Frank Welker

3/5

Biography

American actor

  • Aliases
  • Franklin Wendell Welker
  • Primary profession
  • Actor·soundtrack·sound_department
  • Country
  • United States
  • Nationality
  • American
  • Gender
  • Male
  • Birth date
  • 12 March 1946
  • Place of birth
  • Denver
  • Education
  • Santa Monica College
  • Knows language
  • English language

Music

Movies

TV

Books

Trivia

Referred to in Hollywood as a voice god.

Has shared two roles with Leonard Nimoy. When the third season of "Transformers" came around, Frank took the role of Galvatron that Leonard Nimoy had taken in The Transformers: The Movie . And in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Frank provided the screams of Leonard Nimoy s most famous character Spock.

Has provided voices for eight of the original 14 Decepticons on "Transformers" animated series: Megatron, Soundwave, Skywarp, Laserbeak, Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage and Buzzsaw. He voiced two of the original Autobots as well: Trailbreaker and Mirage, as well as one of the Dinobots (Sludge) that also appeared in the first season.

Has done every voicing of Fred Jones for all of the Scooby-Doo animated series with the sole exception of "A Pup Named Scooby-Doo" . Even in parodies and cameos on different television series, he has always done this voice.

Has done voices for both the original Star Trek film series and the television series "Star Trek: Voyager" .

He also did the animal voice effects including Dumbo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit .

In "Tiny Toon Adventures" , he voiced Furrball, Gogo Dodo, Calamity Coyote, Little Beeper, Byron Basset, Uncle Stinky Pig, Henry Bear and Ralph the Guard who later appeared in "Animaniacs" , where Frank not only voiced Ralph, but also voiced Thaddeus Plotz, Buttons, Runt, Flavio Hippo and Chicken Boo.

His broad spectrum of character voices, noises and other vocal effects that have appeared over the last 40 years in motion pictures, have vaulted him to number one on the "All Time Top 100 Stars at the Box office" list. The revenue of films he has participated in have generated over 12 billion dollars worldwide. His work in over 90 films has put him ahead of Eddie Murphy, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson.

Although he never met with the producers or the director Michael Bay , Bay felt his Welkers G1 Megatron voice did not fit the film and Bays new interpretation. Ironically, he recreated the G1 voice for Transformers: The Game based on the movie, and was once again reunited with his old nemesis Optimus Prime played by Peter Cullen.

One of the most prolific voice actors of all time, he has been involved with some of the most popular and important animated series of all time as well, beginning with his role as level-headed leader Fred Jones on "Scooby-Doo", the evil Decepticon leader Megatron on "Transformers" (among others), Dr. Ray Stantz on "The Real Ghost Busters" , and a variety of supporting roles on "G.I. Joe" , "Tiny Toon Adventures" , "Animaniacs" and "Smurfs" .

His "Doctor Claw" voice is arguably his most famous role. Aside from playing Doctor Claw on "Inspector Gadget" , he has used the voice for other characters, such as Darkseid on "SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show" , Emperor Krulos on "Dino-Riders" , Soundwave on "Transformers" (only heavily modified with a vocoder, to give it a distinct monotone, robotic sound), as well as in movies such as the Cave of Wonders in Aladdin , Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat , Soundwave again in both Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (without the vocoder effects), as well as playing the Devil in four movies: The Golden Child , All Dogs Go to Heaven , Bill & Teds Bogus Journey and Spawn .

His "Doctor Claw" voice came about as a result of him trying to do an impression of Barry White.

Has played the same character (Fred Jones) on 14 different series: "Scooby Doo, Where Are You!" , "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" , "The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour" , "Dynomutt Dog Wonder" , "Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo" , "The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour" , "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries" , "Scoobys Mystery Funhouse" , "Family Guy" , "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" , "Whats New, Scooby-Doo?" , "Robot Chicken" , "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" and "Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" .

Became the sixth actor to appear in two films to gross $1 billion with Alice in Wonderland and Transformers: Dark of the Moon . He is the first voice actor to achieve this feat.

Has worked with Leonard Nimoy in four films: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , The Transformers: The Movie , The Pagemaster and Transformers: Dark of the Moon .

Has worked with Christopher Lloyd in five films: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp , The Pagemaster and In Search of Dr. Seuss .

Has worked with Robin Williams in five films: A Wish for Wings That Work , Aladdin , In Search of Dr. Seuss , Jumanji and Aladdin and the King of Thieves .

Having been the voice of Spocks screams, he is one of three Star Trek cast members who has also provided a voice for Star Wars. The others include George Takei and Simon Pegg.

Attended Santa Monica City College where he majored in Theatrical Arts.

Based the voice of the Cave of Wonders in Aladdin on Sean Connery.

Quotes

I was voted by my high-school senior class as most likely to recede.

I like looking at the characters. Seeing them always brings up some,voice or attitude. I am much more visual, and that works so much better,than having someone tell me what the character is all about.

I have worked alone and with a cast and enjoy the process both ways.

Normally, I play dads, good guys and little animals.

I have this peculiar ability to be able to anticipate mouth movements on,screen and fill them with words or sound.

One thing that seems to surprise the studios is finding out later my,willingness to audition. Under the right circumstances, I actually,enjoy it very much.

I like looking at the characters. Seeing them always brings up some voice or attitude. I am much more visual, and that works so much better than having someone tell me what the character is all about. .

Comments