American voice and character actor. Primarily known for his voice work, he also wrote songs and screenplays. Born: June 22, 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. Died: November 2, 1986 in Tiburon, California.
According to author Peter Guralnick (in "Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley"), Frees was an undercover narcotics agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the 1960s.
Was often called upon in the 1950s and 60s to re-loop the dialogue of other actors, often to correct for foreign accents, complete lack of English proficiency, or poor line readings by non-professionals. These dubs extended from a line to entire roles.
Got his start in radio, doing voice work for dramas and comedies. He was known for doing an incredible impersonation of Orson Welles. Reportedly, he played all of the roles in a 15-minute show called "The Speaker." His work included animation, for which he provided the voices in innumerable cartoons, but notably for such characters as Fox (Frank Tashlin s "Fox & Crow" series), Ludwig Von Drake (numerous educational shorts by Walt Disney Productions), Boris Badenov (Jay Ward s "Rocky and His Friends" ), Inspector Fenwick (Wards "The Dudley Do-Right Show" ), Morocco Mole (Hanna-Barberas "The Secret Squirrel Show" ), Barney Bear (title character from an MGM series of shorts), and was the original voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy.
Was one of Stan Freberg s cast of performers, most notably as the narrator of "Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America, Vol. 1.".
In the early 1970s, he was reportedly making $50,000 a year just for doing the voice work of the Pillsbury Doughboy.
His early radio career was cut short when he was drafted into World War II. He was at Normandy on D-Day. He was wounded in action and was returned to the United States for a year of recuperation.
He attended the Chouinard Art Institute under the G.I. Bill. His first wifes failing health forced him to drop out and return to radio work.
It was common for voice artists to do multiple roles when dubbing foreign-language films into English. There are a number of examples in which he also did multiple roles when replacing the dialogue (looping) in Hollywood films.
Provides multiple voices in Flight from Ashiya , getting into three- and four-way conversations with himself.
Is heard as at least four different voices in Spartacus , including the guard whom Kirk Douglas hamstrung in the opening sequence.
He is the Ghost Host or narrator at the Haunted Mansion Attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
He became so experienced at doing multiple characters on radio shows that in 1948 he was given his own show, "The Player" in which he would do all of the characters.
