Cantankerous character created by Friz Freleng for Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies that Warner Brothers Animation produces
Creators consider calling him Texas Tiny, Wyoming Willie, or Denver Dan
Appeared in 33 cartoons
Hates rabbits, especially one long-eared wise cracker
Portrayed a gunslinger, prospector, outlaw, pirate, knight, cowboy, duke, mountain climber, Confederate soldier, a hen-pecked husband, a royal cook, and a space alien
Also portrayed Chilkoot Sam, Riff Raff Sam, Sam Schulz, Seagoin’ Sam, Shanghai Sam, Sam Von Schamm, Duke of Yosemite, and others.
Sam’s own cockiness gets the best of him as Bugs knows Sam is incapable of turning down a challenge, such as “step across that line.”
Sam consistently displays an odd respect for religious conventions.
Originally voiced by Mel Blanc
A site for Yosemite Sam sounds clips
Great Quotes
You’ll pay for this!
That’ll learn ya.
No no no – you’re doin’ it all wrong!
Say your prayers.
Great horny toads!
What in Sam Hills is goin’ on?
Pickins is mighty slim round here. Hardly no reward for a days work.
Dead rabbits tell no tales.
You long-eared, fur-bearing, flat-footed varmint.
I paid my four bits to see the high diving act and I’m going to see the high diving act.
Another great Saturday morning cartoon. Puts a smile on my face. Have a great weekend Frank.
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Mobius,
Great … No doubt that Sam is the roughest, toughest, he-man stuffest hombre whose ever crossed the Rio Grande. Have a weekend and thanks for stopping by.
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A great way to start my Saturday, Frank. Thanks.
And I love the “cross the Rio Grande, not the Mahatma Ghandi” line. I don’t remember ever hearing it before. But that was the brilliance of Loony Toons — making kids AND adults laugh!
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Elyse,
Glad you enjoyed this. He is such a classic character with so many good lines – thus the reason why I used videos as bookends in this post. As a collection, the Looney Tunes family of characters are the best! Thanks for visiting.
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Great. I think of all the cartoons, I like Warner Brothers the most.
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Hansi,
Simply well said! Thanks for commenting.
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I love Yosemite Sam! Because I work with children I sound like him whenever I get frustrated or try not to swear.
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H.E.
Oh that is so true. His lines are worth memorizing for those occasions. Perfect! Thanks for visiting and sharing.
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My son in named Sam…he’s works in the woods in Montana,,but I still like to think of him as “yosemite Sam”.
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Zannyro,
Now that’s a funny connection! Thanks for sharing.
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Love love these classic cartoons nothing better than bugs and his buddies. I smile still as an adult when I see them.
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Kellie,
Looney Tunes cast of characters is awesome! I always appreciate the intro to the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour when the cast marched across the stage. Classics … simply classics. Thanks for visiting.
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Great post! I love Sam! He’s one of my favorite Type A personalities.
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Lame,
Welcome first-time commenter! 🙂 …. Glad you enjoy Sam and this post. Hope you return, thus many thanks for taking the time to visit and comment.
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about sam – i loved when dynamite would go off, and he’d be charred black, and then just shake the soot off. it would be a great world if we could just pluck arrows out of our butts without any harm done.
about his famous lines, he would often call bugs something that i could never clearly understand. i can picture one episode in which bugs was doing something wrong – on purpose – so that when sam did it, then something exploded on him. afterward, sam said, “i hate that rabbit.” but before, sam was telling bugs that he had it all wrong, and he’d call bugs a “durned galoot.” i guess “durned” was his version of “damned,” which wasn’t said on tv back then. but what’s a galoot? it sounded like galoot, but i’m not sure. it might have been something else.
yeah, i could probably look it up, but that’s what we have you for.
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Rich,
I always cracked up when he was dressed as a different character (as a knight). Meanwhile, his lines are classic, so I did look it up! 🙂 I wasn’t sure if it was galoot or galoop – but I did a bit of searching – nothing on galoop, but found that galoot is a slang for one who is foolish or strange (Merriam-Webster). Here’s M-W’s example: “He’s a bighearted galoot, even if he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.” Thanks for stopping by with the excellent question.
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Hi,
I always enjoyed watching Sam, there is no doubt he could always make you laugh. 😀
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Mags,
You may enjoy the link with the sound clips of him. Short and sweet – and bringing a smile. Thanks for stopping by from OZ.
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Chuckling here and enjoying the memories – thanks, Frank!
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Lynn,
I can’t imagine that there are too many classic cartoon lovers that don’t enjoy Yosemite Sam. Glad you got some chuckles – and thanks for commenting.
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They are so lovely… I love Yosemite Sam… This was great post. Thank you dear Frank, with my love, nia
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Nia,
This post was with the hope of causing smiles … and it seemed to work! Thanks for commenting.
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Bugs Bunny would not be the same without cantankerous Sam!
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Colline,
A great point. Sam was actually creator to fill a character point that another Bug nemesis (Elmer Fudd) didn’t provide. Thanks for visiting.
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I love these cartoons. Thanks for sharing these clips Frank!
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Mino,
Glad you enjoyed these classics! Thanks for visiting.
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But what about Sam’s great contribution to our fighting man? He was the first person to invent a six-shooter with infinite ammunition! Now if the Pentagon could just figure out his secret….. 😉
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John,
Outstanding observation!!! Yet I’m sure the wonderful people at Looney Tunes had him run out of ammunition at some timely point! Thanks for commenting.
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Love Sam! But I have to ask – what inspired this post?
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Guapo,
Good question. I love cartoons as a kid and was fortunate to grow up during a time when the cartoon classics were going strong. So for this post, simply which character came to my mind so I can answer, “Gotta do that one.” Thus yes,I have already picked next week’s Saturday morning honoree. Thanks for asking!
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This is quoted often in our house: You long-eared, fur-bearing, flat-footed varmint.
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TBM,
Well now – your family is going for quoting one of the best! Thanks for sharing.
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All about Yosemite, Sam (Frank).
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This post and your trip … wow —- we were in sync!
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There’s a prototype of pepe lepugh in there too!!!
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God to give a huge nod to BUGS! Love him to death.
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