| Maurice LaMarche | |
|---|---|
LaMarche at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego, California, on a panel for Futurama. |
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| Born | Maurice LaMarche March 30, 1958 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Voice actor, retired Stand up comedian |
| Years active | 1980-present |
| Spouse | Robin Eiseman |
| Awards | Annie Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production 1998 for Pinky and the Brain |
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is an Emmy Award winning Canadian-American voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama as Kif Kroker, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Big Bob Pataki in Hey Arnold!, Dizzy Devil in Tiny Toons, The Brain in Animaniacs and Pinky and The Brain, and his portrayal of Mr. Freeze in Batman: Arkham City.
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LaMarche was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but his family moved to Timmins, Ontario very soon after he was born.[1] LaMarche's childhood was filled with his "own little world of cartoons and sixties television".[2] It was not until his sophomore year of high school that he learned of the popularity his talent for mimicry could garner him. This realization came from a coincidental performance in a high school "variety night" when a couple of friends urged him to enter. The act he performed at the variety night was "celebrities as waiters" which he actually used all the way up until the end of his stand up career.[3]
At the age of 19, LaMarche took his high school act to an open mic night in New York City, performing to a reaction in which, as he describes, "they just totally ignored me".[4] This reaction was coupled with the backlash LaMarche received from fellow Canadian comedians who LaMarche describes as discouraging him from pursuing a career outside of Canada.[5]
Three years later, at the age of 22, LaMarche moved straight to Los Angeles to further his stand up career. This move, LaMarche says, would always be something he regretted doing instead of moving to New York.
"... in retrospect, I thought it was a mistake. I think that a couple of years in New York would have made me a stronger comedian." - Maurice LaMarche[6]
Over the next five years, LaMarche's career would gradually progress, playing comedy clubs all over the U.S., with several appearances on Merv Griffin and "An Evening At The Improv", but in spite of such interest, LaMarche always believed that, while his impersonations and stage presence were strong, he needed to develop funnier comedy material. Despite being so critical of himself, LaMarche would be granted the opportunity of being part of the 1985 HBO production, Rodney Dangerfield Hosts the 9th Annual Young Comedians Special, on which also appeared Bob Saget, Rita Rudner, Louie Anderson, Yakov Smirnoff, and the breakout first appearance of Sam Kinison. Although he was received (and reviewed) favorably, in looking back on his own performance in that special, LaMarche believed he was "probably about five years away from going from being a good comedian to being a great comedian" and being the "only impressionist that actually comes from somewhere".[7] Unfortunately, LaMarche would not get that chance.
One of LaMarche television roles was when he made a guest appearance on an episode of The Facts Of Life "Seven Little Indians" portraying Rod Serling. In the episode, Serling had a fascination of mentioning Tootie's name, played by Kim Fields.
On March 9, 1987, LaMarche's father was murdered, shot to death by a lifelong friend in a Toronto hotel lobby, in front of dozens of witnesses. This sent LaMarche into depression and alcoholism for the next two years, effectively stalling his stand up career.[8] After getting sober on Inauguration Day in 1989, LaMarche embarked again into the world of his first love, standup comedy, in the early part of 1990. However, just as he was regaining lost momentum, tragedy struck once more, as his 18-year-old sister was killed in a car accident in September of that year. [9] At this point, though he remained sober, LaMarche decided he just could not do standup comedy anymore.
"Oh, that's it. I don't have any funny left in me. I'm done."[9] - Maurice LaMarche
During his standup career, LaMarche opened for such acts as Rodney Dangerfield, George Carlin, Howie Mandel, David Sanborn and Donna Summer, usually in the main showrooms of Las Vegas and Atlantic City.[10]
LaMarche's first entrance into the voiceover industry was in 1980 in Easter Fever and Take Me Up to the Ball Game, two Canadian films from Nelvana.[11] LaMarche did not venture into voiceover acting again until years later as a side endeavor during his full-time standup comedy career.
