Very Voice Actors – Clancy Brown

Clancy Brown is a reserved man. A man of few words.

No really, you try writing a little article like this about him. He’s entirely polite and fun in interviews, but he gives short and concise answers and never rattles on. Doesn’t work too well when you’re looking for meaty content to talk about.

He’s also a very strong self-depricating man. When a moment of praise raises up for him he either diverts it to other members of the cast and crew or flat out denies his talent in the given project. He’s says he’s a very lucky man who feels like this was all a big accident.

His first time acting was on stage when he was in 7th grade for a play called “The Mouse that Roared”. He didn’t fully become invested in the world of acting until his friend came into his life sometime during high school. The friend was a neighbor to Clancy and a son of two atomic scientists. He was a bit of a genius and also a bit of an outcast. When they began spending time together Clancy would see the different fields his friend would learn about. One season the friend was heavily into Shakespeare and Clancy, by extension, became very interested in it as well.

Clancy ended up attending Northern University with a scholarship for discus throwing. While he was there he participated in a few plays and a little while later his track coach approached him saying “Look, you’re a better actor than you are an athlete. We think you should switch majors and give up your scholarship.” With some contemplation Clancy decided it was the right decision to follow what he truly enjoyed. He says he hasn’t had to “work” a day in his life since.

It’s funny because the characters he plays both on camera and in voice over are anything but his personality described earlier.

He seems to almost entirely play villains, tough guys, and total jerks. Dr. Neo Cortex from the Crash Bandicoot series, Yakone form The Legend of Korra, The Rhino and several other villains in The Ultimate Spider Man, Lex Luthor in several DC series, Long Feng from Avatar The Last Airbender, and Captain Black and Ratso from Jackie Chan Adventures are just a few to name.

Or take his on camera credits like Captain Hadley in The Shawshank Redemption and The Kurgan in Highlander. As Clancy himself says, “I’m always an *ss hole!”

That’s not to say he doesn’t have a share of likable and friendly roles to play. He plays Odin in The Avengers: The Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Rawhide in Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension, and most notably can be heard as the crusty crustacean from under the sea, Mr. Krabs.

For such a deep and commanding voice he seems to prefer to stay reserved in most cases. But maybe the words outside of our beloved series and movies aren’t as important as the content in them that often impacts us so deeply. And Clancy has certainly left a legacy behind of iconic and inspiring characters to be remembered.

Of his few choice words in interviews he does have something to say about the characters he’s been privileged to play. He says Dr. Cortex, Mr. Krabs, and Lex Luthor are among his favorites. He says that he sees Lex Luthor as a timeless and iconic character. (Clancy is actually the voice actor to portray Lex for the longest amount of time.) He says of Mr. Krabs that he thinks kids view him as the “adult” center of the show and provides that balance to Spongebob and Patrick’s antics that the show needs. He also speaks highly of the Nickelodeon Avatar world and that he put in the word to the show’s voice director, Andrea Romano, that he strongly wanted to have a part in the second series (Korra). He feels privileged to play Yakone and to be a further part of the franchise.

Maybe it’s not necessary to be a man of many words. If you deliver the performance that resonates, that’s what counts. Clancy is most certainly a shining example.

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: The nunchuck whirling Turtle himself, Townsend Coleman!

Very Voice Actors – Steven Downes

Most voice actors garner praise from fans for their strong presence in nostalgic works, their expansive diversity in characters, or for their ability to create bizarre and unworldly sounds.

Steven Downes. He garners respect.

Whether you’re listening to his voice narrate a program for The Discover Channel, tell you about the newest thing for Carnival Cruiselines, or host nationally syndicated and well received radio programs, Steve’s comforting yet authoritative (and often gravely and intense) voice brings with it a trust in the power of the words he’s saying.

Many would know him from his hosting days on national radio stations like “The Classics” and “The Wine Experience”, and Chicagoans might know him from WDRV “The Drive”, announcing the Rock ‘N Roll classics for years. Others may recall his work on The Shark Attack Files from The Discovery Channel. But easily the most recognizable in the voice work Steve has done is in the provision of the iconic titular character in the Halo franchise: Master Chief.

Yeah, you all know this guy’s image, right?

Steve’s respected voice is no better showcased than in the much esteemed super soldier who’s taken the world by storm for more than a decade now.

Master Chief is this generation’s Clint Eastwood. In fact, that was some of the only direction Downes received when coming in to read for Halo’s main character. Having previously done voice work for another game called Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator back in 1999, Steve met a man named Martin O’Donnell. Martin had worked as the voice acting director and music composer for Septerra and eventually moved on to Bungie to work on Halo: Combat Evolved. Martin remembered Steve and asked him to come in and read for this new character. Channeling Clint’s western movie persona, Steve gave birth to the voice of Master Chief. The voice of respect.

