Frank Welker
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Frank Welker | |
---|---|
Born | Franklin Wendell Welker March 12, 1946 |
Alma mater | Santa Monica College |
Occupation | Voice actor |
Years active | 1967–present |
Works | Full list |
Website | frankwelker |
Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946)[1] is an American voice actor.[2] He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2023, making him one of the most prolific voice actors in history. With his films earning a total worldwide box-office gross of $17.4 billion, he is also the third-highest-grossing actor[a] as of 2011.[3]
Welker is best known for voicing
In 2016, he received a Lifetime Achievement
Early life
Welker was born on March 12, 1946, in Denver, Colorado.[1] His parents were Merrill Welker, a mining engineer, and Lillian.[4]
Career
Voice-acting career
Welker began his career as a stand-up comedian and impressionist in 1967,[1] before transitioning to on-screen acting and later voice acting.[5] His first major voice role came in 1969 as Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo franchise. Welker has voiced Fred in almost every series and incarnation of the Scooby-Doo animated franchise (with the exceptions of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Scoob!, and Velma, the latter in which he portrayed Fred’s father) and has also provided the voice of Scooby-Doo since 2002. With the death of Casey Kasem in 2014, Welker is the only original voice actor still in the Scooby-Doo franchise.[6]
His next major character voice was for
In 1978, he played the title character on
During the 1980s and 1990s, Welker became a very busy voice actor, providing the voice for many popular cartoon characters in multiple TV series, including Uni on
He also voiced various characters on
He also voiced
Welker has also created the vocal effects for many animals and creatures in films, including
In 2006, he began voicing George in the popular children's series Curious George. He also voiced George in the animated film of the same name that same year. In 2007, Welker became the new voice of Garfield, following Bill Murray's departure from the role, and succeeding the original actor Lorenzo Music, who died in 2001 (Welker and Music had previously worked together on The Real Ghostbusters and the original Garfield and Friends). Welker voiced Garfield in Garfield Gets Real (2007), Garfield's Fun Fest (2008), Garfield's Pet Force (2009), and on the series The Garfield Show, which ran from 2008 to 2016. In 2011, he provided the voice of Batman in a Scooby-Doo crossover segment of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!". In the same episode, he also voiced Batboy, the classic Mad Magazine Batman spoof, originally created by Wally Wood.
Welker has also provided voices for many video game characters, most notably
In 2016, Welker received a Lifetime Achievement
Live-action acting career
Welker's first on-camera film role was as a college kid from
On-camera television appearances included roles on
Welker also played an on-camera role as a voice actor in a 1984 episode of
In 1978, Welker appeared on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast to George Burns. While saluting Burns, he showed his abilities as an impressionist by honoring George Burns with the voices of Walter Cronkite, Henry Kissinger, Muhammad Ali, David Frost, and Jimmy Carter. In 1987, he performed stand-up comedy on an episode of the short lived TV show Keep On Cruisin'.
Transformers
In the 1980s, Welker voiced many recurring characters in the original
In 2010, Welker reprised the roles of Megatron and Soundwave in the series Transformers: Prime (retitled Transformers: Prime – Beast Hunters for its third season) and the Transformers: Generation 1 video game Transformers: Devastation.[10] In Prime, Welker significantly altered Megatron's voice from his Generation 1 portrayal to sound more sinister. In the 2015 follow-up series Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Welker once again reprised his role as Soundwave, who has broken his vow of silence since the events of Prime.
Welker returned to two of his Transformers roles when he portrayed Megatron and Soundwave as part of a spoof in a third-season episode of Robot Chicken, which aired shortly after the release of the first installment of the live-action film series. In the second installment film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), he joined the voice cast and reprised the roles of Soundwave and Ravage, and also provided the voices for Grindor, Devastator, and Reedman. He again reprised his role as Soundwave, and took on the roles of Shockwave and Barricade, in the third film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). In Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), he reprised his role as Galvatron, albeit with a voice similar to his portrayal of Megatron in Transformers: Prime.
Welker does not voice Megatron in the first three live-action films (
As of 2019, Welker continues to occasionally voice Megatron for various Transformers media, alternating between his Generation 1 and his Prime portrayals.
Personal life
Welker claims to have dated actress
A licensed pilot since 2010, Welker flies a Beechcraft Bonanza B36T from a local general aviation airport in Los Angeles County, California.[13]
Filmography
Notes
- ^ For all roles, including voice acting and cameos.
References
- ^ a b c "About Frank".
- from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (August 9, 2011). "Frank Welker: the most successful Hollywood actor you've never heard of". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
- ^ "Merrill Welker Obituary (2009) - Denver, CO - Denver Post". Legacy.com.
- ^ Kinane, Ruth (August 22, 2018). "From Scooby-Doo's Fred to Garfield: How legendary voice actor Frank Welker brought the characters to life". MSN. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Frank Welker". scoobyaddicts.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
- ^ Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two - Warren Spector Extended Cut Archived January 28, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Game Trailers TV, March 26, 2012
- ^ Hugus, Jennifer K. (April 27, 2016). "Frank Welker, Best Known as Voice of Scooby-Doo and Curious George, to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at The 43rd Annual Daytime Creative Emmy Awards!".
- ^ "Frank Welker: Master of Many Voices, Bob Miller, ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE, ISSUE 5.01". April 2000. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2012.
- ^ "BotCon 2010 Hasbro panel". mobile.coveritlive.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ "Let Me Be Frank". FrankWelker.com.
- ^ "Frank Welker". Behind The Voice Actors.
- ^ FlightAware information for N500WP owned by Frank Welker
External links
- Frank Welker @ The Numbers
- Frank Welker at IMDb
- Frank Welker at the TCM Movie Database
- Frank Welker at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Frank Welker at AllMovie