Billie Mae Richards and fellow ‘Rudolph’ voice actor ended up as neighbors in Toronto

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Decades after Billie Mae Richards and Paul Soles gave respective voice to two nonconformists – Rudolph and elf Hermey – in the 1964 holiday classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the Canadian actors became neighbors in the Performing Arts Lodge, a Toronto housing development for actors and artists.

“It’s a great place to be, the only place for misfits anyway,” Richards joked to the Chicago Tribune in 2002.

Soles called it a “great community” where people “take care of each other.”

Richards, who died Friday at age 88, had lived in the lodge for about 15 years before moving in with a daughter in nearby Burlington more than two years ago.

Memorial donations may be made to the Performing Arts Lodge Toronto. For more information, go to Performing Arts Lodge website.

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Video: Rudolph and Hermey sing “Fame and Fortune” in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Credit: childhoodmemorykeeper.blogspot.com / YouTube