Frank Welker (actor)

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Welker in the "My Life with Scooby-Doo! Frank Welker's Animated Journey" featurette.

Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American voice actor and former stand-up comedian. His most prolific roles for Hanna-Barbera (H-B) are Fred Jones and Scooby-Doo since 1969 and 2002, respectively. He has also been Wonder Dog, Marvin White, Dynomutt, Jabberjaw, the Shmoo, Orbitty, Barney Rubble, Tom Cat, Jerry Mouse, and McWolf. He was also Fangface on Ruby-Spears' Fangface.

History with Hanna-Barbera

Welker was doing a Friskies dog food commercial when he was informed by the casting agent's fiancé that she was casting for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! He initially went into read for Scooby-Doo, but was told not to worry, as that went to H-B veteran Don Messick. He also wanted to audition for Shaggy Rogers, who he found more appealing than the "guy in an ascot." Casey Kasem also came into audition for Fred, but Hanna-Barbera preferred the actors in the opposite roles.

He was also one of many to audition for Scrappy-Doo, and although he didn't get the part, his ad-lib of the catchphrase, "Puppy power," was approved by Joseph Barbera and added to the script.

Roles

20th century

• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970)
  • Fred Jones
  • Pink dog ("Decoy for a Dognapper", 1969)
  • Charlie ("Decoy for a Dognapper", 1969)
  • Dolphin ("Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright", 1970)
  • Seals ("Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright", 1970)
  • Hermit of the Hills ("Jeepers, It's the Creeper", 1970)
  • Sheep rustler ("Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf", 1970)
• The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-1973)
  • Fred Jones
  • Cleopatra the plant ("Wednesday is Missing", 1972)
  • Male housekeeper ("Wednesday is Missing", 1972)
• Super Friends (1973, credited as Franklin Welker)
  • Wonder Dog
  • Marvin White
  • Bill ("The Power Pirate", 1973)
• The Scooby-Doo Show (1976-1978)
  • Fred Jones
• Dynomutt, Dog Wonder (1976-1978)
  • Dynomutt
• Jabberjaw (1976)
  • Jabberjaw
• Fangface (1978-1980)
  • Fangface
• The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (1980-1981)
  • Mr. Cool
  • Brontosaurus ("King for a Day", 1980)
  • Rock ("King for a Day", 1980)
  • Uncle Horatio ("Bye Bye, Blackbeard", 1980)
  • News editor ("Westward Whoa!", 1980)
  • Judge Morris's henchman ("You'll Never Get Witch", 1980)
  • Guards ("The 20,000 Drachma Pyramid", 1980)
  • Dragon ("Gone with the Wand", 1980)
• Laverne & Shirley (1981)
  • Zarkon's superior ("Invasion of the Booby Hatchers", 1981)
  • Chungo ("Jungle Jumpers" (1981)
• Teen Wolf (1986-1987)
  • Valor (1986)
  • Daisy
  • Mr. Maconi (replacing Kenneth Mars)
  • Mr. Conroy ("Grampa's in the Doghouse", 1986)
  • Tiny ("Grampa's in the Doghouse", 1986)
  • Kittens ("Grampa's in the Doghouse", 1986)
  • Newscaster ("The Beast Within", 1986)
  • Baby ("Up a Family Tree", 1986)
  • Brush salesman ("Up a Family Tree", 1986)
  • Dell Davies ("Wolf Pride", 1986)
  • Teacher ("Wolf of My Dreams", 1986)
  • Fangs" ("Leader of the Pack", 1986)
  • Edmund Preston ("The All-American Wolf", 1986)
  • Frank Johnson ("Under My Spell", 1986)
  • Herman Mitchell ("Under My Spell", 1986)
  • Rubbish ("Teen Wolf Punks Out", 1986)
  • Toy dog ("Teen Wolf Punks Out", 1986)
  • Toy store owner ("Teen Wolf Punks Out", 1986)
  • Mr. Dimwitty ("Teen Wolf's Curse", 1987)
  • Bink ("Toot Toot, Tut Tut and All That Rot", 1987)
  • Billy Bob ("Down on the Farm", 1987)
  • Mr. Brody ("Down on the Farm", 1987)
• Popeye and Son
  • Shelly's father ("The Girl from Down Under", 1987)
  • Walrus ("The Girl from Down Under", 1987)
  • Dolphin ("The Girl from Down Under", 1987)
• Tom & Jerry Kids (1990-1994)
  • Tom Cat
  • Jerry Mouse
• Johnny Bravo (1997)
  • Fred Jones ("Bravo Dooby-Doo", 1997)
  • Speed Buggy ("Bravo Dooby-Doo", 1997)
• Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) - Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1999) - Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000) - Fred Jones

