Rob Paulsen

:"This article is about the voice actor Rob Paulsen. For the Fight Club character Robert Paulson, see Fight Club.Infobox actor voice
name = Rob Paulsen


birthname was = Robert Fredrick Paulsen, III
birth_date = Birth date and age|1956|3|11|mf=y
birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Voice Actor
yearsactive = 1981 — present
alias = Rob Paulson, Vocal Magic
gender = Male
status = Married
spouse = Parrish Todd
children = 1 son
title =
family =
relatives =
ethnic =
religion =
salary =
networth =
URL = http://www.robpaulsen.com/
agent = [http://www.sbvtalentagency.com Sutton, Barth and Vennari]

Robert Fredrick Paulsen, III (born March 11, 1956) (sometimes credited as Rob Paulson or "Vocal Magic") is an American voice actor best known as the voice behind "Raphael" from the 1987 cartoon of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Yakko Warner" from "Animaniacs" and "Pinky" from "Pinky and the Brain". His role as "Yakko" won him a Daytime Emmy Award for male vocal performance; he won a second one for his portrayal of "Pinky". In the 1999 animated movie "Wakko's Wish", Paulsen provided the voices of "Dr. Otto Scratchansniff" and "Yakko Warner". He was also "Prince Eric" in "".

In total, Paulsen has been the voice of over 250 different animated characters and performed in over 1000 commercials. He continues to play minor parts in dozens of cartoons as well as supporting characters in animated movies.

Biography

Paulsen was born in Detroit, Michigan. He is married to Parrish Todd and has one son. In an interview with a Chicago TV station, Paulsen described himself as "a singer who decided to become an actor." Growing up in Grand Blanc, Michigan, Paulsen sang in choir throughout his youth and adolescence and began performing in plays in grammar school. However, his idol growing up was Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings; he considered the arts to be a secondary career choice, primarily interested in becoming a professional hockey player.

Paulsen has long supported charity organisations, and donated considerably for cancer research. He has worked a lot for GOALmodels, a program for adolescents, and is a sponsor of Camp Will-A-Way, a camp for mentally and physically disabled children. He provided the voice of "Dog" in the Taco Bell kids meal commercials from 1995 to mid-1997, with Eddie Deezen as the voice of "Nacho" the cat.

Career

Early career

He began his voice over career on "The Smurfs" animated television show as an extra in 1981. A few years later, his career launched into more substantial roles such as "G.I. Joe" and "The Snorks". He had an impressive turn as the villain "Jesse Blue" in the series "Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs". The character has a bit of a cult following, due in part to Paulsen's excellent portrayal.

During the 1980s Paulsen also explored the field of live action cinema. His first movie was "Eyes of Fire" in 1983. He played supporting roles in "Body Double", "Stewardess School", and "Warlock". He appeared in television shows during this time as well, such as "MacGyver" and "St. Elsewhere". He mentioned in an interview, regarding his role in "Body Double", that he would not want his child (who was very young at the time of the interview) to see the movie, so he could not really be proud of his work. Paulsen's first major role was in 1987, as "Raphael" in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" television series.

Advertising

Paulsen became more prevalent in the world of advertising as well. In the 1980s he had been the announcer for the sitcom "Cheers" and continued to secure roles as an announcer. He appeared as the voice of "Mr. Opportunity", spokesman of Honda commercials on TV and radio, the announcer for "Buffalo Dick's Radio Ranch", and the spokesman for Lucky Stores, a West-coast grocery store chain, before it was acquired by Albertsons in 1998.

However Paulsen's most famous advertising role was in the original commercial of the now ubiquitous Got Milk? campaign. The famous commercial, "Who Shot Alexander Hamilton?", aired in 1993, and launched the "Got Milk?" campaign into a monstrously successful enterprise. Paulsen continues to be one of the most sought-after commercial voice actors in the industry.

He can be currently heard as the voice of singing Mini-Wheat in the Mini-Wheats commercials in Canada.

