Mel Blanc whose nickname was “man of a thousand voices”, is kind of a big deal in the voice acting community and is noted as one of the most influential voice actors of all time. Blanc started out as a radio actor but his role as Bugs Bunny in the Looney Tunes franchise is what he is most famous for, voicing the famous rabbit from 1960-1989. But Bugs Bunny wasn’t all that he did! He was also the voice of all your other favourite Looney Tunes including Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester and Tweetie, and a whole lot more.! Mel Blanc had range!
Strong’s face might not be that recognisable but if you’re a fan of cartoons you’ll have definitely heard her. Her roles as Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls and Timmy Turner in Fairly Odd Parents are amongst her most notable. As well as appearing in film and TV she also has lent her voice to video games, featuring in the Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy franchises. Strong is a voice acting queen!
Jim Cummings is a bona fide voice acting legend! His voice has appeared in nearly 400 films. He is most famous for voicing Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger which he started doing in 1988 and continues to do so to this day. Not only is Cummings a great voice actor, he is a great singer also. Cummings replaced actor Jeremy Irons as Scar in The Lion King on the song “Be Prepared” when Irons developed vocal problems. He features in many a family favourite including: Aladdin, Hercules, Shrek and Chicken Run to name a few!
Nancy Cartwright is the voice of the worlds most famous ten-year-old, Bart Simpson. Cartwright has voiced the little yellow rascal since the show’s inception in 1989. She is also the voice of other characters from the show including Nelson and Ralph. Cartwright hasn’t just been in The Simpsons, she voiced Chuckie Finster in the Rugrats and Rufus in Kim Possible, making her voice acting royalty for sure!
Frank’s list of voice acting credits requires a pair of military-grade binoculars to see. He has lent his voice to just about every property imaginable, but his career really started to take off during the 1970s and 80s. He first made a name for himself as the voice of Fred Jones in the classic Scooby-Doo cartoons, then moved onto such hits as Fred Flintstone and Friends, The Fantastic Four, and Casper and the Angels.
Welker re-energized his already hot career in the 1980s with a string of major voice roles. He voiced Doctor Claw in Inspector Gadget, as well as Megatron and a number of Decepticon characters in the G1 Transformers cartoon series. Most recently, Frank began voicing Fred Jones again in the Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? series.
Billy West’s most notable role is as the voice of space travelling postal delivery boy Fry in Futurama. West has also been the voice of Buggs Bunny and played the character in the movie Space Jam. One of his most recognisable but slightly obscure roles is as the voice of the giant red M&M in the confectionary’s TV advertisements!
In many ways, Seth MacFarlane is a comedic prodigy. He’s as juvenile and crass as he is distinguished and knowledgeable, and it’s a killer combination that has made Family Guy such a potent competitor (and friendly rival) to The Simpsons. MacFarlane managed to take his love of Broadway musical numbers and mixed it with boundary-pushing comedy that has garnered plenty of blowback throughout the years.
He’s also voiced several characters in Family Guy, while simultaneously branching off into other properties like American Dad!, Robot Chicken, and the Hollywood comedy franchise Ted. Most notably, MacFarlane created the sleeper hit The Orville, a nod to Star Trek: The Next Generation that has garnered more positive fan reaction from Trekkers than the franchise’s controversial and divisive follow-up, Star Trek: Discovery.
Transformers fans know Peter Cullen best as the timeless, one-and-only voice of Autobot leader Optimus Prime, a character he began voicing in the 1980s. Since that time, Cullen has capitalized on the character’s success multiple times, and he also voiced many other characters from the show, as well.
He’s far from a one-trick pony, however. Cullen got started on the popular Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, before venturing into a plethora of franchises such as G.I. Joe, Gremlins, Voltron, and BraveStarr, to name a few. He’s also the guy responsible for all those creepy noises and ticks made by the titular alien creature in the Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi classic Predator, which is one of the coolest movies in history.
Better known as the iconic voice of dunderhead dad Homer Simpson in the long-running Simpsons animated sitcom, Dan Castellaneta continues to voice the character 34 years after the showed debuted. That’s an impressive run and has turned Castellaneta into one of the most famous voice actors of all time.
He’s also divided his time between voice acting and in-person roles in big films such as The Pursuit of Happyness, Stargate SG-1, Frasier, and Everybody Loves Raymond. The curse of being attached to the Homer Simpson role, however, is permanent, and unbreakable.
Mark Hamill kickstarted his acting career by appearing in General Hospital, The Bill Cosby Show, and Night Gallery, before scoring one of the largest and most iconic roles of all time – Luke Skywalker. Hamill has since been permanently tied to the Star Wars franchise (often begrudgingly), but he also took his newfound fame as an opportunity to open new doors.
Hamill became a voice actor and got his big break in the classic animated Batman TV series that debuted in 1992. He’s voiced the Joker multiple times, even reaching beyond the animated series into the Batman: Arkham series of games, as well as providing voices for Netflix’s Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and American Dad!.
Few female voice actors have the sheer iconography and pedigree that Jennifer Hale has enjoyed. She’s truly in a class all her own, having voiced an innumerable amount of characters over the years that made their respective franchises major hits. She cut her teeth as a voice actor in classic video games like Quest For Glory IV, before moving into TV and movies.
Now, Hale has toes dipped in all three. She’s voiced multiple Star Wars characters while bouncing back and forth between properties like Cowboy Bebop, Justice League, and Metroid Prime. She’s best known for having voiced the female version of Commander Shepard in BioWare’s runaway smash hit Mass Effect trilogy.
Tress has been going strong in the voice acting world since the early 80s, and she’s made a brilliant career out of it. She started in franchises like Ri¢hie Ri¢h and My Little Pony, before moving onto Challenge of the GoBots, Voltron, Sectaurs, and Alvin & The Chipmunks. Oh, and she’s also the lady responsible for the “dink!” voices in the classic Mel Brooks spoof SpaceBalls.
She’s kept very busy through the last 3 decades with work on Mighty Max, The Land Before Time, Superman, The Tick, and Batman Beyond. She’s also played the hilarious Agnes Skinner on The Simpsons since 1990, a role she clings onto till this very day.
The rise of digital media over the last two decades has spawned new careers and businesses. The entertainment industry is one of the primary beneficiaries of this innovative technology. From podcasting, social media, online radio, vlogs, blogs to animations, many people have made careers out of this digital revolution. Digital media offers an opportunity for … Read more
Voice actors have gone from relative obscurity to cultural powerhouses in very little time; what was once a niche profession filled with relative unknowns now sports its own share of household names. With a history that spans over 100 years, you can bet all sorts have made the voice acting profession their home. Today, we’ll … Read more