Franklin W. "Frank" Welker (born March
12, 1946) is a veteran American
actor, who specializes in voice
acting. He is responsible for a broad spectrum of
character voices and other vocal effects that have appeared over
the last 40 years in American television and motion pictures.
Welker is listed as number one on the "All Time Top 100 Stars at
the Box Office" list by the film website The Numbers, not as a box
office draw, but in terms of the total revenue generated by the
films he has participated in.
Biography
Early life
Welker was
born in Denver,
Colorado
.
He
attended college in California
, where he later began his career appearing in
commercials. While in college he appeared in numerous plays,
and developed a
stand-up comedy act
which got him started on the concert circuit touring with
The Righteous Brothers and
Sergio Mendes.
He continued with stand up, appearing in
places including Las
Vegas
and Lake
Tahoe
as the opening act for headliners like Sonny and Cher, Diana
Ross, Loretta Lynn, Ann-Margret and Neil
Sedaka.
Acting career
Welker's first on camera film role was as a bar fight participant
in Stan Dragoti’s
Dirty Little Billy. However, his first
film role was in The Trouble with
Girls, portraying a college kid from Rutgers
University
who befriends Elvis
Presley some time in the motion picture. He later
co-starred with
Don Knotts in
Universal’s How to Frame a Figg. Welker also
appeared in two
Disney films,
The Computer Wore Tennis
Shoes and
Now You See Him, Now You
Don't.
His on camera television appearances included
Love American Style, The Partridge Family and
The Don Knotts Show. He
played a prosecutor in highly acclaimed
ABC special
The Trial of
General Yamashita and as Captain Pace beside
Richard Dreyfuss'
Yossarian in
Paramount television’s pilot,
Catch-22. He appeared on
Laugh In,
The Dean Martin Roast,
The Mike Douglas Show,
The Tonight Show,
Merv Griffin,
The Smothers Brothers Show,
The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour and
Laugh
Trax. In the latter show, he was a cast member alongside
Jim Staahl and
Howie Mandel. Frank also played an on camera
role of a voice actor on an episode of
Simon and Simon. He returned to an
on-camera role in the film
The Informant, playing
Matt Damon's character's father.
Voice acting career
Welker has
been referred to as a "voice acting god" (by John DiMaggio and Billy
West in the DVD commentary for Futurama) in Hollywood
for the sheer number of voices he has done—over
1,200—ranging from his work on Scooby-Doo to the present day. His
voice acting credits include television shows and films such as
Curious George,
Aladdin,
Pocahontas and
computer games such as the
Baldur's Gate series, and
CarnEvil. Frank's ability goes
beyond creating human voices and is often cast as animals,
monsters, or aliens and used for creature vocals, for example
Stripe the
gremlin from
Gremlins, and
Godzilla
from the movie of the same name.
Welker starred in more live action movies during the 1990s. His
work includes vocal effects for the character of Sil in
Species,
Goro in 1995's
Mortal Kombat,
the Devil in 1986's
The Golden Child, and
Malebolgia in 1997's
Spawn. Welker also provided the voice
(both speaking and non-speaking) of
Nibbler in the cartoon TV series
Futurama.
As of 2002, Welker is the voice of both
Fred Jones and Scooby Doo. This
includes the most recent
What's New, Scooby-Doo?, and
the series-based spinoff,
Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get
a Clue!. Welker is so closely connected with Fred that
anytime Fred appears (with the exception of
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo), it is
Welker providing the voice. Also, Welker starred in most of the
2000s Scooby-Doo projects as Fred Jones and Scooby-Doo. He also was
Sasquatch in
The Legend of
Sasquatch. Welker's talent was also recognized in
Disney's Stitch:
Experiment 626, voicing the jealous and maniacal
Experiment 6-2-1.
For the cartoon
SWAT
Kats: The Radical Squadron, Welker provided the voice of
the villainous Dr. Viper. Welker is also (as of 2005-present) the
new Garfield voice. He has voiced him in Garfield Gets Real,
Garfield's Fun Fest, and Garfield's Pet Force. He also portrays
Garfield in the new cartoon series The Garfield Show. Welker voices
Vastus and does the effects of Vorox in the upcoming film
Bionicle: The Legend
Reborn.