Tuning in to Spielberg

Throughout the early 1990s, Paulsen continued to co-star in animated series, which allowed him to branch further into radio and television announcements and dropped live-action acting from his repertoire. In 1993, he voiced "Antoine D'Coolette" in ABC's series "Sonic the Hedgehog", and "Arthur", an insecure accountant in a moth costume (wings included), in the superhero series "The Tick" in 1995.

In 1993, he starred as the title character in both "Mighty Max" and "The Mask". Also at this time he starred in what became one of his most popular roles, "Yakko Warner" of "Animaniacs". Paulsen also provided the voice of "Pinky" from "Pinky and the Brain", a show which won him several Annie Awards and a Daytime Emmy in 1999.

He also did a number of characters in "Tiny Toon Adventures", including "Fowlmouth", "Arnold the Pit Bull", and "Concord Condor". In the direct-to-video movie "", he did the voices for "Banjo Possum", "Mr. Hitcher" (who would also appear in other episodes), and "Johnny Pew".

Current roles

Animation

Paulsen provides the voices of Yakko Warner Animaniacs and Ditto of Ben 10, "Brick" and "Boomer" in "The Powerpuff Girls". He also currently does the roles of "Reuben" in '; "Jack Fenton," "Box Ghost," "Technus", and "The Ghost Vultures" in "Danny Phantom"; "Carl Wheezer" and "Butch" in "Jimmy Neutron"; "Mark Chang" and "Peppy Happy Gary" in "The Fairly OddParents"; and "Gordon" in the Nickelodeon cartoon "Catscratch". He was also the voice of "Rothchild" in the early episodes of Samurai Jack. Additionally, Paulsen provided the voice of "PJ" in the animated series starring Goofy, "Goof Troop", and the voices of "Zeek" and "Joshua" in '.He reprised his role as "Throttle" in the 2006 "Biker Mice from Mars", and played a role in "The Boondocks" as an art teacher. Paulson took on the role of "Poindexter" of "" in 1991; he reprised the role in the TV Series "Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat" from 1995 and "Baby Felix & Friends" from 2000 to 2001, and again for the installment of "Felix the Cat saves Christmas" in 2004.

It was not long before Paulsen returned to Warner Bros. Animation, which had diverged into a new era of television serials (following what is sometimes referred to as the "Silver Age of Animation"). Paulsen appeared as "Rev Runner" of the new show "Loonatics Unleashed" and stars in "Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island". He also voiced "The Source" in the "Teen Titans" episode "Employee of the Month." He was also the voice of the character "Squeeky" on the TV show "Danger Rangers". Paulsen also provides the voice for the Honda character "Mr. Opportunity." In the upcoming Rob Zombie animated film, "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto", Paulsen will voice a character named "El Gato a.k.a. Col. Hans Wolfburger". He also has a role as "Ditto", one of the alien forms on "Ben 10". He is also the current voice of classic Disney character "José Carioca". Rob became the new voice of "Prince Eric" of Disney's "" in 2000.He is also the voice of Peck & other minor characters in the Nickelodeon computer-animated series "Back at the Barnyard" & various minor characters in the Disney Channel animated series,"The Replacements".

Video games

In video gaming, much voice talent has bled over from television and radio voice actors. Paulsen has appeared in video games such as "Doom 3" and "Clay Fighter 63 1/3". He plays "Morte", a floating, talking skull, in ', as well as "Anomen Delryn" in "Baldur's Gate II" and "Gray Fox" in ' and "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" as an assist trophy. More notably, he portrays "Tobli" and "Lian Ronso" in the English version of Square Enix's "Final Fantasy X-2" and has played the lead character in "Bubsy". Although an extremely minor role, Paulsen has also done the voice for the Greek soldiers in "God of War". In the video game ', he does the voice of "Igor". He also reprised his role as "Yakko Warner" and "Pinky" in '.Rob Paulsen voiced the lead character, Lazarus Jones, in the PS2 game Ghosthunter.