For years Steve worked as a radio host by day (and very early mornings), and as Master Chief by night. He’d practice his lines in his whisper booth down in his basement and record the actual game dialogue in a Chicago studio called “Resolution Digital”. Keeping his mouth as close to his mic. as possible, he delivers the lines with a quiet and complete confidence, almost a whisper, that signifies control and command.

But how does Steve actually perform in Halo? Well, that’s another story… He says he plays Halo “Very, very badly.” Him and his wife were once asked to make an appearance at a store opening in Miami where they were having a Halo tournament. When they arrived he was told the winner would be able to play thee voice of Master Chief in a round. Steve urged that it wasn’t going to turn out well, but the crew persisted. With a big crowd around him and giant flat screens set up for the event, Downes sat down and began to play. Within ten seconds, he says, a 12 year old girl annihilated him.

But this doesn’t stop kids and adults around the world from their deep rooted love and respect for this man and his voice. When Steve visited a friend’s house after the first game had been out for about a year, he commented to a group of kids playing Halo that he voiced a character for it. At that time it was so fresh that Steve couldn’t even recall the character’s name. When one kid asked “was it Master Chief?” He responded with, “Yeah, that’s it!” Within a few minutes there was a long line of children waiting to get their stuff signed.

Originally Steve entered radio to move on to record producing, but stayed because of his love for music and the “ham” in him desiring to be an on-air personality. Well his desire to be an appreciated talent has been more than fulfilled. Since his original days of voice work back in the late 70’s, Steve has created a legacy that will continue to bring him respect from people around the world for years to come.

To all the performers out there…which emotion do you garner from audiences? Are you capitalizing on it?

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: Did someone drop a penny? It’s Mr. Krabs’s Clancy Brown!

Very Voice Actors – Grey DeLisle

Grey seems to attract many meaner, more evil, sassier types of characters. But what’s interesting about Grey is that in real life she couldn’t be more opposite. Full of smiles and laughter, she does her best to make sure people have a fun time around her. She constantly acknowledges that she has a strong desire to win people over.

So where does this darker side that manifests itself so often in Grey’s work come from?

Well, while she’s certainly a charming and pleasant person to be around, she channels much of her humor and conversation through a filter of hilarious sarcasm, sharp truths, and strong self-deprecation. Through interviews, behind-the-scenes looks, and her heavy social media presence, one could easily see where she draws this biting personality and blows it up to fit the characters she plays.

Whether voicing the abusive baby-sitter Vicky in The Fairly Oddparents, the devilish Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, the feisty Kimiko of Xiaolin Showdown, goth girl Sam from Danny Phantom, or the chillingly evil Azula from Avatar the Last Airbender, Grey seems to find common ground with these darker characters by amplifying her own pleasantly twisted senses of humor and life views.

A good amount of her personality could be attributed to her grandmother (89), whom she was largely raised by. Grey apparently takes her grandmother with her on various recording sessions and has seen her repeatedly, (and unintentionally), insult various actors and celebrities. Once when she ran into John Ritter after he’d gained some weight and grown a beard, Grey’s grandmother told him he was barely recognizable and “looked like he was running from the law…but he at least still had a cute face”.

Each of Grey’s characters listed previously, however, are certainly vastly different from one another, even if they do fall under the “darker” description. But like most great voice artists, Grey offers a wide variety of talents as she brings to the table cartoon icons like the kind hearted Frankie from Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, the polite Daphne from many iterations of Scooby Doo, energetic characters like Flicker the Flashlight in Handy Manny and Wubbzy from Wow! Wow! Wubbzy, the sweet protagonist girl Emily in Clifford the Big Red Dog, and the regal Padme Amidala from the ’03 Clone Wars series.

These chipper and polite characters actually showcase Grey’s other prominent side of her personality. They branch from her demeanor in which she executes her sense of humor. While telling a dirty joke or whipping out a dry biting statement, she’ll do it with a smile and a laugh to follow.

I bring these two different, (more like opposite), sides of Grey up for a reason. A great lesson can be taken out of this for all voice actors. That lesson is this:

Characters branch from a part of who you are.

It may be a small part or a hugely encompassing side to your identity, but your characters are grounded in some element of your being.

In this way acting is less like trying on different masks and more like taking those masks off to show the world parts of your true self in the manifestation of a character. That is why it is so important for an actor to be active. Watching movies, adapting hobbies, going through the ups and downs life offers…these are all ways to give us more to draw from. The more involved we are in life, the more we have to amplify or reveal in our characters just as Grey has done with her wide expanse of credits.

But widening our identity is only part of the process. We need to develop the ability to draw that applicable part of us out and throw it into a character. That’s where training comes in.

Grey worked her whole life to have this ability. She started acting as a baby in stage productions. Throughout school she became known for her impersonations and eventually garnered the nickname “Dorothy” for her spot on Wizard of Oz impressions. She attended a fine arts high school and went on to obtain a theatre degree in college. She had started stand up in her early teens and incorporated her voices into her routines.

