Lou Scheimer

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Lou Scheimer (born October 19, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons (though only by name due to standardized crediting in most cartoons; Hal Sutherland received similar treatment).

Scheimer (pronounced SHY-mer) was most pro-active in the creation of the cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Aside from being the executive producer, he also became a voice actor for the show (as he had done for many of his company's previous productions), going under the pseudonym Erik Gunden. Scheimer's contribution to the cast was in fact most notable as he singlehandedly voiced nearly all supporting characters, including Orko (and other characters with a similar Smurfs-voice), Stratos, King Randor and others, due to severe budget restrictions. The animated series also pioneered a type of programming known as first-run syndication. Also a first was the storyline being based on an action figure toy; prior to this time, FCC regulations had prohibited any type of children's programming being based on a toy. Scheimer transformed He-Man from a graphically violent version of Conan the Barbarian into a pro-social character, who imparted a life lesson to impressionable viewers in each episode.

Erika Scheimer, Lou's daughter, also did supporting female voices and occasional voice-acting for young boy characters. She would later star in the follow-up series She-Ra, which Scheimer also produced.

In the late 1990s, Scheimer returned to the field of animation. A Dutch investment company, Dreamweavers, NV., approached Lou with a concept based on an off-kilter Dutchman's renderings of characters aimed at young adults. Scheimer went into production on an animated feature film entitled Robin and the Dreamweavers. Robin, the first human ever born in cyberspace, battled the evil siren "Triple XXX" who desired an earthly body and gained power through mankind's baser carnal desires. The film, however, was never distributed.

Shortly thereafter, Scheimer underwent quadruple bypass surgery and was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Erika Scheimer quickly took control of her father's company and shut it down.

Currently, Scheimer is currently providing consultation work for Gang of Seven (G7) Animation.

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[edit] Other voice roles

Lou Scheimer voiced characters for other Filmation cartoons besides He-Man. Most notably, he provided the voice to "Dumb Donald" on the long running Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. He was also the voice of Legal Eagle and Brown Hornet sidekick Stinger. He was used as the voice-over narrator during the opening credits of the majority of Filmation shows and cartoons. In Jason of Star Command and Space Academy, he was consistently heard as generic voices over intercoms. In the live action Ghost Busters series, he was the voice of "Zero", the unseen boss of the main characters.

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[edit] History

[edit] Interviews

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