(Photo: Reuters/Enrique Castro-Mendivil)A man puts on a Smurfette mask while playing with his daughter at his home in the outskirts of Lima November 10, 2011.

The voice of Smurfette has died aged 96 last week. Lucille Bliss, who was the original voice of the popular cartoon character from The Smurfs, died of natural causes according to recent reports.

Bliss is said to have borrowed $50 from a friend to travel to Los Angeles as a young woman with a dream to break into show business. Once there she auditioned for the role of cruel stepsister Anastasia in Disney's "Cinderella"; a role she in fact got six months later.

"I almost dropped the phone. I was delirious. That is the way it all began," Bliss previously said reminiscing about that moment where she got her big break.

From that break, she went on to star in various films and TV shows for the next 60 years, but will be fondly remembered for her work on long-running family favorite The Smurfs.

The cartoon was, in recent years, turned into a movie where the voice of Smurfette was played by pop star Katy Perry.

However, even though less well know than her part on the Smurfs, Bliss was also the voice of Elroy Jetson on "The Jetsons" and Crusader Rabbit, star of one of TV's first successful animated programs.

She also has played various smaller roles including a part in "101 Dalmatians," Mrs. Fitzgibbons in "The Secret of NIMH," as well as "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

Previously in a special interview with "Emmy TV Legends" Bliss spoke about her connection to probably her most loved character Smurfette: "She had a lot of animation and a lot of personality. And she was lovable and she was a little feisty at times, too. And she loved animals… She felt so real to me because I created her voice. I could feel her emotions. It may sound strange, but it's true."