These years of training prepared her to express/exaggerate the elements that made her who she is.

I believe we all have a million characters hidden inside of us. We just need the training (and talent, don’t get me wrong) to be able to bring those characters out.

So which side does Grey sway towards more heavily? It’s probably her friendly bubbly attitude because she states that Azula was the most difficult and challenging character she’s ever played. But you couldn’t tell by her flawless performance that it was in the least bit challenging. Why? The training. The practice. She had Azula in her. The lifelong hard work helped bring her out.

What crazy unique characters are inside you? And how hard are you willing to work to bring them out?

Very Voice Actors – James Arnold Taylor

Since the age of 4, James Arnold Taylor has been an immovable force, pushing incessantly towards his lifelong goal: Doing voices.

By the time he was 8 years old he was recording onto cassette tapes and creating his own little shows. James wasted no time in moving towards his dream and by 16 he was working as a stand up comic. A year later he approached the local radio station in Santa Barbara and asked how to get into radio. They gave him a job handing out bumper stickers.

Not content to be idle in his performance desires, James would sneak into the production room at nights and make his own shows just as he did when he was a kid. The program director actually knew he was doing this and, one night when the night time DJ pulled a no-show, asked him if he’d like to fill in. He excitedly agreed and went on air for a 6 hour slot. He loved it. Nearly three months later he replaced the DJ and had his first official job doing voices.

He later moved on to become the production director, writing and producing all of the commercials. At this time he was responsible for recording many different types of voices. When they needed a man on the street he needed to sound different from his regular self. On occasion he would pull out impersonations and several times had to match the singer/songwriter James Taylor himself. This is when James, the voice actor, decided to go by his full name “James Arnold Taylor” to avoid confusion.

Things were just getting started for this performer’s career and James only worked harder as time went on. He moved to Los Angeles where he did a lot more radio work alongside talents like Howard Stern. With his own home voice over studio he would record other actors’ reels. Instead of a money payment he would ask his clients to give their agents a copy of James’s own reel. After enough time, one agent decided to listen and, as he says, “from there it was history”.

Since then he’s soared in the voice over industry, playing characters like Ratchet in the Ratchet and Clank series (and in the upcoming movie), Flash in Young Justice, and Milo from the sequel of Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire as well as its video game.

But perhaps the larger bulk of his recognizable roles are the various hugely iconic characters he’s took on over the years, like Fred Flintstone, Huckleberry Hound, Leonardo the turtle, Wile E. Coyote, Johnny Test, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The impressions don’t stop there. He’s been the voice double for actors like Christopher Walken, Johnny Depp, Michael J. Fox, and Ewan McGregor, and has been able to work closely with most of them.

His voices just don’t stop. Take a look at the wildly entertaining video below of James performing impressions at a rapid pace…

But James’s persistence had to push him through a pretty frightening time many years ago. Him and his wife had just purchased a new house they were going to bring their soon-to-be adopted baby into and quickly discovered it was a money pit. One of the many problems came from holes in the pipes which were made when the previous owners decided to nail dry wall up without looking where the nails were going. Water began leaking down the interiors of the walls and, over time, created huge amounts of mold. One day James saw a bulge in the wall and ran his hand down it only to break through to the other side. Peaking his head in to investigate further he inhaled large amounts of toxic vapors that slowly began to poison his body.

On February 13th, 2005, James woke up with no voice. Thinking it might be laryngitis, he went to the doctor to have it examined. They later found out that all 7 of the toxic fumes trapped in his walls tested positive in his bloodstream. Aside from other complications like brain clouding, his voice was gone. This was right around the time he had just booked Fred Flintstone and was doing Johnny Test and Leonardo. It was not an option to have no voice.

His persistence broke through and he researched like crazy. He took a very extensive holistic approach to healing. He started a strict diet meant to cleanse his body and began working with vocal trainer Gary Catona to stretch and build his vocal muscles. James says that luckily around that time he was doing a lot of gravely promo spots and was able to mask his sickness in those reads. James continues his healing process and vocal exercises to this day, taking 15 minutes before work to warm up and taking time after work to cool down.

He stays busy today with abundant work, including the role of Yondu in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy cartoon series, selling his motivational book: JAT 365, and touring with his one man show called “Talking To Myself” which the clip above was taken from.

As for method, James says that all voices have a “tone”. He says that if you’re in the realm of one voice you can add texture, change the accent, or pitch it up or down to get to a new impression or voice. He first discovered this pathway to understanding impersonations when he switched from a Christian Slater to a Jack Nicholson and noticed their striking similarities.

That little kid of 4 years never stopped working and look where he is now.

