THE TOP 12… VOICE-OVER ARTISTS

MARK HAMILL

Best Known Animated Role(s): The Joker (Batman: The Animated Series) Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Luke F’in Skywalker! Other Note-Worthy Animated Role(s): Hobgoblin (Spider-Man), Wolverine (X2: The Video Game), way-too-many other roles to list First Voice Work: The odd post-apocalyptic animated Wizards, released the same time as Star Wars.

Why is he at #1? Well, gosh, let’s see. Iconic role? Check. Many find Hamill’s take on the Joker to be the definitive Joker. A perfect combination of creepy, conniving, absurd, and insane. He has the Joker laugh down pat, something yet to be really be experienced in any live-action version. Incredible versatility? Check. You would never guess that he did the voice for both the Joker and Solomon Grundy in Justice League. Seriously, take a look at his IMDd page: 238 listings as “actor”, well over half of which are voice roles, even including the English voice versions of some early Miyazaki movies, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (his first role post Episode VI!) and Castle in the Sky, and even Disney’s The Little Mermaid! Geek Icon? Um…yeah. Big check. You can’t get much bigger than Luke Skywalker, whining about power converters and all. Really, Mark Hamill epitomizes all that we can possibly like in a voice actor. And heck, how can you not like it when a guy voices both his most well-known character (Luke) and his most well-known character’s mentor (Obi-wan) in an episode of Family Guy?!

2. KEVIN CONROY
Best Known Animated Role(s): He’s Batman! Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Err… Bart Fallmont from Dynasty? Dr. David Dunkle from Rachel Gunn, R.N.? What does it matter? He’s Batman! Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Not only is he Batman, but also Bruce Wayne! (He has done a few small, non-Batman roles as well.) First Voice Work: Oddly enough…it was Batman: The Animated Series

He’s Batman! Much as the aforementioned Mark Hamill is the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series, if you had to pick another perfectly-cast voice from the show, it would be that of the eponymous Caped Crusader. Conroy has absolutely owned the role of Batman for the past twenty years. Starting with Batman: TAS, he has done the voice through Batman Beyond (still playing Bruce Wayne, though not the new Batman), Justice League, and many of the various DC animated movies, and even two of the top video games of the past few years, Arkham Asylum and the sequel, Arkham City. While it is true that he hasn’t provided the voice of Batman in all shows in recent years (such as The Batman, or Batman: The Brave and the Bold)… he should have. Start watching any Batman-related show, and if Conroy isn’t providing the voice, it just sounds wrong (and even, to true fans, distracting). He’s also credited as the first Batman actor to make the effort to noticeably change the inflection of his voice to differentiate between Bruce Wayne and Batman. A favorite Kevin Conroy tidbit? Taken from the IMDb (’cause it’s worded so nicely and succinctly) “In the episode ‘Perchance to Dream’ of Batman, he read the voice of Batman, Bruce Wayne, Bruce’s father, and the evil Batman in real time, alternating between all four characters without having to pause recording.” Nice. And there is no way you wouldn’t jump and/or run screaming if you heard his Batman voice coming from a dark alley.

3. KEITH DAVID
Best Known Animated Role(s): Goliath (Gargoyles), Spawn (Spawn: The Animated Series) Best Known Live-Action Role(s): King (Platoon), Lester Wallace (Barbershop) Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Okkoto (Princess Mononoke), Captain Anderson (all three Mass Effect games), a whole bunch o’ commercials (UPS, U.S. Navy, etc.) First Voice Work: The made-for-TV movie Christmas in Tattertown (1988) voicing Saxophone and the always-inherent-in-voice-work “Others”

With an immediately recognizable deep voice, Keith David has a resonant quality in everything he says that just calls out “you want to listen to me”. In both his animated and live-action roles, he always finds himself to be the “leader/mentor” persona, and his voice matches that excellently. It is true that he doesn’t have the range that others do – you always know it is him, but you don’t really care. So besides his animated roles, such as Goliath and Spawn (and other guest-starring superhero roles, Atlas in Teen Titans, Despero in Justice League, and various roles in assorted Spider-Man cartoons), and his live-action roles (he was the CIA Director in the two Cody Banks movies!), he is also known for combining the two, using his voice only for live-action roles! He was the voice of “Father” in Mr. and Mrs. Smith (his on-screen scenes were cut), and is an Emmy-winning narrator for Ken Burns. And that last point led to one of the best lines of the recently completed season of Community, with him narrating the Ken Burns-esque “Pillows and Blankets” episode, where at the end, the Narrator is asked “Hey, were you on The Cape?”…pause…”No.”. (Note: He was.)