LaMarche began on Inspector Gadget and went on to Dennis the Menace, Popeye and Son and The Real Ghostbusters. After The Real Ghostbusters, LaMarche became a regular mainstay of the voiceover industry appearing in such shows as Talespin, Tiny Toon Adventures, GI Joe, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series, Taz-Mania, Where's Waldo, The Little Mermaid, Batman: The Animated Series, and Bonkers before landing perhaps his most recognized role in 1993 as The Brain on Animaniacs (and later its spin-off show Pinky and the Brain). Following this, LaMarche worked on The Critic, Freakazoid!, and The Tick before then reprising his role of Egon in Extreme Ghostbusters. The stretch of two years after this saw LaMarche portray characters in such shows as Duckman, Hey Arnold! as Big Bob Pataki, Queer Duck, King of the Hill, The Chimp Channel, and Sonic Underground as Sleet. During this time Maurice would become the voice actor for Mortimer Mouse who he would voice in the television series Mickey Mouse Works and Disney's House of Mouse. It was at this time, 1999, that LaMarche began work on Futurama. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 2011 for portraying Orson Welles' head and Lrrr in the episode "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences". Since Futurama LaMarche has continued to work steadily in television, including guest roles on The Simpsons (where he once again parodied Orson Welles). His most recent regular role came as Hovis the butler on the Nickelodeon series Catscratch.
LaMarche has done various voice work for many Warner Bros. Animation and DiC Entertainment cartoons. He also delivered the protracted belches for the "Great Wakkorotti" shorts on Animaniacs, in which Wakko Warner performed various pieces of music. In 2011, LaMarche reprises his role as Yosemite Sam in Cartoon Network's new series, The Looney Tunes Show.
LaMarche plays the character of The Brain in Pinky and the Brain. In creating the voice for Brain, LaMarche says he looked at a picture of the character and immediately thought of Orson Welles,[12] although the character wasn't modeled after Welles.[13] Voicing Brain gave LaMarche the opportunity to make use of his signature impersonation of Welles. Many Pinky and the Brain episodes are nods to Welles' career. LaMarche won an Annie Award for his role as the Brain, and was nominated for an Emmy. Lamarche would later use this accent to voice Father in Codename: Kids Next Door.
While working on The Critic, LaMarche once voiced 29 characters in one 30-minute episode.[14]
His time on The Critic also afforded LaMarche the opportunity to once again parody Orson Welles, this time after a video reading of a will (the Sherman family was so wealthy, they had hired Welles to narrate it) dissolves into a commercial for Mrs. Pells Fishsticks (as well as another for Rosebud Frozen Peas, and another for Blotto Bros. wine).
LaMarche has voiced Inspector Gadget (originally voiced by Don Adams) in two Inspector Gadget films (direct-to-video and television movies) as well as two television series (the original, and Gadget and the Gadgetinis), plus two live-action appearances in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! LaMarche also voiced Chief Quimby.
LaMarche acted, voice only, in the second episode of the hit NBC show Heroes, "Don't Look Back", as the villain Sylar. His voice is heard in a chilling recorded phone conversation on Chandra Suresh's answering machine. The role of Sylar was later played by Zachary Quinto.[15]
LaMarche has appeared in many films, including dubbing the voice of Orson Welles over Vincent D'Onofrio's on-camera performance in Ed Wood; Pepe Le Pew in Space Jam; supplying the voice of the Alec Baldwin puppet in Team America: World Police, and reprising his roles from Queer Duck and Futurama in the direct-to-video films Queer Duck: The Movie and Futurama: Bender's Big Score, respectively.
His one on-camera theatrical film performance was in the 1981 Canadian feature Funny Farm, not to be confused with a later Chevy Chase vehicle of the same name. The film follows the story of a young standup comedian's attempt to break into the big-time on the L.A. comedy scene. LaMarche played Dickie Lyons, an impressionist who befriends the main character, Mark Champlin. The film also starred Howie Mandel, Eileen Brennan, and Miles Chapin.