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: I’ll be sure to talk about the next voice actor with glowing words or who knows what’ll happen! It’s the Princess of the Fire Nation, Grey DeLisle!

Very Voice Actors – E.G. Daily

E.G. Daily has the actor’s big 3 covered. She’s a very successful singer, a very successful on-camera actress, and a very successful voice artist.

From the early age of 15, E.G. has seen great success, going from one big project to another. She made her first television appearance in 1976 on an episode of Laverne and Shirley and from there hasn’t stopped her productivity. “If I’m not doing a movie, I’m doing a cartoon. If I’m not doing a cartoon, I’m doing an album. If I’m not doing an album, I’m doing a movie”, she says.

But her jump into voice acting didn’t come as voluntarily as her on-camera or singing work did. Having done a few radio voice overs and jingles in her past, E.G. was reluctant when her agent called her up one day telling her to audition for a “little boy voice” in a new cartoon series called Rugrats. E.G. recalls “I think I was having carpet installed” and said she wan’t interested. The agent persisted, saying it would only take ten minutes or so.

After finally agreeing to it, she hopped in her car and headed down to the appropriate studio. She read a page and the executives came back asking her to read another. After another they asked her to read a third. Page after page they had her read and then she left. Her agent called her soon after saying she got the job out of two huge groups that came in for mass auditions. This new role as Tommy pickles propelled her into her third very fruitful line of business.

A few years later she grabbed the role of another soon-to-be beloved character of a soon-to-be hit series when she was casted as Buttercup in The Powerpuff Girls. Her voices now include an abundance of credits from Rudy in Chalkzone, Knothead in The New Woody Woodpecker Show, Louie Duck from QuackPack, Cap’n Sticky in Recess, a majority of the voices in the new Pound Puppies, and Steve from the new Curious George. And she actually filled in for Susie for several episodes of Rugrats.

She’s even played the titular characters of Babe and Baby Mumble from Babe and both Happy Feet movies.

Her role as Tommy not only led to an explosion in the voice acting world, 13 years of work on the show, and several theatrical releases, but also handed her the new role of teenager Tommy in All Grown Up!. E.G. says that Tommy is her favorite character she’s ever played.

She says she never had to take proper voice classes or train in the art. She attributes her long lasting acting and singing career to her natural ability to create defined and original voices. Coming up with her voices is a natural ability, she says. She looks at an image of the character and instantly she knows what that person or thing would sound like. She doesn’t go through a process or create a backstory. She goes with what she knows is right.

That’s quite a bit of talent built up from her other lines of work. So what did success for her look like in those fields?

Well she’s played characters in plenty of movies including Dotty, the neglected girlfriend, in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. She was in Valley Girl, No Small Affair, and Loverboy, acting alongside starts like Demi Moore, Patrick Dempsey, and Nicholas Cage.

She’s also been in TV shows like Laverne and Shirley, Chips, Fame, The Mentalist, and was a multi-returning contestant in 2013’s The Voice.

And as stated earlier, her musical career has always been a busy and bright path as well. Back in 1985 she signed a huge record deal with A&M records and went on to work with some of Madonna’s frequent collaborators. In 1986 she came out with the single “Say It, Say It” which hit No. 1 on the Dance/Club Music chart. She has composed and sang for around 30 soundtracks! She can be heard in Grand Theft Auto, Babe, Country Bears, Rugrats, and the theme for Two and a Half Men. She’s even written/sung for such famed movies as Scarface and The Breakfast Club! She attributes Tina Turner and Rod Stewart as some of her biggest musical inspirations.

E.G. is still strong in the VO and singing business today. Check out her website to get a more in depth look at her works and what she’s doing now: http://egdaily.com

And enjoy her Scarface song that was featured in Grand Theft Auto:

E.G. Daily. She’s got the whole business covered.

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: This IS the voice actor you’re looking for…the force is strong with James Arnold Taylor.

Very Voice Actors – Yuri Lowenthal

Yuri Lowenthal is crazy.

I mean, wickedly talented, but crazy. The best kind of crazy, too. That craziness that doesn’t let you stay in one place for too long. That kind of craziness that drives you to chase after a ridiculous goal like, well, being an actor. The craziness that says “it’s never enough”.

Ok, maybe crazy is the wrong word for it. Incessant? Ya, that’s it.

Yuri Lowenthal is incessant.

Many know him from the anime world playing as Sasuke from Naruto and Jinnosuke/Kuma in both Afro Samurai movies among a myriad of anime projects. Others know him from his plentiful cartoon work like Ben from the Ben 10 shows, characters from Young Justice including Lagoon Boy and Tempest, or the iconic Superman in Legion of Super Heroes. Still others would know him from his overwhelming video game portfolio. Matt Miller from Saints Row, The Prince from several of the Prince of Persia games, and various people from Fallout: New Vegas like Lucius were all taken on by Yuri. Add to that an explosion of voices in the Sly Cooper, Halo, Bioshock, Dead Rising, Final Fantasy, Star Wars, X-Men, Batman, Silent Hills, and Uncharted series and you’ve got one busy guy.

