Narrators and Voice Actors
They may not be known by face or even be household words, but this page is dedicated to those who have made us laugh hysterically, kept us on the edge of our seats, and just generally got our attention! Their spoken contributions add just as much to a great TV or Radio show, or a film as the visible actors do. Without narrators and voice actors, something vital would indeed be lost.
Jackson Beck
William Conrad
1920-1994
You may not know him by name or face, but you have certainly heard his distinct, versatile and sometimes booming voice. Jackson Beck has given life from everything to Popeye cartoons (he was Bluto), the old Superman and Tom Corbett radio and TV series (as the announcer), numerous other cartoons (like King Leonardo, remember that one baby boomers?), and most notably, the hilariously deadpan narration in Woody Allen's comic romp, "Take the Money and Run" . More recently, he has been heard in ads for Little Caesars Pizza, The NY State Lottery, and Gibraltar Securities.
Many will always remember William Conrad in that wonderful Quinn Martin crime drama, CANNON. But did you know that he also provided that hilariously manic, machine-gun style narration to the old Bullwinkle cartoons? Click on the above picture to find out more!
Paul Frees
1920-1986
William Dozier
1908-1991
If anyone outside of Mel Blanc could hold the title of "Man of 1000 Voices", it would certainly be Paul Frees!!!! To give you an idea, just his cartoon characterizations would fill a whole encyclopedia. Some of his best know ones were many of the voices on those Rankin/Bass animated Christmas specials we all grew up with, not to mention Boris Badenov, the hilariously overserious Jackson Beck-like narration on "George of the Jungle" and "Superchicken", the Pillsbury Doughboy, the little German guy on the old Nestles' Chocolate commercials from the 70's, the hilarious spoken rhyming introduction to "Mr. Terrific" (a late 60's vintage inept superhero comedy that tried to cash in on the Batman craze, a lot like "Captain Nice") and so many others too numerous to mention here., Click on the above picture to learn more.
Holy Over-Dramatic Narration Batman!!!!!!!! When Executive Producer Bill Dozier was auditioning potential narrators for the new Batman TV series in 1966, he never thought he would become so memorable to millions, just as much as the bizzarre villains, the Bat-fight words, gizmos and everything else. After fruitless auditions, Bill tried it himself, and wound up with the job! He just had to join SAG to do it legally.Ofttimes, he was nicknamed by his compatriots "Desmond Doomsday". Listen to his narrating on the old Batman series, and its easy to see why. Not bad for an executive producer!!!
Hans Conreid