A while back, Mark Evanier did a top 20 golden age of cartoon voice actors. I'd like to do the same thing except mine will be listed and will be ranked. These men and women must be from the golden age of animation or from early television animation. These men and women were voice actors most known for work from 1929-1970.
Before I begin the list, here are a few honorable mentions:
A. Sterling Holloway---The original voice of Winnie the Pooh
B. Hal Smith--Voiced Winnie the Pooh and Owl
C. Sid Raymond---Voice of many of the Harvey and Terrytoons characters
D.Jim Backus---The voice of Mr. Magoo.
E. Verna Felton-- The voice of many female Disney characters until she died.
Now on with the list!
20. Jackson Beck--
Jackson Beck was the voice of Bluto, King Leonardo, Buzzy the Crow, and many others. He was actually a voice actor in New York. He voiced many characters for Fleischer, Terrytoons, and Total Television.
19. Dick Beals--
Dick Beals did all sorts of Little boy voices throughout his life. He was the voice of Speedy Alka-Seltzer. He also played Ralph Phillips.
18. Pinto Colvig---
Pinto Colvig is most known as the voice of Goofy. He also voiced Pluto. He was in the two first animated features ever: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Gulliver's Travels.
17. Hans Conried---
Hans Conried is known for playing very evil characters. He voiced Snidley Whiplash in the Dudley Do-Right cartoons. He also was a regular Disney voice actor as the voice of Captain Hook.
16. Howard Morris---
While he is most known as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show, Howard Morris also played a whole slew of cartoon roles as well. For Hanna-Barbera, he played Jet Screamer, Atom Ant, and Mr. Pebbles. He was also the voice of Beetle Bailey.
15. Alan Reed---
Alan Reed was the voice of Fred Flintstone. While he did other characters as well, he will always be known as the voice of Fred Flintstone. He invented that voice and there is no other person who I can picture playing Fred perfectly. No offense to Henry Corden whose voice was too Jackie Gleason like.
14. Gary Owens---
Gary Owens was in thousands of cartoons. He really is a character actor using his voice as Space Ghost and Roger Ramjet.
13. Paul Winchell---
Paul Winchell is more known for being a puppeter. He also voiced many cartoon characters. He voiced Tigger of the Winnie the Pooh franchise. He also voiced Dick Dastardly and Gargamel for Hanna Barbera.
12. Stan Freberg---
Stan Freberg is a comedy legend. The first thing he did was voice in Warner Bros Cartoons. He played Cecil on Time For Beany. He also voiced many characters for Warner Bros such as Pete Puma, Junior Bear, and all of the voices in the Three Little Bops short.
11. Clarence Nash---
Clarence Nash is the voice of Donald Duck. He is known for voicing Donald and is the only person we think of when we think of Donald's voice.
10. Jean Vander Pyl---
Jean Vander Pyl voiced a ton of women in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Some of them include Rosie the Robot, Pebbles Flintstone, and Winsome Witch. Her most well known role though is of Wilma Flintstone on The Flintstones.
9. Jack Mercer---
Jack Mercer may not have been Popeye's first voice actor, but he certainly was his best. Jack Mercer voiced many New York cartoon characters including Popeye and Felix the Cat. He also wrote for the Fleischer Studios which is how he became Popeye after Red Pepper Sam was fired.
8. Janet Waldo---
Janet Waldo not only voiced teenagers but she even sounded like one. Janet Waldo was the voice of Judy Jetson, Penelope Pitstop, and hundreds of others.
7. Bill Scott---
Bill Scott was just a writer for Jay Ward Productions. When he asked Jay, "Who is going to play Bullwinkle" Jay responded "Oh, I thought you were". Bill Scott also voiced Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle, and Mr. Peabody.
6. Mae Questel---
Mae Questel was probably the first female voice actress ever. She was the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. She even looked like Betty Boop.
Paul Frees was one of many voice actors in Hollywood. He was a regular at many studios. He is most well known for his voices for Jay Ward as Boris Badenov and Inspector Fenwick. He also played characters for animated commericals, Hanna-Barbera, and Rankin/Bass.
4. Don Messick---
Don Messick voiced a ton of characters at Hanna-Barbera. He voiced Scooby-Doo, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, Bandit, Scrappy Doo, and Dixie.
3. Daws Butler---
Daws Butler (along with Don Messick) voiced probably over 2/3's of Hanna-Barbera's characters. He voiced Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw Mcgraw, Wally Gator, Augie Doggie, Snagglepuss, Elroy Jetson, and many other characters for Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward. He also taught many of the best voice actors in the industry today such as Corey Burton and Nancy Cartwright.
2. June Foray---
June Foray is the greatest woman in animation history. That's why I'm writing a book about her. It's not that I'm biased, it's that I'm right!
1. Mel Blanc---
Who else did you expect to win this list? Mel Blanc is #1 on everyone's list! As the voice of most of the Looney Tunes characters and many of the Hanna-Barbera characters, he is truly the Man of A Thousand Voices.
I think you missed a couple of honorable mentions:
ReplyDeleteWilliam Conrad - the announcer on The Bullwinkle / Rocky & Bullwinkle shows. His readings add so much, I can't imagine the show without him.
Tim Matheson as Jonny Quest.
Walter Tetley, Mr. Peabody's boy Sherman.
Bea Benederet - how could you forget her, the only other major female voice after June Foray?
It's amazing how many of these people got their start on Radio, and appeared on The Jack Benny Program.
Four Excellent voice actors that you mentioned. Bea Benederet should have been on this!
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