But that doesn’t seem to be near enough busy work for this incessant dream chaser.

After growing up in the United States, Africa, and Europe, Yuri adapted to and learned from many cultures and dialects. His taste for adventure and activity were only fueled as time went on. He became fluent in Japanese, French, and German. He also trained in various martial arts.

Apart from his recognition as a well established voice artist, Yuri is an award winning Sumi-e painter, (Sami-e in Japanese refers to ink washing paintings), an internationally produced playwright, and award winning film/short film writer, producer, and actor. In fact, Yuri and his voice-actor wife Tara Platt created their own film company called “Monkey Kingdom Productions”. Check their stuff out: http://www.monkeykingdomproductions.com

Still not enough. Apparently all this was still not enough. Yuri and his wife have also written a very well received book called “Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind the Mic”.

Such legends as Phil Lamarr, Andrea Romano, and Dee Bradley Baker refer to it as a great source for beginning voice actors. Having bought it myself I can personally attest to the greatness of its simple and much-needed layout of the basics.

Another project both Yuri and Tara have created together is the award winning web series called Shelf Life. It could be described as Off-colored Toy Story set in one location. Watch an episode, it’s actually really good stuff.

All of Yuri’s hard work and shining talent earn his high praise among peers and fans alike. His voice can be heard across hundreds and hundreds of creations. Mirror named him “The most-killed man in video games”, saying that if you play video games, it’s very likely you’ve killed Yuri multiple times. Whether it’s a US soldier, foreign soldier, civilian, or zombie, Yuri is always screaming from the gut in various painful deaths. He says that video game sessions can be “brutal” and “depending on what game you’re working on, most involve multiple ways to die including being burned to death, electrocuted…or being mauled by demons.”

So what are some of Yuri’s favorites among his career? He sites playing Sasuke, Superman, The Prince, and Ben 10 as some of his absolute favorites. He also says that the darker characters are the ones that seem a bit more challenging due to his actual state of being in life. And role models? Prolific voice actor and famed creature-noise generator Dee Bradley Baker is at the top of Yuri’s list.

Talk about making the most out of life…

Yuri’s seen the world, adapted various cultures, languages, and lines of work, and has made a name for himself in the area of cartoons, video games, films, short films, television, written works, and paintings.

He doesn’t stop. And it doesn’t look like he will anytime soon.

NEXT WEEK’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: A voice actor’s gotta do what a voice actor’s gotta do! And E.G. Daily will do what’s gotta be done!

Very Voice Actors – Nolan North

“The nearest thing the games industry has to a bona fide leading man.”

These are the words The Guardian used to describe today’s featured voice actor: Nolan North.

These words ring very true to this performer’s career. Nolan has made his mark across an unbelievable amount of big title video game series playing a colorful variety of characters and taking on the role of many franchises’ leading men. It seems a developer in need of an “everyday man” jumps right to North. His semi gravel based smooth talking demeanor fits the full hearted, wise-cracking brave hero that seem to crowd the video game market today.

In each of these titles, North plays the leading man:

 

That’s correct! Drake, Desmond, The Prince, Deadpool, and Will from Darkvoid are all voiced by him!

But if that’s not enough for a Nolan fix then you can find him in the Arkham Batman games as The Penguin, the shifty stranger David in The Last of Us, the robot Sigma in Ratchet and Clank, Dr. N. Gin in recent Crash Bandicoot games, Captain Martin Walker in Call of Duty Spec Ops: The Line, and Rocket Raccoon in the Disney Infinity game.

Need more? He’s provided a huge amount of side character voices like the Orcs and Elves in recent Lord of the Rings games, people in the Halo franchise including marines, robots in Portal 2 like Space Core, characters in Team Fortress 2, and roles in Metal Gear Solid 4 (notably the narrator).

Like most great voice actors, however, his talent doesn’t stay in one genre. He’s done plenty of work in tv series like the new TMNT show as Kraang and various side characters, John Jameson and The Green Goblin in The Ultimate Spiderman, Smokescreen in Transformers Prime, Clark Kent/Superboy in Young Justice, Cyclops in Wolverine and the X-men, and many credits for Sanjay and Craig.

Nolan started out in journalism with a baseball scholarship when he attended the University of North Carolina, oddly enough. After a year working as journalist in New Jersey, he packed up his things and moved to New York to work on an acting/stand-up career. Sometime after that he made his way to L.A. where he got his first credited role on the show General Hospital. While he worked on this show he managed to nab a few video game voice over roles. These jobs persuaded him to pursue voice acting for the majority of his career after the end of Hospital’s run.