In Mark Hamill's 2004 movie Comic Book: The Movie, LaMarche made a rare live appearance to be in the special features of the DVD alongside Pinky and the Brain co-star Rob Paulsen. Among other gags, he re-enacted his impression of Orson Welles' famous frozen peas commercial outtake.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Easter Fever | Don Rattles Steed Martin Peter Easter Bat |
Animated special |
| 1980 | Take Me Up to the Ball Game | Animated special | |
| 1983 | Inspector Gadget | Chief Quimby | Animated series |
| 1986 | The Real Ghostbusters | Egon Spengler | Animated series |
| 1986 | The Transformers | Six-Gun | Animated series |
| 1986 | Dennis the Menace | George Wilson Henry Mitchell |
Animated series |
| 1986 | Popples | Puzzle | Animated series |
| 1987 | The Facts of Life | Rod Sperling | Live action |
| 1987 | Popeye and Son | Popeye | Animated series |
| 1988 | Beany and Cecil | Dishonest John | Animated series |
| 1989 | G.I. Joe | Copperhead Low-Light Spirit Serpentor Destro Heavy Duty Big Ben Red Star |
Animated Series |
| 1990 | Captain Planet and the Planeteers | Verminous Skumm | Animated series |
| 1990 | Tiny Toon Adventures | Dizzy Devil Orsen Whales Yosemite Sam |
Animated series |
| 1990 | TaleSpin | General Patton | Animated series |
| 1990 | Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated Series | Zoltan Ketchuck Tomato Guy |
Animated series |
| 1991 | Taz-Mania | Hugh Tasmanian Devil Daffy Duck |
Animated series |
| 1991 | Felix the Cat: The Movie | The Grandfather | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 1992 | Cool World | Interrogator #2 Mash drunken bar patron Dr. Vincent "Vegas Vinnie" Whiskers |
Live action/Animated film |
| 1993 | Animaniacs | Brain Spartacus Bob Hope Squit Wakko (burping only) |
Animated series |
| 1993 | Bonkers | Mr. Blackenblue March Hare Smarts Tuttle Turtle |
Animated series |
| 1994 | The Tick | Human Ton & Handy Pigleg Mr. Smartypants Various other characters |
Animated series |
| 1994 | The Critic | Jeremy Hawke Orson Welles Additional Voices |
Animated series |
| 1994 | Ed Wood | Orson Welles | Voice only |
| 1995 | Duckman | Merv Griffin | Animated series |
| 1995 | Freakazoid! | Longhorn The Lobe Dan Captain "K" |
Animated series |
| 1995 | Napoleon | Snake and frill-Necked Lizard | Voice only |
| 1995 | The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries | Yosemite Sam others |
Animated series |
| 1995 | Gadget Boy and Heather | Boris Mulch and Humus Myron Dabble Chief Strombolli G9 |
Animated series |
| 1995 | Pinky and the Brain | The Brain | Animated series |
| 1996 | Space Jam | Pepe Le Pew | Animated film |
| 1996 | Dexter's Laboratory | Simion | Animated series |
| 1996 | Rocko's Modern Life | Conglomo Lizard | Animated series |
| 1996 | All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 | Lost & Found Officer | Animated film |
| 1996 | Hey Arnold! | Big Bob Pataki Occasional Characters |
Animated series |
| 1997 | Space Goofs | Etno | Animated series |
| 1997 | Extreme Ghostbusters | Egon Spengler | Animated series |
| 1998 | Histeria! | Abraham Lincoln | Animated series |
| 1999 | Inspector Gadget: Gadget's Greatest Gadgets | Inspector Gadget Chief Quimby |
Voice only Animated film |
| 1999 | Mickey Mouse Works | Mortimer Mouse Professor Ratigan |
Animated series |
| 1999 | Wakko's Wish | Brain Squit |
Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 1999 | The Chimp Channel | Harry Waller Bernard the Sarcastic Cockatoo |
Voice only |
| 1999 | Dilbert | The World's Smartest Garbageman | Animated series |
| 1999 | Queer Duck | Oscar Wildcat Mr. Duckstein Other Characters |
Animated series |
| 1999 | Sonic Underground | Sleet SWATbots Athair (Great Grandfather of Knuckles) |
Animated series |
| 1999- 2003 |
Futurama | Kif Kroker Morbo Calculon Lrrr Horrible Gelatinous Blob Walt Hedonism Bot DonBot Additional characters |
Animated series |
| 2000 | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman | Mr. Lawrence Talbot | Voice only Animated film |
| 2000 | Hard Drinkin' Lincoln | John Wilkes Booth | Animated series |
