Except for the more frequent use of
computer generated "synthetic speech", when ever we hear a
voice without seeing and actor, the role has been filled by a voice
actor. This will apply to radio players, animation, video games,
amusement park rides, even the voice warning us to "mind the
gap" as we step onto the subway. Professional voice actors are
justifiably proud of their craft. This is especially true in
traditional animation features, where the voice of the character was
simply part of the character, and the voice actor's role remains in
the background.
A small degree of resentment against
the current trend of bringing in A-list actors to voice the starring
characters in major releases, is understandable. Certainly the added
celebrity of using A-List players in Pixar and Dreamworks animated
features can help to sell a feature film. One of the few voice actors
to achieve celebrity on his own was Mel Blanc.
Paul Frees' radio career was
initially cut short when he was drafted for WWII. After earning a
Purple Heart at Normandy, he attended art school for a time. Illness
in the family forced him to drop out of school and return to radio.
He alternated announcing and playing the lead roles in Escape with William Conrad. He had frequent guest roles on Gunsmoke,
and starred in the 1949 series The Green Lama as Jethro
Dumont. He was showcased in the anthology series The Player
which he narrated and played all the scripted parts. Unlike Blanc,
much of Frees' movie work went uncredited. He was frequently called
upon for voice over and "re-looping", providing the voice
for actors who had an accent that was beyond understanding, or whose
natural voice was unacceptable for the film. One famous example was
Toshiro Mifune's portrayal of Admiral Yamamoto in Midway.
Professor Ludwig von Drake, noted educator and Donald Duck's uncle.
While the majority of Frees' work was
uncredited, Blanc managed to get a contractual stipulation giving him
credit for his Looney Toon voices (in lieu of a pay raise from
Schlesinger). He was able to use this bit of celebrity to further his
career, especially in radio as he became a regular feature, if not a
regular role, of The Jack Benny Program. Some of the roles
Blanc played for Benny included Jack's wheezing Maxwell automobile,
Polly the Parot, Jack's long suffering violin instructor, the train
station announcer, and Carmichael the polar bear. Benny considered
Blanc to be one of his closest friends from the show. Jack's daughter
Joan said "nobody else from the show could make him laugh the
way Mel could." Another report is of studio audiences laughing
while Jack struggled to keep a straight face while interacting with
Mel at the microphone.
One other bit of advertising trivia;
Mel Blanc created the original voice for Toucan Sam, the spokesbird
for Froot Loops cereal, but when the ad agency decided the bird
should have an upper-crust British accent, the character was taken
over by Paul Frees. http://www.otrcat.com/paul-frees-collection-p-49447.html
I've said for years, that if Paul and Mel are both "The Man of a Thousand Voices" then there were 2000 voices to pull from on the original "Secret Squirrel cartoon
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