North dedicates more time to his voice work than most voice actors do. Several of his roles on games were extremely hands-on and required North’s direct involvement through most of production. For instance, his commitment to each Uncharted game lasted anywhere from 16-18 months. Involved with casting, dialogue recording, and motion capture acting, his job wasn’t the basic 4 hour or so session cartoons and other video games generally consist of. It’s a very precise job that involves the voice, the movement, and even ad-libbing.

Put in an acoustically treated area, North (and other actors) suit up in the dot covered costumes and act out each and every cut scene and motion for the animators to reference and work around. Things like punching bags represent where a log will be animated in the video game’s level. Cameras and microphones surround him as he steps over the punching bag/log speaking the lines that are being recorded in real time and will be used in the actual video game’s final product. Filming for these games usually takes about a year with 1-2 scenes filmed per week. So aside from his voice chops, his physical timing and posture have to be on point.

Even improv makes its way into North’s steady work. He says that while the cut scenes in the Uncharted games rarely use ad-libbing, the moments in the actual game play are filled with their on-the-spot dialogue. Not a performer’s skill goes to waste in North’s gigs.

One thing seems to pop up in North’s commentaries and interviews: He’s very grateful to be involved in this booming video game industry that people are finally starting to appreciate for the technology and effort that goes into it.

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: Known for his role as Ben 10, a kid with 10 characters, this voice actor certainly has a lot more than that under his belt. It’s Yuri Lowenthal!

Very Voice Actors – Hank Azaria

Hank Azaria models a very realistic staircase to success. His path on the entertainment business didn’t consist of stories of overnight success or lucky first breaks. A bit of a late bloomer to the acting world, he wasn’t one who knew since childhood that he wanted to be an actor. It wasn’t until he was 16 and performed in his first stage production that he decided he’d shoot for an occupation as a performer. He had, however, been mimicking and memorizing various parts from his favorite shows and movies since he was a young boy. In that regard he was training himself very early on.

Hank attended Tufts University in Massachusetts where he studied drama. While attending the college he became good friends with actor Oliver Platt, so much so that Hank eventually became the godfather of Oliver’s son. Together the two attempted to start up their own theatre and named it “Big Theatre.” This venture, like many ahead on his winding path, turned out to be a flop. They only put on one production: The Dumb Waiter. After his time at Tufts he moved on to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Hank was offered representation by an agent in LA and, after realizing that the television world may prove a more fruitful endeavor than stage, packed up his stuff and moved to the west coast.

Once again his path proved to be a very gradual, not-so-glammery rise to success as he worked on small job after small job, performing stand up, and serving as a bartender for a catering company. (That’s right, Moe- I mean Hank Azaria, was actually a bartender when he was younger!) He starred in some commercials and had very small roles in several shows. He was in a few pilots that went absolutely no where. And even the bigger shows he was privileged to be in he only had a line or two, like Family Ties and Growing Pains.

The first, and no doubt biggest break for Hank came in the form of a “cattle call” for several characters on a new show: The Simpsons. 

The actor who had played Moe the bartender for the majority of season 1 had recently left the show and they were looking to dub and fill in his part. Hank only had one voice over credit to his name when he went in to audition. He’d played the dog in a failed pilot: Hollywood Dog. But the casting director for The Simpsons knew Hank from that one role and asked him to audition for Moe. Pressed for a voice, he thought of a character he was currently playing in a play. The character was a drug dealer and Hank had given him a “bad Al Pacino impression from his performance in Dog Day Afternoon”. He pitched it down and used it for Moe and the producers thought it was perfect. He dubbed in the character’s lines and was sure he’d never hear from them again.

He was continually shocked as they brought him in for more and more characters. Each time he’d leave the studio he was once again sure he’d never be back. He thought he did a terrible job, having to be led through “the ABC’s of comedy” from the producer. Whatever the case, the request kept coming. Finally, in Season 2, Hank signed a contract and became an official part of the cast.

The origins of a large base of Hank’s voices come directly from impressions, (and sometimes bad impressions), of famous celebrities. He cites the inspiration for many of the characters:

– Moe = Al Pacino

– Chief Wiggum = Edward G. Robinson

– Officer Lou = Sylvester Stallone

– Dr. Nick = Ricky Ricardo (an admittedly bad one)

– Wise Guy = Charles Bronson

– Professor Frink = Jerry Lewis (specifically from The Nutty Professor)

– Sea Captain = Robert Newton (as a pirate)

This gig set Hank up for the rest of his career. He did continue with more work in both the voice over realm and on camera realm playing Eddie Brock/Venom in the 90’s Spider-Man show, Gargamel in later iterations of The Smurfs (including both movies), and had roles in the ’98 Godzilla movie, a role on Friends, and performed in Monty Python’s theatrical musical Spamalot.

