Laurence Badie was a French actress whose career spanned over seven decades, during which she became a highly respected figure in theatre, film, and voice acting. Born on June 15, 1928, in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, she initially pursued studies at HEC Paris before deciding to follow her passion for acting. She trained under Julien Bertheau and was noticed by Georges Wilson, which led to her joining the Théâtre National Populaire (TNP) directed by Jean Vilar at the age of nineteen. Her on-screen career began in 1952 with a role in Sacha Guitry's La Vie d'un honnête homme, and she gained recognition the same year in René Clément's classic film Jeux interdits. Throughout her long career, she appeared in over one hundred film and television productions, working with renowned directors such as François Truffaut in La Peau douce and Michel Audiard in Comment réussir quand on est con et pleurnichard.

While her live-action work was extensive, Laurence Badie was also exceptionally prolific as a voice actress, her distinctive and high-pitched voice becoming familiar to generations of French viewers. Her voice acting career began somewhat by chance when her work in radio dramas led to opportunities in dubbing. She became the regular French voice for several iconic characters. Most notably, she voiced the character of Velma Dinkley, known as Véra in French, in the Scooby-Doo franchise for decades, from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s. She was also the voice of Casper the Friendly Ghost in the 1950s animated shorts.

In the realm of animation, which includes her work on anime series dubbed into French, her role as the voice of Tchaou in the Japanese series Hoero! Bun Bun is a key credit. The series, known in French as Tchaou et Grodo, originally aired in Japan from 1980 to 1981 and was later broadcast in France starting in 1984. In this story of an abandoned puppy learning to survive in a hostile world, Badie provided the voice for the titular character, Tchaou. Her other notable roles in animation dubs include the voice of the squirrel Rocky in Les Aventures de Rocky et Bullwinkle, the dog Foofur in the series of the same name, and Lulu in La Petite Lulu. She also lent her voice to characters in numerous other productions, such as Rox et Rouky 2, Kuzco, l'Empereur Mégalo, and the 2018 film Le Grinch.

Laurence Badie's contributions to French popular culture extended beyond acting. She was also a narrator for children's records, such as Les Contes rouges du chat perché. In the 1980s, she was a familiar face on the successful game show L'Académie des neuf, and from 1992 to 1994, she played the role of Tante Marthe in the popular sitcom Le Miel et les Abeilles. Her long and distinguished career was marked by her versatility across all performance mediums. Laurence Badie passed away on January 11, 2024, in Morlaix, France, at the age of 95, leaving behind a rich legacy in French theatre, cinema, and animation.