Transformers
In the 1980s, Welker voiced many recurring characters in the
Transformers animated series. He voiced nine
Decepticons:
Megatron,
Soundwave,
Skywarp,
Laserbeak,
Buzzsaw,
Rumble,
Frenzy,
Ravage, and
Ratbat. He also did voicework as the Autobots
Mirage and
Trailbreaker. With the release of the animated
film in 1986, he took on the role of the Autobot
Wheelie and afterwards, took over the
role of Galvatron from
Leonard Nimoy.
Having already provided the screams for Nimoy's character
Mr. Spock in
Star Trek III: The Search
for Spock, this marked the second time he had inherited a
role from Nimoy. Welker was asked to audition to reprise his
original role of Megatron in the 2007
live action Transformers movie.
Apparently due to a conflict in schedules, Welker never met with
the producers or director
Michael Bay.
Bay, however, had Welker send him a couple of recorded lines and
concluded that Welker's Megatron did not fit his new interpretation
of the character and that having him use a different voice would
defeat the purpose of casting him. Although this did not occur in
the film itself, Welker reunited with
Transformers co-star
Peter Cullen in the 2007
Transformers: The Game, with
both returning to voice their signature roles. He also reprised his
role in the
animated
prequel, a bonus premium of the DVD package.
Welker also returned to two of his most famous
Transformers roles when he portrayed Megatron and
Soundwave as part of a spoof in the third season episode of
Robot Chicken, aired shortly
after the release of the live action film.
Michael Bay's website reported that he was in talks with Frank
Welker to reprise his role as the voice of Soundwave for
Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen.
Roberto
Orci later confirmed that Welker was voicing Soundwave. Welker
also provides the voice of Devastator, Grindor, Ravage and
Reedman.
Filmography
Television animation
- 101 Dalmatians: The
Series (Scorch, Steven the Alligator)
- Adventures of Don
Coyote and Sancho Panda (Don Coyote, Dapple the
Donkey)
- Adventures
from the Book of Virtues (Socrates)
- Adventures of Jimmy
Neutron: Boy Genius (Goddard, additional voices)
- Aladdin (TV series)
(Abu, Rajah, Xerxes, additional voices)
- Alvin and
the Chipmunks (Additional voices)
- American Dad! (Additional
voices)
- Animaniacs (Runt, Flavio
Hippo, Buttons, Ralph the Guard, Thaddeus Plotz, Chicken Boo, occasional segment narration)
- Arthur (Pal
(1996-2000), various animals (uncredited))
- Astro and the Space
Mutts (Cosmo)
- Budgie The Little
Helicopter (Fergus The Cat The Hanger Owl The Hanger Mouse
and Various Animals)
- Batman: The Animated
Series (Isis the cat, werewolf sound effects, henchman,
demon)
- Batman Beyond (Ace the
Bathound, various animals and mutants)
- The