The Simpsons though, without a doubt, gave him the most steady and collectively highest salary of his life. The story of the cast’s pay is kind of crazy. When Hank first signed on, the actors were being paid $30,000 per episode. But in 1998, a rumble went down in Fox about pay rate. Fox threatened to replace the entire cast and even lined up their chosen actors, ready to pull a switch-a-roo. The dispute was settled and the payment landed on a meaty $125,000 per episode. That lasted until 2004, when the actors decided once again that they weren’t being paid enough. Several of them purposefully skipped out on table-reads as a protest. They wished for the amount to be heightened to $360,000. In the end the pay for each actor went up, with Hank’s coming to somewhere between $250,000 and $360,000 per episode. BUT THEN production for the 20th season was put on hold when, you guessed it, the cast demanded higher pay. It turned out in their favor and the payment for each episode was hiked to a whopping $400,000 per episode! However three years later Fox threatened to cancel the entire show if budget cuts weren’t made and the payment dropped to $300,000 per. (Oh no, whatever will they do.)

Hank continues to enjoy a very fruitful career, recently performing on camera for the show Ray Donovan, appearing on Talk Shows such as Conan, and touring with a live show making use of his various voices. Check out a video of a bit he does as Chief Wiggum singing “Let It Go”.

Hank is a grounding reminder that success can, and most likely will, come at a gradual and realistic rate. Hang in there! Hank did, and look at him now!

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: We’ll be exploring the Uncharted world of this voice actor’s world. Don’t speak poorly of this guy or he might take you out with a hidden blade. It’s Nolan North!

Very Voice Actors – Bill Scott

Many cartoon loving people, myself included, have a very soft spot for the Jay Ward cartoon series like Rocky and Bullwinkle and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Their cultured humor, irregular pacing, and simplistic yet endearing artwork drew us in as children and kept us transfixed as adults. There’s grown an almost familial love in our hearts as we feel twangs of innocence and good times when we see and hear the voices of our favorite characters like Rocket J. Squirrel, Dudley Do-Right, that narrator of Fractured Fairy Tales, and of course the great magic-trick performing, bad advice giving Bullwinkle.

Bill Scott is the man who gave voice to some of the biggest names in the Jay Ward archives. He has the names Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Peabody, George of the Jungle, Super Chicken, AND Bullwinkle surrounding his title.

Ironically, for a man who’s well known for his pipes, Bill was born with tuberculosis and struggled with it as a child. His parents moved from New Jersey to the arid climate of Denver, Colorado. This did indeed help the young boy’s infirmity!

While his prolific voice over career is something to marvel, his writing and artistic career is just as (if not more) extensive and impressive. He discovered his fascination with animation growing up with Felix The Cat. His first job as an artist came to him when he was just a kid. He was payed to paint pictures of characters from the then-recent Disney movie Fantastia live in front of customers and passersby for a downtown department store.

After graduating college he went on teach at a high school for a year, saying later the experience was “traumatic”. He soon decided to enlist in the army and was stationed in the U.S. Army’s “First Motion Picture Unit” where he served under Lt. Ronald Reagan! The First Motion Picture Unit was a powerhouse creator of army films (largely propaganda), and was the first military unit made up of people from the entertainment industry.

When he finished his time with the unit he moved on to several big name writing jobs. He did work for Warner Bros., wrote for the largely popular puppet show Time For Beany, and worked on many projects for “United Productions of America” including the adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s Gerald McBoing-Boing.

Following this path of success he began writing for Jay Ward studios where he was eventually asked to help in the creation of “An adventure story about a moose and a squirrel.” When Ward discovered Bill’s vocal abilities he personally asked him to be the voice of the blundering pun-telling moose in their new series.

While he added onto his work for Jay Ward with voices for Mr. Peabody and Dudley, he continued his writing career. General Mills, a huge sponsor of Rocky and Bullwinkle, had a plethora of ads for Bill to write. He even branched out to on-camera work as well, appearing in The Duck Factory starring Jim Carrey and showcasing other voice talents like Don Messick and Frank Welker.

Bill Scott greatly appreciated the legendary characters he was so privileged to give life to. “I grew up with you!” He says, quoting many he’s met. He acknowledges what a bizarre and rewarding job it is to say: I’m Bullwinkle Moose.

“Why wouldn’t you be proud to say that?”

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: First name Michael, last name Rotch…wait that’s not right…First name Hank, last name Azaria. IS THERE A HANK AZARIA IN THE HOUSE???

Very Voice Actors – Maurice LaMarche

So……

Let’s talk about Maurice LaMarche.

