny Quest, The Herculoids, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Super Friends, Hong Kong Phooey, The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, and The Smurfs, among many others.

Thanks, guys!

The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones

Nearly 30 years before Batman faced off with Superman, George Jetson met up with Fred Flintstone in a 1987 made-for-video movie. The plot has something to do with Elroy inventing a time machine that brings the Jetsons and Flintstones/Rubbles together when George goes to the past. The real fun comes from accidentally zapping his whole family into the prehistoric past and the Flintstones and Rubbles into the future, and watching as each of them deal with their fish-out-of-water situations. For anyone who grew up with these shows, it was a lot of fun watching them interact.