Frank Welker

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For the actor's animated namesake, see Frank Welker (character).
Frank Welker
Frank Welker.png
Years active at Hanna-Barbera: 1969-2001
Years active at Warner Bros.: 2002-present
Characters played: Scooby-Doo
Fred Jones
Dynomutt
Jabberjaw
Tom Cat
Jerry Mouse
Barney Rubble
Bogg
Flooky
Top Troll
Orbitty
Don Coyote
McWolf
Astro
Magilla Gorilla
Frank Welker
Frank Welker WNSD cameo.png
Welker lookalike on What's New, Scooby-Doo?
Frank Welker (character).png
Welker guesting on Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?

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.

He was interviewed in 2021 for The CW's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!

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![1] He initially went in to read for Scooby-Doo, but was told not to worry,[1] 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 an audition for Fred, but Hanna-Barbera preferred the actors in the opposite roles.[1]

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.[2]

Roles

20th century

21st century

Other roles

Welker has done a multitude of voice roles for 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.[3] 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.

For his role in the live-action Transformers films, he once again voiced Soundwave and Ravage in the second movie, Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen. He would reprise as Soundwave again in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, as well taking on the roles of Shockwave and Barricade. He returned as Galvatron and Megatron, in Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight, respectively.

Tributes

References

  1. ^ a b c Alter, Ethan (September 13, 2019). "'Scooby-Doo' at 50: Original cartoon voice talks spinoffs, pot jokes and who's the gang's stealth MVP". Yahoo. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  2. ^ Evanier, Mark Scrappy Days: The Birth of Scrappy Doo and What I Had to Do with It: Chapter Four. News From ME. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  3. ^ Ruegger, Tom (October 29, 2017). "63a Animanicast #63a with Animaniacs Creator Tom Ruegger". Animanicast. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
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