Berenstein Bears (Raffish Ralph, Actual Factual, Weasel
McGreed, Farmer Ben, and Henchweasels)
- Bionic Six (Glove, Mechanic,
Chopper)
- Bobby's World (Roger the
Dog)
- Bonkers (Fall-Apart
Rabbit, Toots, Roderick the Toon Radio, Toon Handbag, Cadet Quark,
Elmo, additional voices)
- Buzz Lightyear of
Star Command (Grubs, Brain Pods, and others)
- Captain N: The Game
Master (Game Boy (Seasons 2 and 3))
- Captain Planet
and the Planeteers (Lead Suit, Suchi the Monkey, Tank
Flusher, various humans and animals)
- Capitol Critters
(Presidential Cats)
- Challenge of the
Gobots (Scooter, Zeemon,
Blaster, Rest-Q)
- Challenge of the
Superfriends (The Toyman)
- Chowder (Various
animal and creature vocal effects)
- Codename: Kids Next
Door (Professor XXXL, Mister Uno)
- Cro (Gogg, Bobb, Earle, Big
Red)
- Curious
George (George)
- Darkwing Duck
(Various)
- Dave the Barbarian
(Faffy)
- Dexter's Laboratory
(Monkey, Quackor, The Infraggible Krunk, Mister Luzinsky, "Master
Computer")
- Dink, the Little
Dinosaur (Scat, Crusty)
- Dino Riders (Krulos,
Rasp)
- Donkey Kong
Country (Krusha in the 2nd season)
- Droopy, Master
Detective (Mighty McWolf, Dweeble)
- DuckTales (Bigtime Beagle, Baggy Beagle, Bubba, Tootsie, Poe De Spell)
- Dungeons
& Dragons (Uni, Tiamat)
- Dynomutt, Dog
Wonder (Dynomutt the Dog Wonder)
- Evil Con Carne (Boskov
the Bear)
- The Fairly
Oddparents (Doidle, Dinkledog, The Sewer Gator, Evil
Bug)
- Fangface (Fangs/Fangface)
- Family Guy (Freddy Jones, Kermit the Frog, Megatron)
- Foofur (Foofur)
- Freakazoid! (Mister
Chubbikins)
- Futurama (Nibbler (both talking and non-talking
versions), Seymour, various
animal and humanoid voices)
- G.I. Joe (Copperhead, Flash, Freedom, Junkyard,
Polly, Short-Fuse, Timber, Torch, Wild Bill)
- Garfield and
Friends (Booker, Sheldon, Bo, Mort, Fred Duck, Doctor
Garbanzo Bean)
- The Garfield Show
(Garfield, Additional voices)
- Gargoyles
(Bronx, Baby Alex, various
animals)
- Goof Troop (Waffles,
Chainsaw)
- Hercules: The
Animated Series (Pegasus, Abu ("Hercules and the Arabian
Night"), additional voices)
- House of Mouse (Gus
Goose)
- Inspector Gadget
(Brain, Doctor Claw, Mad Cat)
- Jabberjaw (Jabberjaw)
- The Jetsons (Orbity
(Seasons 2 and 3))
- Jim Henson's Muppet
Babies (Kermit, Beaker, Skeeter)
- Kim Possible (Various
villains and creatures)
- The Legend of
Tarzan (Manu)
- Lloyd in Space
(Bork)
- The Mask: The
Animated Series (Milo, Baby Forthwright)
- Martha Speaks (Martha,
beginning with the 2nd season)
- Megas XLR (Gyven, baby,
warrior)
- Mickey Mouse
Clubhouse (Bella)
- The Mighty
Ducks (Chameleon)
- Mighty Man and Yukk
(Yukk)
- Mighty Max (Warmonger)
- Mucha Lucha! (Masked
Dog)
- The New Woody
Woodpecker Show (Chilly Willy,
Chilly Lilly, Maxie the Polar Bear, Billy, Louie, Gabby Gator,
Badger)
- Ni Hao, Kai-lan (Mr.
