Billy West (voice actor)
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- For the 19th-century blackface minstrel show performer, see Primrose and West.
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Billy West (born William Richard West on April 16, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American voice actor, known for roles on shows such as The Ren and Stimpy Show and Futurama.
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[edit] Major roles
[edit] Television
Billy West has been in television since the late 1980s. His first role was for the 1988 revived version of Beany and Cecil. West's first two high-profile roles came almost simultaneously: Doug and Ren & Stimpy, which were two of the first original three Nicktoons (the other being Rugrats). From there West went on to voice many well-known characters, including those in Futurama.
[edit] Ren & Stimpy
West provided the voice of Stimpy in Nickelodeon's The Ren and Stimpy Show from 1991 until 1996, and he provided the voice of Ren from 1993-1996 (after Ren's original voice and series creator John Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon).
According to West, he was originally supposed to do the voice of both Ren and Stimpy, but then Kricfalusi chose instead that he would voice Ren.[1]
[edit] Project Geeker
West was the voice of the show's namesake, Geeker throughout Project Geeker's 13 episode run.
[edit] Futurama
Billy West's roles in Futurama include Philip J. Fry, Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg and Zapp Brannigan, as well as various other incidental characters.
West went into the Futurama auditions and tried out for, as he says, "just about every part";[2] eventually landing the professor, Zoidberg, and Zapp Brannigan. It wasn't until some casting changes were made that West got the part of Fry, which originally had gone to Charlie Schlatter.[3] While West is known for doing many different and unique voices, the voice he does for Philip J. Fry is often considered to be closer to his natural voice than any other character he has done. This similarity, West acknowledges, was done purposefully in order to make it harder to replace him in the part.[4]
The part of Zapp Brannigan was originally to be voiced by Phil Hartman; however, Hartman's death occurred prior to production. So West assumed the role. Billy West has described the voice itself of Zapp Brannigan as an imitation of Phil Hartman, but described the actual vocalizations of the character as being based on old-time radio announcers.[5] Although, West has somewhat contradicted himself in other interviews in saying that he wasn't, in fact, imitating Hartman.[6]
Futurama has been renewed by Comedy Central for at least 13 new episodes[7] broken into four direct-to-video movies, the first of which is Futurama: Bender's Big Score. West is confirmed to reprise his original roles.
[edit] Invader Zim
According to the commentary for the Invader Zim pilot episode and Richard Horvitz's interview on the first Zim DVD, West was originally cast to provide the voice of Zim (which he did in the pilot episode) on the series, but the part was given to Horvitz instead. It was also disclosed on the DVD commentary that series creator Jhonen Vasquez disliked using Billy's voice as it reminded him of other cartoon characters Billy contributed vocal acting for, notably Fry from Futurama.
[edit] Movies
Perhaps West's most memorable film work came in the 1996 movie Space Jam. Starring along side Michael Jordan, West provided the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. West reprised the roles of Bugs and Fudd in subsequent Looney Tunes feature-length films and even returned as Fudd in the theatrically-released Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
In 1998, West starred in the direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island as Shaggy, becoming the second person to portray the character (the first being Casey Kasem).
2004 saw West encounter two interesting milestones; voicing the classic character Popeye in the 75th anniversary film Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy and making his live-action film debut in Mark Hamill's Comic Book: The Movie.
Other films West has lent his vocal work to include: Joe's Apartment, Cats & Dogs, Olive, the Other Reindeer, The Proud Family Movie, and three Tom & Jerry direct-to-video movies.