21st century

• Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001) - Fred Jones, lion, Cyber Fred
• Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2002) - Jerry Mouse
• Scooby-Doo (2002) - creatures
• Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire (2003) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico (2003) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, skunk
• What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006)
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Fred Jones
  • Doctor ("There's No Creature Like Snow Creature", 2002, uncredited)
• Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster (2004) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, Lachlan Haggart
• Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars (2005) - Spike, Ubu
• Aloha, Scooby-Doo! (2005) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, Wiki-Tiki
• An Evening with the Scooby Gang (2005) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, interviewer/monster
• Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? (2005) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006-2008)
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Fred Jones
• Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (2007) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King (2008) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword (2009) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009) - Scooby-Doo
• Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo (2010) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010) - Scooby-Doo
• Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013)
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Fred Jones
  • Barty Blake
  • Freak of Crystal Cove
• Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare (2010) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (2011) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, misc. bikers)
• Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire (2012) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Spooky Games (2012) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Big Top Scooby-Doo! (2012) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays (2012) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon (2013) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright (2013) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Scarecrow (2013) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Mecha Mutt Menace (2013) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, presenter
• Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery (2014) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Ghastly Goals! (2014) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, Eshu
• Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy (2014) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, train conductor
• Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness (2015) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and the Beach Beastie (2015) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones, Aquazilla (uncredited))
• Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! (2015-2018)
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon (2016) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (2017) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2018) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost (2018) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! Curse of the 13th Ghost (2019) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2019)
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Fred Jones
  • Swamp Monster ("Revenge of the Swamp Monster!", 2019)
  • Pete ("Attack of the Weird Al-Osaurus!", 2019)
• Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island (2019) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• SCOOB! (2020) - Scooby-Doo
• Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones
• Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2020) - Scooby-Doo, Fred Jones

Other roles

Welker has done a multitude of voice roles for cult Saturday morning cartoons (or just any day of the week) of the '80s and '90s, which include Megatron/Galvatron and Soundwave on The Transformers, Doctor Claw on Inspector Gadget, Slimer on The Real Ghostbusters, Fall Apart Rabbit on Bonkers, and Abu on Aladdin, and Mr. Plotz, Runt, Ralph the Guard, Buttons on Animaniacs. Tom Ruegger, the creator of Animaniacs, influenced the casting of Welker for Ralph, in particular, because of Welker playing Dimwittie in The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. He also acted as Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II and Nibbler in prime-time animated sitcoms, The Simpsons and Futurama, respectively. He is also the voice of Garfield the Cat and Curious George in TV shows and movies since the 2000s.

He has also had on-camera roles largely from the '60s to the '80s, playing opposite Elvis Presley in The Trouble with Girls, and Don Knotts in How to Frame a Figg, and played Don Messick's rival in an episode of The Duck Factory.

He also did the voice of Megatron in the live-action films Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight.

Tributes

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Frank Welker cameo.

• The culprit of "Who's Who in Scooby-Doo" in DC Comics' Scooby-Doo #74 was named Frank Welker.
• The fake Fred in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode "A Scooby-Doo Valentine" turns out to be a middle-aged man resembling Welker.
• In Capstone's Scooby-Doo! Encyclopedia, they refer to the sheep rustler from the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf", as Frank Welker.
• "My Life with Scooby-Doo! Frank Welker's Animated Journey", a featurette included on the Blu-ray release of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series.