4. PETER CULLEN
Best Known Animated Role(s): Optimus Prime! (Transformers) Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Hmmm… the announcer from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour? (He doesn’t do much live-action) Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Venger from Dungeons and Dragons! Eeyore from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh! Monterey Jack from Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers! First Voice Work: All the way back in 1962, providing “Additional Voices” on The Jetsons

Quite possibly no one on this list is as associated with one character and the opposite, with the character closely to the voice-actor. Yes, Kevin Conroy is associated with Batman. But there have been other Batman voices and actors—you might not necessarily immediately think of Conroy when you think Batman (you should, of course, but you might not). But there is only one voice for Optimus Prime: Peter Cullen. No other will do. It is because of Cullen’s voice that Optimus is awesome. It is because Optimus is awesome that there was such a fan uproar over him dying in the original animated Transformers movie that they brought him back. And another uproar occurred when it looked possible that Cullen (who was iffy about doing it, thinking he was getting too old), wouldn’t voice Optimus in the Michael Bay Transformers movies, leading to his taking the part. (One of the only good things about those movies). Optimus alone would warrant his inclusion on this list, but Cullen has done so much more as well! He’s done GI Joe! He’s done Voltron! He’s done Rainbow Brite and Pound Puppies and My Little Pony. He’s even done voices on Go-bots! (That seems kind of treasonous, somehow.) But now that he’s in his seventies and as his career heads toward its sunset, he’s lately been primarily focused on Optimus, and also Eeyore, having been the new voice for all things Winnie the Pooh since the late 80s. And that can’t help but make one wonder if Eeyore is secretly a robot (possibly in disguise). Which would be so cool… as is Peter Cullen.

5. TARA STRONG
Best Known Animated Role(s): Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls)! Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Errr… Gwen, from various Sabrina the Teenage Witch specials? Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Raven (Teen Titans), Timmy & Poof (The Fairly OddParents), and a whole heck of a lot else First Voice Work: Either the Care Bears, or Garbage Pail Kids, depending on if you believe Wikipedia or the IMDb more.

While anyone associated with the Powerpuff Girls is, by definition, awesome, among the voices for our trio of heroes, Tara Strong stands…well…strong. She is mostly known for high-pitched voices of varying sorts (as much as you can vary such high-pitchiness) but does showcase her range in a variety of superhero-related roles as well: Raven from Teen Titans, Scarlet Witch from The Super Hero Squad Show, Mary Jane in the recent Ultimate Spider-Man, the list goes on. Truly, Tara Strong is the (high pitched) voice of a geek goddess. She is even quite prevalent in video games, having voiced roles for Final Fantasy, X-Men Legends, Viewtiful Joe, Metal Gear Solid and even taking over the role of Harley Quinn in the 2011 Game of the Year: Batman: Arkham City. That last one alone demands respect. But two favorite listings from her filmography? 1) She is the voice of Batgirl in the hilarious shorts of Super Best Friends Forever (really, that totally needs to become a full show), and 2) As the best example of Strong’s sound-effect-making ability, her credits for the New Teen Titans include Raven, Swimmer and…”Additional burping”. That is awesome.

6. CLANCY BROWN
Best Known Animated Role(s): Lex Luthor (Superman: TAS) Best Known Live-Action Role(s): The Kurgan (Highlander), Hadley (Shawshank Redemption) Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Mr. Krabs (Spongebob Squarepants), George Stacy (The Spectacular Spider-Man), Savage Opress (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) First Voice Work: Gonta, from the English language version of Pom Poko, a Miyazaki-inspired movie from 1994