Other

Paulsen is also the off-camera voice of the syndicated television series "Funniest Pets and People" which is seen on Superstation WGN and other television stations throughout the United States and abroad.

Awards

Rob Paulsen has been nominated for an Annie Award for his role of "Pinky" for 4 consecutive years, which he won in 1996, 1997, and 1999. In 2004 he was nominated for his role of "The Troubador" in "", and in 2005 he was nominated for his role in "The Happy Elf". In 1999 he also won the Daytime Emmy Award for the role of Pinky.

Public appearances

Paulsen has been a regular industry guest and featured panelist at Comic-Con International over the past several years. He has also appeared at animation industry-related events such as the World Animation Celebration in 1998, among many others. He has also been a guest at several anime conventions, including JACON, Mikomicon, and Anime Overdose. Paulsen was a guest of honor at Anthrocon in 2007.

Sometimes people in attendance would request him to sing the infamous "Yakko's World" number, where he sings all the nations of the world with his "Yakko" voice in a fast-paced delivery without rehearsing.

Filmogrophy

* "Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears" - Gusto Gummi
* "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)" - Raphael
* "Animaniacs" - Yakko Warner
* "Pinky and the Brain" (TV Show, 1995-1998) Pinky
* "Wakko's Wish" - Dr. Otto Scratchansniff & Yakko Warner
* "" - Prince Eric
* "The Smurfs" (TV Show, 1981) An Extra
* "G.I. Joe" (TV Show)
* "The Snorks" (TV Show)
* "Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs" (TV Show) Jesse Blue
* "Eyes of Fire" (Movie, 1983)
* "Body Double" (Movie) Supporting Role
* "Warlock" (Movie) Supporting Role
* "Stewardess School" (Movie) Supporting Role
* "Cheers" (TV Show) Announcer
* "Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)" - Antoine D'Coolette
* "The Tick" - Arthur
* "Mighty Max" - Mighty Max
* "" - Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask
* "Tiny Toon Adventures" (TV Show) Fowlmouth, Arnold the Pit Bull, & Concord Condor
* "" (Direct-to-video) Banjo Possom, Mr. Hitcher, & Johnny Pew
* "The Powerpuff Girls" - Brick & Boomer
* "" (TV Show, 2003-2006) Rueben/Experiment 625
* "Danny Phantom" - Box Ghost, Technus, & Jack Fenton
* "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron" - Carl Wheezer & Butch
* "Catscratch" - Gordon
* "The Fairly OddParents" - Mark Chang & Peppy Happy Gary
* "Samurai Jack" (TV Show, 2001-2004) Rothchild
* "Goof Troop" (TV Show) PJ
* "" (TV Show) Zeek & Joshua
* "Tak and the Power of Juju (TV series)" (TV Show, 2007-present) Party Juju, Judge Juju
* "" - Demeon (Ninja Storm)
* "Biker Mice from Mars" - Throttle
* "The Boondocks" - An Art Teacher
* " (1991), Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat (Space Case), Baby Felix & Friends (2000-2001) and Felix the Cat Saves Christmas" (2004) - Poindexter
* "Loonatics Unleashed" (TV Show) - Rev Runner
* "Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island" - Coconut Fred
* "Teen Titans (TV series)" - The Source
* "Danger Rangers" - Squeeky
* "The Haunted World of El Superbeasto" (Movie) - El Gato a.k.a. Col. Hans Wolfburger
* "Ben 10" - Ditto
* "Funniest Pets & People" (TV Show, 2007-present) - Announcer
* "" - The Troubador
* "The Happy Elf" (2005)
* "Handy Manny" (2006) - Fast Eddie
* "" (2007) - Jaq, the Grand Duke and the Bishop
* "" (2008) - Ink Spot & Swifty
* "Tinker Bell" (2008) - Bobble

External links

* [http://www.robpaulsen.com/ Official website]
*voice actor|id=1001|name=Rob Paulsen
*imdb name|id=0667326|name=Rob Paulsen