Career
On-camera work
Blu's early professional years included guest roles on live-action television, with appearances on Kojak, Three's Company, The Bob Newhart Show, The Waltons, and Knight Rider.2 Her transition to voice work came when she was cast as the Pillsbury Doughgirl in a long-running national advertising campaign, a role she held for three years and which she has credited as the launchpad for her animation career.2
Voice acting
By the mid-1980s Blu had become a fixture of American Saturday-morning animation. Her most prominent role was Arcee, the first prominent female Autobot, whom she voiced in The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and Seasons 3 and 4 of the original The Transformers TV series; she reprised the character years later in Transformers Animated.1 Simultaneously she voiced Stormer (Mary Phillips) and Lindsay Pierce in the Hasbro/Sunbow series Jem (1985-1988).1
Additional notable voice credits from this era include Nanny Smurf in The Smurfs, Judge J.B. McBride in BraveStarr, Galadria in Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, and recurring characters in My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, Galaxy High, and The Flintstone Kids.1 She voiced Sibella in the Hanna-Barbera TV movie Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988).1
Voice directing
Blu made her directing debut on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series (1987), ultimately directing approximately 193 episodes of that run.2 That debut led to a parallel career in voice direction that came to define much of her later work. Productions she has directed include Men in Black: The Series, Godzilla: The Series, The Magic School Bus, Beast Wars, Beast Machines, the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Transformers Animated, Curious George, Handy Manny (where she also served as casting director and guest-starred as Marion the Librarian), DreamWorks Dragons, and Ben 10: Omniverse.1 She began directing Transformers Prime but stepped away partway through Season 1 following the death of her partner Cynthia Songe in 2010.1
Teaching and writing
After establishing herself as a voice director, Blu co-founded Blupka Productions Inc., a Los Angeles-based voice-over training school, with Cynthia Songe.2 She co-authored the industry guide Word of Mouth: A Guide to Commercial Voice-Over Excellence alongside Molly Ann Mullin and Cynthia Songe; the book has gone through three revised and updated editions and remains a widely used instructional text in the voice-over field.3
Ghostbusters
Filmation's Ghostbusters (1986)
Blu voiced three recurring characters in Filmation's animated Ghostbusters series (1986): Jessica Wray, a red-haired newswoman; Futura, an indigo-skinned character; and Belfry, a friendly bat companion to the Ghost Command team.4
The Real Ghostbusters
Blu made a guest voice appearance in the The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Boogieman Cometh", in which she voiced both Megan and Kenny Carter, the two children whose encounter with the Boogieman drives the episode's central story.
Extreme Ghostbusters
Blu returned to the Ghostbusters franchise for Extreme Ghostbusters, where she provided guest voice performances in the episodes "Killjoys" and "Mole People". In addition to her on-mic work, she served as Dialogue Director for the entire series, overseeing voice recording sessions across the full 40-episode run.
Personal Life
Blu is openly lesbian.2 Her domestic partner of many years, actress Cynthia Songe, died on May 19, 2010, after a short illness; Blu has spoken publicly about Songe's death as a period that drew her away from directing commitments.1 In August 2013, Blu married Tania Themmen (sister of actor Paris Themmen) in Stamford, Connecticut.1
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
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"Susan Blu," Wikipedia, accessed June 13, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Blu.
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Peeples, Jase (July 18, 2014). "Susan Blu: Transformation of an Animation Icon," The Advocate. https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/geek/2014/07/18/susan-blu-lesbian-voice-animated-icons.
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Blu, Susan, Molly Ann Mullin, and Cynthia Songe (2006). Word of Mouth: A Guide to Commercial Voice-Over Excellence, 3rd revised and updated edition. Silman-James Press. ISBN 9781879505872.
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"Ghostbusters (TV Series 1986-1987) -- Susan Blu as Belfry, Jessica Wray, Futura," IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127569/characters/nm0089454.
