Maurice LaMarche

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Maurice LaMarche
LaMarche at the 2008 Comic Con in San Diego, California, on a panel for Futurama
Born	March 30, 1958 (1958-03-30) (age 51) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Voice actor
Years active	1981—present

Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian-born voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, and The Brain in Animaniacs/Pinky and The Brain.

Early life

LaMarche was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but his family moved to Timmins, Ontario very soon after he was born.^[1] LaMarche's childhood was filled with his "own little world of cartoons and sixties television".^[2] It wasn't until his sophomore year of high school that he learned of the popularity his talent for mimicry could garner him. This realization came from a coincidental performance in a high school "variety night" when a couple of friends urged him to enter. The act he performed at the variety night was "celebrities as waiters" which he actually used all the way up until the end of his stand up career.^[3]

Stand up

LaMarche in 2006.

At the age of 19, LaMarche took his high school act to an open mic night in New York, performing to a reaction in which, as he describes, "they just totally ignored me".^[4] This reaction was coupled with the backlash LaMarche received from fellow Canadian comedians who LaMarche describes as discouraging him from pursuing a career outside of Canada.^[5]

Three years later, at the age of 22, Maurice moved straight to Los Angeles to further his stand up career. This move, LaMarche says, would always be something he regretted doing instead of moving to New York.

"... in retrospect, I thought it was a mistake. I think that a couple of years in New York would have made me a stronger comedian." - Maurice LaMarche^[6]

Over the next five years, LaMarche's career would gradually progress, playing comedy clubs all over the U.S., with several appearances on Merv Griffin and "An Evening At The Improv", but in spite of such interest, LaMarche always believed that, while his impersonations and stage presence were strong, he needed to develop funnier comedy material. Despite being so critical of himself, LaMarche would be granted the opportunity of being part of the 1985 HBO production, Rodney Dangerfield Hosts the 9th Annual Young Comedians Special, on which also appeared Bob Saget, Rita Rudner, Louie Anderson, Yakov Smirnov, and the breakout first appearance of Sam Kinison. Although he was received (and reviewed) favorably, in looking back on his own performance in that special, LaMarche believed he was "probably about five years away from going from being a good comedian to being a great comedian" and being the "only impressionist that actually comes from somewhere".^[7] Unfortunately, LaMarche wouldn't get that chance.

On March 9, 1987, Maurice LaMarche's father was murdered, shot to death by a lifelong friend in a Toronto hotel lobby, in front of dozens of witnesses. This sent LaMarche into depression and alcoholism for the next two years, effectively stalling his stand up career.^[8] After getting sober on Inauguration Day in 1989, LaMarche embarked again into the world of his first love, standup comedy, in the early part of 1990. However, just as he was regaining lost momentum, tragedy struck once more, as his eighteen-year-old sister was killed in a car accident in September of that year.^[9] At this point, though he remained sober, LaMarche decided he just couldn't do standup comedy anymore.

"Oh, that's it. I don't have any funny left in me. I'm done."^[9] - Maurice LaMarche

During his standup career, Maurice LaMarche opened for such acts as Rodney Dangerfield, George Carlin, Howie Mandel, David Sanborn and Donna Summer, usually in the main showrooms of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.^[10]

Voiceover acting

Maurice's first entrance into the voiceover industry was in 1979 in Easter Fever and Take Me Up To The Ballgame, two Canadian films.^[11] LaMarche didn't venture into voiceover acting again until years later as a side endeavor during his full-time standup comedy career.

Maurice was recently interviewed about his voiceover career on movie podcast Battleship Pretension.

Television

Maurice LaMarche began on Inspector Gadget and went on to Dennis the Menace, Popeye and Son and The Real Ghostbusters. After The Real Ghostbusters, LaMarche became a regular mainstay of the voiceover industry appearing in such shows as Talespin, Tiny Toon Adventures, GI Joe, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series, Taz-Mania, Where's Waldo, The Little Mermaid, Batman: The Animated Series, and Bonkers before landing perhaps his most recognized role in 1993 as The Brain on Animaniacs (and later its spin-off show Pinky and the Brain). Following this, LaMarche worked on The Critic, Freakazoid!, and The Tick before then reprising his role of Egon in Extreme Ghostbusters. The stretch of two years after this saw LaMarche portray characters in such shows as Duckman, Hey Arnold! as Big Bob Pataki, Queer Duck, King of the Hill, The Chimp Channel, and Sonic Underground as Sleet. It was at this time, 1999, that Maurice LaMarche began work on Futurama. Since Futurama LaMarche has continued to work steadily in television, including guest roles on The Simpsons (where he once again parodied Orson Welles). His most recent regular role came as Hovis the butler on the Nickelodeon series Catscratch.