Dragon)
- The Pirates of Dark
Water (Niddler, Dark Dweller, Morpho, Lugg Brother
#2)
- Pac-Man (Chomp
Chomp the dog, Morris (Pac-Mans friend))
- Pound Puppies (Catgut,
Nabbit)
- Rambo: The Force
of Freedom (Mad Dog)
- The Real
Ghostbusters (Slimer, Ray Stantz,
Samhaine, The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, The Bogeyman)
- Road Rovers (Muzzle,
Shag)
- Roary the Racing
Car (Breeze)
- The Robonic Stooges
(Curly, Narrator)
- Roger Rabbit
- Scooby-Doo (Freddy Jones (1969-present),
Scooby-Doo (succeeding Scott Innes in
2002))
- Scooby's
All-Star Laff-a-Lympics (Tinker, Yakky Doodle, Magic
Rabbit, Sooey Pig, Dynomutt)
- Shaggy &
Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones)
- The Simpsons (Santa's Little Helper, Snowball II, additional voices)
- The
Smurfs (Clockwork Smurf, Hefty Smurf, Peewit, Poet Smurf,
Puppy, Wild, additional voices)
- The Snorks (Occy,
Tooter)
- Sonic the
Hedgehog (Additional Voices)
- South Park (The Big Giant Black and
Dark Monster, Nibblet, stray dog in episode Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost
Mystery)
- Spider-Man
and His Amazing Friends (Bobby
Drake/Iceman, Flash Thompson,
Miss Lion (Firestar's pet dog))
- Spiral Zone (Doctor Harold
Lawrence, Ned Tucker, Razorback)
- SpongeBob
Squarepants (Giant Clams)
- Superfriends (Marvin)
- Superfriends: The
Legendary Super Powers Show (Darkseid, Kalibak, Mr Mxyzptlk, Dollmaker)
- The
Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (Darkseid, Kalibak,
Mr. Mxyzptlk, Joker , Toyman)
- Swat Kats: The
Radical Squadron (Doctor Viper)
- Time Squad (French Captains,
Horses, James Sherman/Zombie)
- Timon and
Pumbaa (Various animals and characters)
- Tiny Toon
Adventures (Gogo Dodo, Little Beeper, Calamity Coyote, Furrball, Byron Basset,
Barky Marky)
- The
Transformers (Blades, Buzzsaw, Chromedome, Frenzy,
Galvatron, Groove, Jazz (Commercials only), Laserbeak, Megatron,
Mirage, Mixmaster, Ratbat, Ravage, Rumble, Sharkticon, Skywarp,
Sludge, Soundwave, Superion, Sweep, Trailbreaker, Additional
voices)
- This Is America,
Charlie Brown (Various characters)
- The Tom and Jerry
Comedy Show (Spike, Droopy, Slick Wolf, Barney Bear)
- Total Drama Island
(Various animal vocal effects)
- What's New Mr.
Magoo? (McBarker)
- What's New,
Scooby-Doo? (Fred, Scooby-Doo)
- Wheelie and the
Chopper Bunch (Wheelie, Chopper)
- The Wild
Thornberrys (Various animal vocal effects)
- Yogi's Great Escape
(Bopper, Yapper, The Real Ghost)
Live-action roles
- 101
Dalmatians and 102
Dalmatians - Various animal vocal effects including Pongo,
Perdita, and the puppies
- Anaconda - Vocal
effects for Anaconda and other animals as well
- Banana Splits - Bingo
(2008 version)
- Between the Lions -
Snuggles the white cat (from "Little Wendy Tales")
- Born To Be Wild
- Special Vocal Effects including Katie Gorilla's growls and
roars
- Bill and Ted's
Bogus Journey - The Devil, the Easter Bunny, Station
- Bingo - Bingo the dog
- Caddyshack 2 - Vocal
effects for the gopher, Dog Food
- The Cat in the
Hat - voice of Nevins
- Cat's Eye - Vocal
effects for General the cat and troll
- The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Various animal vocal effects including Aslan, Maugrim, Fox, and others
- Congo - Gorilla vocal
effects
- Dollman vs. Demonic
Toys - Voices of Babay Oopsy Daisy, Jack Attack, and
Zombietoid
- Deep Blue Sea - Parrot
Noises
- Eight Legged Freaks
- Various giant spider vocal effects
- Elf - Little puffin
- Elvira, Mistress of
the Dark - Gonk
- Explorers - Alien
father
- The
Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (ride) - Barney Rubble,
Dinosaur
- George of the
Jungle - Little Monkey, Shep, Tooki Tooki Bird, and
gorilla sound effects
- Godzilla - Vocal
effects for Godzilla and the Godzilla Jrs.
- The Golden Child -
Vocal effects for Charles Dance's Demon form.
