iercely beautiful, the Wicked Queen has reached an age where her radiance is fading. Insanely jealous of her lovely young stepdaughter, the Queen forces her to work as a scullery maid in the hope that drudgery will tarnish the girl's blossoming beauty. When the Magic Mirror reveals that Snow White has finally become "more fair than thee," she plots the girl's death in a rage so twisted that she's eventually willing to sacrifice her own beauty to destroy Snow White's. She uses witchcraft to transform herself into a hunchbacked old peddler and succeeds in persuading the naive girl to accept her poisoned apple. Unknowingly, however, she's wrought the means of her own demise. For, though her disguise serves the terrible deed, that same feeble body will hinder her escape. Actress Lucille LaVerne was chosen to voice both the Wicked Queen and the hag Witch because of her versatile voice intonations. Yet when she first started voicing the Witch, the recording session director commented that her intonations were too polished, too much like the Queen. After excusing herself for a moment she returned to perform a gravelly voice that now surpassed the director's expectations. Curious, he asked what she'd changed. Smiling a toothless grin, she explained she had just removed her false teeth. The Queen is often referred to as "Queen Grimhilde" in Disney publications of the 1930s. Her appearance was inspired by the Helen Gahagan character in the film "She" (1935). Film: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) Voice Artist: Lucille LaVerne