LaMarche has done various voice work for many Warner Bros. Animation and DiC Entertainment cartoons. He also delivered the protracted belches for the "Great Wakkorotti" shorts on Animaniacs, in which Wakko Warner performed various pieces of music.

Pinky and the Brain

Maurice LaMarche plays the character of The Brain in Pinky and the Brain. In creating the voice for Brain, LaMarche says he looked at a picture of the character and immediately thought of Orson Welles,^[12] although the character wasn't modeled after Welles.^[13] Voicing Brain gave LaMarche the opportunity to make use of his signature impersonation of Welles. Many Pinky and the Brain episodes are nods to Welles' career. LaMarche won an Annie Award for his role as the Brain, and was nominated for an Emmy.

The Critic

While working on The Critic LaMarche once voiced 29 characters in one 30 minute episode.^[14]

His time on The Critic also afforded LaMarche the opportunity to once again parody Welles, this time after a video reading of a will (the Critic's family was so wealthy, they'd hired Orson Welles to narrate it) dissolves into a commercial for Mrs. Pells Fishsticks (as well as another for Rosebud Frozen Peas, and another for Blotto Bros. wine).

The Inspector Gadget universe

LaMarche has voiced Inspector Gadget (originally voiced by Don Adams) in two Inspector Gadget films (direct-to-video and television movies) as well as two television series (the original, and Gadget and the Gadgetinis), plus a live-action appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.

Heroes

LaMarche acted, voice only, in the second episode of the hit NBC show Heroes, "Don't Look Back", as the villain Sylar. His voice is heard in a chilling recorded phone conversation on Chandra Suresh's answering machine. The role of Sylar was later played by Zachary Quinto.^[15]

Film

LaMarche has appeared in many films including the voice of Orson Welles in Ed Wood, Pepe Le Pew in Space Jam, the voice of Alec Baldwin in Team America: World Police and reprising his roles from Queer Duck and Futurama in the direct-to-video films Queer Duck: The Movie and Futurama: Bender's Big Score, respectively.

His one on-camera theatrical film performance was in the 1981 Canadian feature "Funny Farm", not to be confused with a later Chevy Chase vehicle of the same name. The film follows the story of a young standup comedian's attempt to break into the big-time on the L.A. comedy scene. LaMarche played Dickie Lyons, an impressionist who befriends the main character, Mark Champlin. The film also starred Howie Mandel, Eileen Brennan, and Miles Chapin.

In Mark Hamill's 2004 movie Comic Book: The Movie, LaMarche made a rare live appearance to be in the special features of the DVD alongside Pinky and the Brain co-star Rob Paulsen. Among other gags, he re-enacted his impression of Orson Welles' famous frozen peas commercial outtake.

Outside of film, television, and radio, LaMarche's repertoire includes audio-books, as he recently served as narrator for a collection of H.P. Lovecraft short stories.

Roles in television, film and video games

Other media

• Commercials
  • Kellogg's Froot Loops spokesbird Toucan Sam.
  • The animated Willy Wonka character in Nestlé's Willy Wonka Candy Company' commercials
• Video games
  • Several characters in Lucasarts' Full Throttle
  • Yoshimo and Renal Bloodscalp in the award-winning RPG, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.
  • Jack O' Lantern in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
  • Vekk in Guild Wars Eye of the North
  • The Brain in Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt
  • Doctor Nitrus Brio in Crash: Mind over Mutant
  • The Devil in George and William: Idiot Essimary
• Narrator in the commercial for the video game Nightmare Creatures [1]

Not only that he was also the narrator for the suprisingly popular animated movie "Pom Poko"

References

External links

• Maurice LaMarche at the Internet Movie Database
• Maurice LaMarche at TV.com

• Interview with Maurice LaMarche on "The Joe Cook Program"
• International Creative Management (Talent Agent)