Frank Welker

Frank Welker
Frank Welker, 2007
Born	Franklin W. Welker March 12, 1946 (1946-03-12) (age 63) Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Occupation	Voice actor
Years active	1967–present
Official website

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.^[1]

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)
• Batman: The Animated Series (Isis the cat, werewolf sound effects, henchman, demon)
• Batman Beyond (Ace the Bathound, various animals and mutants)
• Bionic Six (Glove, Mechanic, Chopper)
• The Berenstein Bears (Raffish Ralph, Actual Factual, Weasel McGreed, Farmer Ben, and Henchweasels)
• 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 TV Series (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)
• Ni Hao, Kai-lan (Mr. Dragon)
• The New Woody Woodpecker Show (Chilly Willy, Chilly Lilly, Maxie the Polar Bear, Billy, Louie, Gabby Gator, Badger)
• The Pirates of Dark Water (Niddler, Dark Dweller, Morpho, Lugg Brother #2)
• Phineas and Ferb Perry the Platypus, other animal voices
• 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)
• The Robonic Stooges (Curly, Narrator)
• Roger Rabbit
  • Roller Coaster Rabbit (Bull)
  • Trail Mix-Up (Beaver, bear)
• 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 (comics), 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)
• Roary The Racing Car (Breeze)

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
• 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 (film) (Prancer (voice))
• Prehysteria (Vocal effects for Elvis, Paula, Jagger, Hammer and Madonna)
• The New Adventures Of Pippi Longstocking (Mister Neilson, Alfonso)
• Python (film) (Python (voice))
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (Seig Heil the monkey (voice), snakes (voice), scorpions (voice), demons (voice))
• Richie Rich (film) (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 (film) (Phurba)
• Scooby-Doo (film) (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
• 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 II: The Great Valley Adventure - Papa T-Rex/Mama T-Rex (uncredited)
  • The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving - Velociraptors
  • The Land Before Time IV: Journey Through the Mists - Tickles
  • The Land Before Time V: The Mysterious Island - The Giganotosaurus / Megalodon (uncredited)
  • The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration - The Sarcosuchus (uncredited)
  • The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses - Dromaeosaurus (uncredited)
  • The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers - Spinosaurus (uncredited)
  • The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends - Baryonyx (uncredited)
• 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 Mermaid II: Return to the Sea - Max the Sheepdog
• 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

• Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge - Abu
• Baldur's Gate - Xzar and other minor characters
• Banjo-Kazooie - Kazooie's squawking vocals and other various animal effects
• CarnEvil - Umlaut the jester skull
• Clay Fighter 63 1/3 - Blob, Ickybob Clay, Lockjaw Pooch and the Zappa Yow Yow Boyz
• Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626 - Experiment 621
• Godzilla: Unleashed - Vocal sound effects for monsters
• Jumpstart Spelling - Perry
• Kingdom Hearts II - Abu
• Monster Hunter - Monsters
• Monster Hunter Freedom 2 - Vocal effects for monsters
• Peter Jackson's King Kong - Vocal sound effects for King Kong and the dinosaurs
• Rampage: Total Destruction - Vocal sound effects for people and monsters
• Toonstruck - Bowling Bear and other characters
• Transformers: The Game/Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (video game) - Megatron

References

External links

• Frank Welker @ The Numbers
• Frank Welker at the Internet Movie Database
• Frank Welker at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)