- Gremlins - voice of Stripe and
other Mogwai and Gremlins
- Gremlins 2: The New
Batch - voice of the Mohawk/Stripe, George, & Lenny
Gremlins
- Graveyard Shift -
rats
- Gordy - Gordy, Narrator, Radio
Announcer
- The Gun in Betty
Lou's Handbag - Scarlett the Dog
- Homeward
Bound: The Incredible Journey - Special Vocal Effects
including Sassy's yowls and Chance's grunts and growls
- How the
Grinch Stole Christmas - Max
- Hudson Hawk - Bunny the fox
terrier
- Honey, I Shrunk The
Kids - Insects, Quark
- House II: The Second
Story - Baby pterodactyl, caterpillar - dog
- Halloweentown High -
Creature Voices
- Independence
Day - Alien vocal effects
- The Informant! - Mark
Whitacre's Father
- The Island
of Dr. Moreau - Various hybrid creature vocal effects
- The Jungle
Book - Various animal vocal effects including Baloo, Bagheera, Grey Brother, Shere
Khan, and King Louie
- Jane Austen's
Mafia! (Various animal vocal effects including the
guard sheep, Vincenzo Cortino's cat and the dinosaurs)
- Jimmy Neutron's
Nicktoon Blast (Goddard (voice), Poultra (voice))
- Jumanji (Animal
vocals)
- Looney Tunes: Back
In Action (Scooby-Doo (voice))
- Little Giants (X and O
dots)
- Man's Best
Friend (Vocal effects for Max the expiramental dog, Ed the
parrot and Boo the cat)
- Mars Attacks! (Martian
vocals)
- Monkey Shines (Vocal
effects for Ella the Monkey)
- Mortal Kombat
(Voice of Shao Kahn (provided the voice for Goro))
- Munchies (Arnold and
other munchies voices)
- Monkey Trouble (Dodger
the Monkey)
- My Science Project
(Aliens (voice))
- Mr. Magoo
(McBarker)
- New York Minute
(Reinaldo)
- The Next Karate Kid
(Angel the Hawk, Dog)
- Once Upon A Crime
(Dog)
- Prancer (Prancer
(voice))
- Prehysteria (Vocal effects
for Elvis, Paula, Jagger, Hammer and Madonna)
- The New
Adventures Of Pippi Longstocking (Mister Neilson,
Alfonso)
- Python (Python
(voice))
- Raiders of the Lost
Ark (Seig Heil the monkey (voice), snakes (voice),
scorpions (voice), demons (voice))
- Richie Rich (Dollar
the Dog)
- The Santa Clause
(Reindeer vocal effects)
- Spawn (Malebolgia)
- Species (Alien Sil
(voice))
- Space Jam Charlie the Dog
(voice))
- Stargate (Mastadge pack
animal (voice))
- Super Mario
Bros. (Vocals for Yoshi, Goombas and other creatures)
- SpaceCamp (Jinx the Robot
(voice))
- The Shadow
(Phurba)
- Scooby-Doo (Creature
vocals)
- Space Jam - Charles the Dog
(credited as Frank W.Welker)
- Star Trek
III: The Search For Spock (Spock (screaming voice))
- Tales From
The Darkside: The Movie (The cat ("The Cat From
Hell"))
- Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (Tokka and Rahzar (voice))
- Tommy Boy (Deer (voice))
- Transformers: Revenge of the
Fallen (Soundwave
(voice), Devastator
(voice), Reedman (voice), Grindor, Ravage (Sound effects))
- Troll (Torok the Troll
(voice), various creature vocals)
- Teaching Mrs.