With a voice that just screams “bad guy”, Clancy Brown has made a career of playing antagonists. Oh, certainly he’s played good guys on occasion as well, but it is wearing the black hats in which he really shines. The best example is his take on Lex Luthor from Superman: The Animated Series. While others have taken on the role here and there in other shows, it always seems to come back to Brown, and he has now played in Lex Luthor for longer than any other actor (voice or live-action). He mixes the right amount of commanding presence, intelligence, and smarminess, making for an excellent Luthor. But whenever a show needs a prominent, but not permanent antagonist, Brown is high on the list to provide the voice: he was Grune on the recent Thundercats, Long Feng in Avatar: The Last Airbender as well as Yakone in the followup The Legend of Korra. For live action movies, he was the voice of Parallax in the recent Green Lantern movie (not sure he’d really want to admit any association with that travesty, though), and was the not-so-nice-but-may-have-a-soft-spot head prison guard in The Shawshank Redemption. But all of the above is just gravy, because Brown had already assured himself in the Hall of Fame of geekdom for his role as the Kurgan, trying to take the head of Connor McLeod (among others) in the original Highlander. Now really, knowing all of that, would you try to steal the secret formula to the Krabby Patty? No, probably not.

7. FRANK OZ
Best Known Animated Role(s): Yoda! Bert and Grover from Sesame Street! Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear from The Muppet Show! Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Prison Storeroom Keeper (The Blues Brothers) Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Various other Sesame Street and Muppet characters First Voice Work: The Monster from the 1967 short Coffee Break Machine

Include him on the list, we must! It’s Yoda! Not to mention forty years of prominent voices on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. But beyond just the voices, no one else on this list can really claim to be the actor behind the characters as well (’cause otherwise, they wouldn’t just be voice-actors). Oz, however, is also a master puppeteer. Interestingly, though, his three most famous productions (Star Wars, Sesame Street, and The Muppet Show) encompass almost his entire filmography as a voice-artist. Most others on this list have done random voice work here and there, but not Oz. He’s been a puppeteer for other fantasy classics such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, but didn’t provide voices. And it was a sad fact that Oz did not provide the voices for his characters in the recent Muppets movie. But even without the Muppets at all, he’d make the list because of Yoda. Would Yoda have been as memorable without Oz’s actions and voice? Not a chance.

8. FRANK WELKER
Best Known Animated Role(s): Fred (Scooby-Doo, in almost every incarnation), Dr. Claw (Inspector Gadget), Megatron (Transformers) Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Matt Damon’s father in The Informant!? Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: WAY too many to list. Really. First Voice Work: Fred in Scooby Doo, Where are You?

Where to even begin?! With filmography listings going back over forty years, Frank Welker is a voice-over machine. Maybe even a transforming machine of some kind (a “Transformer”, if you will). Fitting, as he was the original voice of Megatron, contrasting nicely with Peter Cullen’s Optimus Prime. Take a look at his listing on the IMDb: there are 677 titles listed. 677?! He’s played good guys, like Fred, along with Bronx from Gargoyles and Hefty Smurf. He’s played bad guys, like Megatron (among other Decepticons; Soundwave, for instance) and Dr. Claw was well as Darkseid from Super Friends and Torch from GI Joe. He’s done well-known characters originated by others: Kermit and Skeeter from Muppet Babies, Garfield the cat in the 2009 version of Garfield and Friends, Dan Aykroyd’s Ray in The Real Ghostbusters. He even does sound-effect-y type voices: Nibbler from Futurama and Abu from Aladdin. Heck, he even did the “voice” of the eponymous snake from the movie Anaconda! To really emphasize how kickass Frank Welker is at his job, there was a recent report listing the top actors based upon how much money his/her movies made. Frank Welker was #1. And that’s just for movie grosses. #1!!! And he does more work in TV than movies! Kinda makes one think he ought to be #1 on this particular list, too… though not if it means being the one to tell the Joker he’s not #1 anymore.

