Who voiced Maleficent in the film?

Eleanor Audley voiced Maleficent in Disney’s 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty. Her deep, imperious performance helped define the character as one of Disney’s most memorable villains.

Audley also supplied the live-action reference for Maleficent, alongside dancer Jane Fowler. Disney animators used reference performances to study movement, posture, and expression, although the finished character was stylized rather than copied literally from the footage.

Audley had already played another famous Disney antagonist: Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s stepmother, in Cinderella (1950). That connection sometimes causes confusion, especially because both characters are elegant, intimidating villains voiced by the same performer.

Maleficent’s visual design was primarily developed by animator Marc Davis, with contributions to the film’s overall artistic style from production designer Eyvind Earle. Audley’s voice, Davis’s angular animation, and the character’s dragon transformation established the definitive 1959 version.