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Top Twenty Old Time Radio Stars Who Went On to Voice Some of The Most Familiar Animated Characters

These well-known voice actors from old time radio who voiced cartoon characters, along with their birth and death dates, the old time radio shows they appeared in, and the animations they are known for: Mel Blanc (May 30, 1908 - July 10, 1989): voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and many other classic Warner Bros. cartoon characters. He was also a regular on the radio programs " The Jack Benny Program " and " The Burns and Allen Show ." June Foray (September 18, 1917 - July 26, 2017): voiced Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale in "Rocky and His Friends" and "The Bullwinkle Show." She also appeared on several old time radio shows, including " The CBS Radio Workshop ." Bill Scott (August 20, 1920 - November 29, 1985): voiced Bullwinkle J. Moose and Dudley Do-Right in "Rocky and His Friends" and "The Bullwinkle Show." He also appeared on the old time radio show " The Fred Allen Show ." Stan F...

Paul Frees: You've Heard Him, Do You Know Him?

Paul Frees is one of those talents that is great fun to investigate. Even a short search of Paul Frees will have you saying "Really, that was him?" Frees was born in Chicago and started his acting/radio career in 1942. Like so many, he was interrupted by WWII. Frees was drafted and fought in Normandy during the D-Day Invasion . After being wounded in action he attended college, but cut his education short when his wife became ill. Returning to radio, his versatile voice talents were put to work announcing and sometimes starring on Suspense .  These duties were shared with his friend and fellow talented Voice,  William Conrad . Frees explained in an interview that he would announce when  Conrad  was starring in the episode, or involved with another project, and vice versa.  Both possessing memorable basso profundo voices, they made an effort to sound like one another in the announcements. Frees also did a lot of work on sister program  Escape . ...

Mel Blanc and Paul Frees, Two thousand Voices

Technically, all of the players we hear on radio are voice actors. 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 celeb...