9. JENNIFER HALE
Best Known Animated Role(s): Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (Spider-Man, the 90′s series), Commander Shepard (Mass Effect trilogy) Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Catty Woman from Love Potion No. 9 Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Just picking recent credits, Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel from The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Carol Ferris (and others) in Green Lantern: The Animated Series First Voice Work: Providing the prevalent “Additional Voices” in the 1993 Pink Panther TV series

Even if you’ve never heard of Jennifer Hale, you will definitely have heard her voice (if you haven’t, your geek card is hereby revoked). Her voice is very ‘every woman’. It’s not as distinct as Tara Strong’s, and thus most of the time you wouldn’t even realize it is her. And many instances, she is not the star of a show, taking on a variety of smaller roles – Zatanna (and others) from Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Justice League, Avatar Kyoshi (and others) from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Princess Morbucks (and others) from The Powerpuff Girls. The “and others” is a theme with her. She is the go-to gal for not-necessarily-featured female voices. But not just for TV and animated movies, as she has become the go-to gal for video game voices. If you are a gamer, you have heard her voice many, many times. She was Samus Aran from the Metroid Prime games. She’s the lead voice for Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect games. Baldur’s Gate, various Star Wars games (Knights of the Old Republic, for instance), Metal Gear Solid, Everquest, God of War: the list goes on. And on. Hale is probably the least-likely-name-to-be-recognized on this list, but in some ways that just warrants her inclusion even more considering her filmography. Most impressive.

10. BILLY WEST
Best Known Animated Role(s): Fry (Futurama), Ren AND Stimpy (The Ren & Stimpy Show) Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Nothing, really, other than perhaps the Announcer on The Weird Al Show Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Zoidberg & Professor Farnsworth (Futurama), Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (Space Jam, Looney Tunes), Doug (Doug) First Voice Work: Cecil from 1988′s Beany and Cecil

It’s always good to find out that someone does a whole heck of a lot more than you realized they did. Such is the case for Billy West. He’s Fry from Futurama. That’s cool. That he also does Professor Farnsworth and Dr. Zoidberg is pretty darn neat. The fact that he did both Ren and Stimpy is fantastic. But that he’s also taken over some incredibly well-known cartoon characters of the past? Amazing range of voice. West did his Mel Blanc impression (rather impeccably) when doing Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in Space Jam. He’s done Popeye. He’s done Woody Woodpecker. He’s done Shaggy. Who knew? But along with his amazing voice, the thing that most warrants his inclusion on this list is the fact that he has taken a very vocal (heh) stance against the influx of non-voice actors (read: on-screen talent) taking prominent roles in big-budget animated movies. Not only does West kick ass at his work, he stands up for the others in his field. Good show, sir. We here salute you. And yes, if you so desire, we will shut up and take your money.

Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellenata, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner, Yeadley Smith and Hank Azaria on Inside the Actor's Studio

11. THE CAST OF THE SIMPSONS
Okay, so it could be called cheating here, including them all, but at least someone from the longest running primetime animated show in history had to be included here, and how ever to choose between them all?! So here we go, lightning round style;

DAN CASTELLANETA

Role(s): Homer, Abe, Barney, Groundskeeper Willie, Krusty, Mayor Quimby, etc.. Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Probably on the The Tracey Ullman Show, handy since that’s where The Simpsons started Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Earthworm Jim! Genie from the Aladdin TV show First Voice Work: Homer, oddly enough

Anyone who introduces an entire word (“D’oh”) into the lexicon via hilarious cartoon character is, by definition, awesome.

HARRY SHEARER

Role(s): Principal Skinner, Mr. Burns, Smithers (which adds a whole other level of oddness to their relationship), Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny, Otto, etc.. Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Derek Smalls (This is Spinal Tap) Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: The voice of the Science Vessel for the computer game Starcraft! How cool is that?! First Voice Work: Keen Hacksaw from 1980′s Animalympics

Mr. Burns (Excellent…) and Spinal Tap! You can’t go wrong! But if you need more, he did the voice of Carl Sagan in the movie My Stepmother is an Alien!

HANK AZARIA



Role(s): Moe, Apu, Chief Wiggum, Snake, Lou, Dr. Nick, Comic Book Guy, etc.. Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Quite a few to choose from: The Blue Raja from Mystery Men, the hilarious young Patches O’Houlihan from Dodgeball, and Gargamel from the recent I-can’t-believe-they-actually-made-this Smurfs movie. And he did star as the titular Huff in Huff. Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Venom from Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and Carlos and Phil from Hop First Voice Work: Started with The Simpsons

Of everyone on this list, he’s probably the best known live-action actor how has the surprisingly biggest range with his voice. The kind for which you say “Wait, that voice is that guy? The guy who was almost stepped on by Godzilla? And so is that other completely different voice?!”. Plus, he throws forks, so, you know, if the whole acting thing doesn’t work out, he has that.