His credits are immense. Somewhere in his spanning portfolio you’re sure to find an iconic role you love and/or grew up with. I mean, just take a gander:

*Cracks knuckles*

Maurice has played Dr. Doom in recent Marvel cartoons like The Ultimate Spiderman and Avengers Assemble; He’s Yosemite Sam in the new Looney Tunes Show among just about everything “Warner Bros” that has that character; He was the evil “Father” in Codename: Kids Next Door; He was Master Fung in Xiaolin Showdown; He played Shovis the Butler in Nickelodeon’s Catscratch; He’s the voice of Mortimer Mouse on Disney shows for years now; He did Egon for the Ghostbusters cartoon series; He was Taz in the 90’s show Taz-Mania; The role of Captain Planet’s arch-nemesis “Verminous Skumm” was his; Back on Tiny Toons he played Dizzy Devil; and he was Chief Quimby on the original Inspector Gadget show.

I mean, that’s a lot…but we haven’t even gotten to the biggest stuff.

Mr. LaMarche is practically every side character in Futarama including Kif Kroker, Morbo, and the head of Orson Welles. He was Mr. Pataki in Hey Arnold. And he’s even made his mark in feature film Disney movies playing the Root Beer Tapper in Wreck-It-Ralph and the King in Frozen.

But of course the role that is held dearly to most hearts, the role he is most credited for is…The clever, the conniving, the calculating cartoon icon: The Brain!

So where did this megalithic monster of voice over get his start? Well back when Maurice was a child he thrived for attention. When he discovered he could mimic voices he used it to get laughs out of his classmates by impersonating famous actors and Warner Bros. characters.

His need for attention didn’t cease and he soon dropped out of high school to start a stand up routine at the age of 19. Living in Toronto at the time he began working the clubs. One fateful night a woman who worked for Nelvana, a Canadian animation company, discovered his talent for impressions. He was signed on to do two impressions for a cartoon short called “Easter Fever”: Steve Martin and Don Rickles. Maurice describes the sensation of seeing his voice come out of cartoon characters as “the coolest high I’d ever felt”.

When he moved out to Los Angeles he had the typical idea of the tinsel town many actors paint for themselves: Images of his name in lights and his face on the big screen. He quickly found it to be a very difficult and rejection-filled world where he had to scrape together ends meat to get by. But a massive force of help came to him in the form of voice-talent extraordinaire Frank Welker (who we will most certainly get to at some point on Very Voice Actors). Frank had heard him in a few auditions and began spreading a good word about him in the voice over community. It was this prompting that helped Maurice land his first big role as the Chief on the 80’s cartoon series Inspector Gadget.

While this was happening he was continuing his stand up career, rather successfully, and eventually opened for such names as Rodney Dangerfield, George Carlin, Howie Mandel, and Donna Summer.

Despite a steady rise in popularity in both the stand up realm and cartoons, Maurice dealt with some very heavy losses that put him in dark places. The first misfortune occurred in 1987 when his father was murdered by his best friend. This drove Maurice into drinking and brought him out of the stand up world for 2 years. He says his father came to nearly every one of Maurice’s shows and knowing he wouldn’t be there any longer was too difficult to deal with. Eventually able to bring himself back to the comedy world he started with stand up once again only to have another horrible tragedy befell his family. His eighteen year old sister was killed in a car accident. Maurice says at that point, “that was the death knell for my stand up career. I just didn’t have the energy.”

Through all of the ups and downs, however, cartoons were a steady and constant part of his life. He grabbed more and more roles in various series and says the cartoons allowed him to return to his childhood.

When Maurice heard that Spielberg was creating a cartoon series, he yearned to be a part of it but thought his chances were very slim. He ended up nabbing the part of Dizzy Devil on Tiny Toons. When the spinoff show – Animaniacs- was coming to fruition he once again went in for auditions. Trying for the part of The Brain he recalls seeing a drawing and thinking “That looks like Orson Welles!” Not only was Orson one of his best impressions but he had been known across the industry to go into the Welles voice in between takes with different shows. He jumped right on that track (and added a bit of Vincent Price in the voice mix) and the executives agreed the voice was a perfect fit. Andrea Romano, legendary voice director who was working on the show, later told Maurice that they stopped looking for The Brain’s voice after his audition.

Maurice continues his legendary voice-actor status today, staying plenty busy with some of the newest and hottest stuff. His resume, interestingly enough, also includes credits for dubbing in voices like an Orson Welles impression in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, and Patrick Stewart in The Pagemaster. He’s been privileged to take on such iconic roles as Mr. Gadget, Toucan Sam and Popeye, saying (of Popeye) that his throat actually bled in an attempt to recreate the iconic voice. He also has a very special skill that seems to be elusive to even the greatest voice actors around: Belching. He’s come in to record burps in cartoon shows and movies for years and is actually credited for the long winded belch in the movie Elf. Check out a video of him doing his belch act here:

A legend. A very, very talented individual.

Maurice LaMarche is certainly one worth talking about.

NEXT EDITION’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: Gee, wouldn’t YOU like to read an entire article about a hairy brown moose? Well next week’s lesson will be about the great Bill Scott!