Tingle (Cartoon voice)
- Trading Mom (The
Lizard)
- Treehouse Hostage
(Kato)
- Up the Creek
(Chuck the Dog)
- Who Framed Roger
Rabbit (Dumbo, additional voices)
- Zorro, The Gay
Blade (Narrator, Mexican guard)
Theater animation
- 101
Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure - Dog sounds,
additional voices
- Aladdin,
The Return of Jafar and
Aladdin and the King
of Thieves - Abu, Rajah, Cave of Wonders
- All Dogs Go to
Heaven and All Dogs
Go to Heaven 2 - Other dogs, demon, additional voices
- Alvin
and the Chipmunks: Meet Frankenstein - "Frankie" The Monster, Sammy
Squirrel
- Alvin
and the Chipmunks: Meet the Wolfman - Werewolf Vocal
Effects
- Atlantis: Milo's
Return - Obby/Mantell
- Barnyard - The Coyotes, and barnyard vocal effects
(uncredited)
- Batman
Beyond: Return of the Joker - Woof, Ace
- Beauty and the
Beast - Footstool, Wolves
- Beauty and the
Beast: The Enchanted Christmas - Phillippe, Sultan
- Belle's Magical
World - Sultan
- Cats Don't Dance -
Farley Wink
- The Chipmunk
Adventure - Sophie Vorstein/Furschtein/Native Chief
- Curious George -
voice of George
- Dinosaur - The Carnotaurus, Velociraptors, and dinosaur sound effects
- Doug's 1st Movie -
Herman Melville
- The Emperor's New
Groove - Dragonfly, Black Panthers
- The Fox and the
Hound - Bear (uncredited)
- Garfield Gets Real -
Garfield, Goth Kid, Hardy,
Keith, Nerd, Prop Boy, and Two Headed Guy
- A Goofy Movie - Bigfoot
- The Great Mouse
Detective - Toby the Dog, Felicia the Cat
- Happily Ever
After - Batso
- Hercules -
Pegasus, various animals and monsters.
- Horton Hears a
Who! - The Wickersham Brothers
- Hoodwinked! (Nicky's Wire
Fox Terrier) (uncredited)
- Hoodwinked! 2: Hood vs. Evil (Nicky's
Wire Fox Terrier) (uncredited)
- The Hunchback of
Notre Dame II - Achilles, Djali
- It's the Pied
Piper, Charlie Brown - Mayor, Mayor's Aides, Townsperson,
Mouse sounds
- Jimmy Neutron Boy
Genius - Goddard, Poultra, Monster, Worm,Orthgot
- Jetsons: The Movie -
Space Basketball Coach, Lead Grungee, other Grungees
- The Jungle Book 2 -
Various animal sound effects including Baloo's
growls and Shere Khan's roaring
- Lady
and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure - Dog Sounds, Reggie
(Street Dog)
- The Land Before
Time - T-Rex / Pachycephalosaurus (uncredited)
- The Land Before Time XIV - Spike
- The Lion King - Lion
roars, Mouse, and the Wildebeasts
- The Lion King 2:
Simba's Pride - Crocodiles, Rhinos, Ox Peckers, Lion
roars
- The Little
Mermaid - Max the Sheepdog, shark,
other animal vocal effects
- The Little Troll
Prince - Prag #2
- Madagascar and
Madagascar: Escape 2
Africa - Lion roars
- Mulan - Khan, Cri-kee
- My Neighbor Totoro -
Totoro / Catbus (2006 Disney dub only)
- Noah's Ark -
Various animal vocal effects
- Oliver &
Company - Louie the Hotdog Man, dog sounds, additional
voices
- Open Season -
Rabbits
- The Pagemaster - Horror,
Parrot, Raven, Dragon
- Pinocchio
and the Emperor of the Night - Igor
- Pocahontas -
Flit
- The Powerpuff Girls
Movie - Whole Lotta Monkeys
- Quest For Camelot -
Ayden the falcon, dragons
- The Rescuers Down
Under - Joanna, Marahute, talking white mouse, additional
special vocal effects
- The Road to El
Dorado - Altivo the horse, armadillo
- The Rugrats Movie -
Scar Snout, and The Circus Monkeys (uncredited)
- Scooby-Doo film series -
Fred Jones, Scooby-Doo, and
others
- Tarzan - Sabor /
Baby Baboon
- The Transformers:
The Movie - Frenzy, Junkion, Laserbeak, Megatron, Rumble,
Soundwave, Wheelie , Ravage
- Tom and Jerry: The
Magic Ring - Jerry and Tyke
- Tom and Jerry:
Blast Off to Mars - Jerry and Spike
Video games
References
- http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/
External links