NANCY CARTWRIGHT

Role(s): Bart, Nelson, Todd, Ralph, etc. Best Known Live-Action Role(s): Not much…maybe a one-line extra role on an episode of Cheers? Ooh, or an episode of the epic Baywatch Nights! Other Note-Worthy Animated Roles: Chuckie from Rugrats, Mindy from Animaniacs, and possibly the greatest character name ever, Rufus the Naked Mole-rat from Kim Possible. First Voice Work: Gloria on Richie Rich

It blew many a ten year old boys’ mind when he first learned that Bart Simpson was voiced not by a child like them but by an adult woman! MIND-BOGGLING!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith (included here for the sake of completeness more than anything—we here at Geek Speak look out for others’ feelings)

12. STAR TREK CAST MEMBERS
Okay, cheating again, but really, apparently being on a Star Trek TV show means you have a contractual obligation to voice cartoon characters as well and/or do assorted voice work (beyond voicing a Star Trek character in a video game). Some highlights (and please notice the sheer number of people who did voices on Gargoyles… what was in the water there?!):

Star Trek

WILLIAM SHATNER (Kirk): Eek! The Cat, Osmosis Jones, The Wild, Over the Hedge

LEONARD NIMOY (Spock): Transformers: The Movie AND Transformers: Dark of the Moon (different characters, though), Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Avengers: EMH, and several Kingdom Hearts video games.

GEORGE TAKEI (Sulu): Batman Beyond, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Archer, The Simpsons and any show that has a need for a sensei-type character.

NICHELLE NICHOLLS (Uhura): Gargoyles, Spider-Man, Batman

Star Trek: The Next Generation

PATRICK STEWART (Picard): LOTS of narration (really, he’s the English Morgan Freeman), Family Guy, American Dad

JONATHAN FRAKES (Riker): Gargoyles, The Super Hero Squad Show

MARINA SIRTIS (Troi): Gargoyles, Young Justice

BRENT SPINER (Data): Gargoyles, The Avengers: EMH, Young Justice

LEVAR BURTON (Geordi): Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Gargoyles, Transformers: Rescue Bots

MICHAEL DORN (Worf): Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Justice League, Spider-Man, Superman, I am Weasel/Cow and Chicken, Gargoyles. Video Games: Mass Effect, StarCraft II, Fallout

WIL WHEATON (Wesley Crusher): The Secret of NIMH, The Legend of Prince Valiant, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Teen Titans, Legion of Super Heroes, Naruto, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. Video Games: EverQuest II, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; Liberty City Stories; Vice City Stories, Fallout: New Vegas

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

AVERY BROOKS (Sisko): Gargoyles!

COLM MEANEY (O’Brien): The Simpsons, Gargoyles

RENE AUBERJONOIS (Odo): Where to begin?! Starting from The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang and The Smurfs, through Super Friends in various incarnations, Louis the chef on The Little Mermaid, and up to Justice League, Xiaolin Showdown, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Archer, Young Justice, and no signs of slowing down yet.

ARMIN SHIMERMAN (Quark): A whole bunch o’ video games: Onimusha 3, Dark Cloud 2, X-Men Legends, several Ratchet & Clank games (as Dr. Nefarious!), Jade Empire, Bioshock, etc…

Star Trek: Voyager

KATE MULGREW (Janeway): Pirates of Dark Water, Batman: TAS, Aladdin (TV series), Gargoyles, Dragon Age: Origins and sequels (video games)

ROBERT PICARDO (The HoloDoc): Dinosaurs, Justice League, Call of Duty (video game)

And Special Mention must go to Majel Barrett, Mrs. Roddenberry herself, who is the voice from Star Trek, having voiced the computer in all of the series save Enterprise.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Seth McFarlane (Brian, Stewie, Peter, etc. from Family Guy), Cree Summer (Penny from Inspector Gadget, Foxxy Love from Drawn Together), Dee Bradley Baker (Appa/Momo from Avatar: The Last Airbender and a whole heck of a lot more), John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama), H. Jon Benjamin (Archer and Bob’s Burgers), J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson, and others), and the cast of Firefly, in particular Nathan Fillion, who has become the go-to voice for the Green Lantern, among others.