| 2001 | Disney's House of Mouse | Mortimer Mouse | Animated series |
| 2001 | The Oblongs | Tommy Vinegar | Animated series |
| 2002 | Inspector Gadget's Last Case: Claw's Revenge | Inspector Gadget | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2002 | Hey Arnold!: The Movie | Big Bob Pataki Head of Security |
Animated film |
| 2002 | Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring | Spike and Alley Cat | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2002 | Codename: Kids Next Door | Father | Animated series |
| 2002 | Balto II: Wolf Quest | Balto | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2003 | 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure | Horace | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2003 | K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments | Omri and Amos | Animated series |
| 2004 | Team America: World Police | Alec Baldwin | Voice only |
| 2004 | Balto III: Wings of Change | Balto | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2004 | Felix the Cat Saves Christmas | Rock Bottom | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2004 | Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers | Shorty, one of The Beagle Boys | Direct-to-video animated film |
| 2004 | Comic Book: The Movie | Himself | "Behind the Voices" Special feature Live action |
| 2004 | Duck Dodgers | K'chutha Sa'am | Animated series |
| 2005 | Tripping the Rift | Gus | CGI-animated series |
| 2005 | My Gym Partner's A Monkey | Principal Poncherello Pixiefrog, Mr. Mandrill, Mr. Hornbill, Mr. Blowhole | Animated series |
| 2005 | Catscratch | Hovis | Animated series |
| 2005 | Firehouse Tales | Chief | Animated series |
| 2005 | Krypto the Superdog | Mechanikat | Animated series |
| 2005 | Pom Poko | Narrator | Animated film (English dub) |
| 2006 | Tak & the Power of Juju | Chief | Animated series |
| 2006 | Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas | Yosemite Sam | Animated film |
| 2006 | Shuriken School | Mr. No Naginata Kubo Utamaro Zumichito Daisuke Togakame |
Animated series |
| 2006 | Operation: Z.E.R.O. | Father | Animated television film |
| 2006 | Casper's Scare School | Pirate Thurdigree Burns |
Animated television film |
| 2006 | Barnyard | Igg the Cow | Animated film |
| 2006 | Queer Duck: The Movie | Oscar Wildcat | Direct-to-video |
| 2007 | Futurama: Bender's Big Score | Kif Kroker Morbo Calculon Lrrr Additional characters |
Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2007 | Random! Cartoons | Klemp Birdsdorf Pickle Cop Dog Catcher Elecaptain Sam Bjorn Working Troll #1 |
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| 2008 | Crash: Mind over Mutant | Dr. Nitrus Brio | Uncredited Video game by Radical Entertainment |
| 2008 | Futurama: Bender's Game | Various characters | Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2008 | The Jewish Nudist Buddhist | God | Independent film |
| 2008 | Guild Wars: Eye of the North | Vekk Lork |
Video game expansion pack |
| 2008 | Dead Space: Downfall | White Bavaro |
Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2008 | Tripping the Rift: The Movie | Gus | Direct-to-video CGI-animated film |
| 2008 | Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs | Kif Kroker Various Characters |
Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2009 | Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder | Kif Kroker The Donbot Clamps Calculon Morbo Lrrr Various characters |
Direct-to-video Animated film |
| 2009 | Bob & Doug | Various characters | Animated series |
| 2010- present |
Futurama | Kif Kroker Morbo Calculon Lrrr Horrible Gelatinous Blob Walt Hedonism Bot DonBot Additional characters |
Animated series |
| 2011-present | The Looney Tunes Show | Yosemite Sam | Animated series |
| 2011 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Vincent Van Ghoul | Animated series |
| 2011 | Batman: Arkham City | Mr. Freeze, Calendar Man | Video game by Rocksteady Studios |
| 2011 | Adventure Time | Grand Master Wizard | 1 episode |
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