[edit] Selected Filmography
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This article appears to contradict another article (Brandy and Mr. Whiskers). Please see discussion on the talk page. |
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 2007 | Futurama: Bender's Big Score | Philip J. Fry Professor Hubert Farnsworth Dr. John Zoidberg Captain Zapp Brannigan Additional characters |
Voice only Direct-to-video Animated movie Post-production |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) | Various characters | Voice only Post-production |
|
| 2006 | Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas | Bugs Bunny Elmer Fudd |
Voice only Direct-to-video Animated movie |
| Queer Duck: The Movie | Bi-Polar Bear | Voice only Direct-to-video Animated movie |
|
| Curious George | Manager | Voice only Animated movie |
|
| Brandy & Mr. Whiskers | Mr. Whiskers (2006 onwards) Gasper Le Gecko (2006 onwards) |
Voice only Animated series |
|
| 2005 | Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry | Biff Buzzard President of Hollywood Squirty |
Voice only Direct-to-video Animated movie |
| The Proud Family Movie | Board Member Cab Driver |
Voice only Animated Television movie |
|
| Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars | Major Biff Buzzard | Voice only Direct-to-video Animated movie |
|
| 2004 | Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy | Popeye Pappy |
Voice only Direct-to-video Computer-animated movie |
| Comic Book: The Movie | Leo Matuzik | Direct-to-video Live action |
|
| 2003 | Looney Tunes: Back in Action | Elmer Fudd Peter Lorre |
Voice only |
| 2002 | Crank Yankers | Confucious Moo Shu |
Voice only |
| Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring | Freddie | Voice only Direct-to-video Animated movie |
|
| 2001 | Jimmy Neutron:Boy Genius | Various characters | Voice only Animated movie |
| The Oblongs | George Klimer Anita Bidet Additional characters |
Voice only Animated series |
|
| 2000 | Poochini's Yard | Poochini Walter White Mr. Garvey Lockjaw |
Voice only Animated series |
| 1999-2003 | Futurama | Philip J. Fry Professor Hubert Farnsworth Dr. John Zoidberg Captain Zapp Brannigan Additional characters |
Voices only Animated series |
| 1999 | Rayman: The Animated Series | Rayman | Voice only Animated series |
| Olive, the Other Reindeer | Mr. Eskimo | Voice only Animated Television movie |
|
| The New Woody Woodpecker Show | Woody Woodpecker Wally Walrus Smedley Doug Knutts |
voice only Animated series |
|
| Queer Duck | Bi-Polar Bear Other characters |
voice only Animated series |
|
| 1998 | Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island | Norville "Shaggy" Rogers | Voice only Direct-to-video Animated movie |
| 1997 | Extreme Ghostbusters | Slimer Mayor McShane |
Voice only Animated series |
| The Weird Al Show | Show announcer | Television series | |
| Project G.e.e.K.e.R. | GeeKeR | Voice only Animated series |
|
| 1996 | Space Jam | Bugs Bunny Elmer Fudd |
Voice only Live action/Animated movie |
| Joe's Apartment | Ralph Roach | Voice only | |
| 1991-96 | The Ren and Stimpy Show | Stimpson J. "Stimpy" Cat (1991-1996) Ren Hoek (1993-1996) Mr. Horse (1993-1996) |
Voice only Animated series |
| 1991-94 | Doug | Doug Funnie (1991-1994) Roger Klotz(1991-1994) |
Voice Only until sell of series to Disney. Animated series |
[edit] Other Media
[edit] Radio
Throughout the 1980s, Billy West provided character voices on Charles Laquidara's Big Mattress radio show on Boston's WBCN. From 1989 through 1995, West provided The Howard Stern Show with character voices such as Marge Schott, Jim Backus, George Takei, Larry Fine, Jackie Martling, Louis "Red" Deutsch, Ray Stern (Howard Stern's mother), Leona Helmsley, Al Michaels, the Greaseman, Frank Gifford, Kathy Lee Gifford, Rudolph Giuliani, David Dinkins, Nelson Mandela, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Connie Chung until eventually leaving the show over money.[8] West has also been an occasional contributor to The Adam Carolla Show, a syndicated morning radio show that replaced Howard Stern's show along West Coast American cities.
On February 19 and 20, 2007, The Howard Stern Show ran a special two-part retrospective of West's work with the show. It marked his first work with the show since leaving after his last show on November 1, 1995.
[edit] Commercial Television
Billy West was the announcer of the program Screen Gems Network which ran from 1999-2001. He was also the promotional announcer for The Comedy Channel before it merged with HA! to become Comedy Central.
Over his career, Billy West has voiced multiple characters in television commercials.
These include (but are not limited to):
- The red M&M.
- BuzzBee, the honey nut bee for Honey Nut Cheerios.
- An alien for Pentium 4.
- Speed Racer for Volkswagen.
- Popeye for Minute Maid.
- Babe Ruth and Bruce Lee for Brisk Iced Tea.
[edit] Video games
West's talents have also extended into the realm of video games. Characters most notably voiced by West are perhaps Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in numerous Looney Tunes video games.
Other video game characters voiced by Billy West include:
- Philip J. Fry, Professor Hubert Farnsworth, and Dr. John Zoidberg in Futurama (2003).
- Ninja in I-Ninja (2003).
- Nash and Zam in Crash Nitro Kart (2003).
- Rayman's sidekick/guide Murfy in Rayman 3 (2003).
- Muttley and L'il Gruesome in Wacky Races (2001).
- Voice of Red, the red M&M in M&Ms: The Lost Formulas (2000).
[edit] Music
West is also a guitarist singer-songwriter with a band called Billy West and The Grief Counselors co-founded with Colin Cowherd. Their first album, Me-Pod, is now available for purchase.[9]
[edit] Internet entertainment
Billy West briefly worked on the short-lived internet show, Billy Bastard: Amateur Human Professional Asshole. West also provided a voice for the Eric Kaplan-created webtoon Zombie College.
[edit] The Industry
West has been very outspoken on his displeasure about the influx of movie star actors providing voice-over for films and major shows.[10][11]
[edit] Cancer
West revealed on the October 4, 2006 edition of The Adam Carolla Show that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He said it was the scariest moment of his life, especially since he considered himself a healthy person. West had surgery to eliminate the cancer, and the crew of the show commented on how good he looked, considering that the surgery had taken place only two weeks prior.[12]
[edit] Quotes
- "I pretty much felt I did all that I could with the character. I was ready to move on to different projects and opportunities." -On why he didn't continue voicing Doug Funnie when the show moved to ABC and became Disney's Doug.
- "I didn't even tell my mom about this junk until I was out of the woods. The whole thing just snuck up on me but never, ever did I play the victim or bemoan my fate. Life is for the living. I was a little scared before surgery 'cause of the release you sign that says there's always a very small percent chance that you'll die during the operation." - On his scare with prostate cancer. Posted on October 4, 2006 by Billy West in his fan forum.
[edit] Trivia
- West and Joe Alaskey are the best known voice actors who can impersonate Mel Blanc in his prime, including characterizations of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons.
- West's favorite characters that he voices are Philip J. Fry and Stimpy.[13]
- West has been the voice talent for close to 120 different characters.
- West voiced the "Speed Racer" character in a late-1990s advertisement for Volkswagen's GTI, supposedly because the commercial's producers couldn't locate Peter Fernandez, the original voice of Speed. However, the producers did locate Corinne Orr, the original voice for both the "Trixie" and "Spritle" characters.
[edit] References
- ^ TVsquad.com interview (20th question) Accessed January 29, 2007
- ^ TVsquad.com interview (31st question) Accessed January 29, 2007
- ^ IGN.com interviews Billy West (3rd question) Accessed January 29, 2007
- ^ TVsquad.com interview (32nd question) Accesed March 10, 2007
- ^ TVsquad.com interview (59th question) Accessed January 29, 2007
- ^ IGN.com interviews Billy West (2nd page, 1st question) Accessed January 29, 2007
- ^ TVsquad.com article on Futurama's return
- ^ Interview with UGO.com (20th question) Accessed January 29, 2007.
- ^ Billy West and the Grief Counselors on CDbaby.com
- ^ Interview with AVclub.com (11th question) Accessed January 29, 2007
- ^ Interview with Slashdot.org Accessed January 29, 2007
- ^ The Adam Carolla Show Blog. Accessed November 1, 2006.
- ^ Billy West F.A.Q.. Accessed October 26, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Billy West's Official website
- Billy West at the Voice Chasers Database
- Billy West at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview with Billy West on CNBC (Youtube)
| Preceded by Jeff Bergman |
Voice of Bugs Bunny November 15, 1996 — November 2003 |
Succeeded by Joe Alaskey |
| The Howard Stern Show | |
|---|---|
| Cast | Howard Stern • Robin Quivers • Artie Lange • Fred Norris • Gary Dell'Abate • Benjy Bronk • Richard Christy • Sal the Stockbroker • J. D. Harmeyer • Scott Salem • Jon Hein • Will Murray • Jason Kaplan • George Takei • Ronnie Mund • Ralph Cirella |
| Former Cast | Billy West • Jackie Martling • Stuttering John • K. C. Armstrong • Tom Chiusano • A. J. Benza |
| The Wack Pack | Beetlejuice • Eric the Midget • Miss Howard Stern • High Pitch Eric • Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf • Riley Martin • Siobhan Meow • Jeff the Drunk • More... |
| Howard Channels | Bubba the Love Sponge Show • Scott Ferrall • The Wrap-Up Show • Howard 100 News • Superfan Roundtable • More... |
| See Also | Show Celebrity Guests • Show Games and Bits • Sirius Satellite Radio • Sirius Canada |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | West, William Richard |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | West, Billy |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | United States voice actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Detroit, Michigan |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
