Josh Robert Thompson

Josh Robert Thompson
Born	March 11, 1975 (1975-03-11) (age 36) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Other names	J. Robert Thompson
Occupation	Actor, impressionist, comedian
Years active	2000–present
Website
www.joshrobertthompson.com

Josh Robert Thompson (born March 11, 1975) is an American actor, impressionist and comedian. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, he resides in Los Angeles, making his living primarily as a voice and character actor. Thompson is known for his celebrity impressions, including Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Willie Nelson, Matthew McConaughey and, most notably, Morgan Freeman. In addition, Josh also voices a number of original characters for video games, film and television.

"Fake" Arnold Schwarzenegger

Thompson’s Schwarzenegger impression first gained national attention during the California recall election of 2003. Posing as Schwarzenegger, Thompson phoned-in to Fox News Channel’s morning program, Fox and Friends, fooling the hosts into believing (at least for a short while) that he was, in fact, Schwarzenegger himself.^[1]

The Howard Stern Show and other radio appearances

Thompson’s Fox News prank caught the attention of The Howard Stern Show, and the impression—dubbed “Fake Arnold” by Stern Show producers—soon became a mainstay on the program.^[1] At this time, Thompson also made a number of appearances on the Conway and Steckler and Conway and Whitman radio shows in Los Angeles (97.1 FM KLSX), and 96fm (Perth radio station)’s Breakfast show in Perth, Western Australia, where he voiced a number of characters, including Fake Arnold, Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Jackson, and Bill Cosby.^[1]

Notable Howard Stern Show moments

• In April 2005 on The Howard Stern Show, Thompson’s “Fake Arnold” character proposed a fictitious plan to “blow up the moon.”^[1] Surprisingly, Fake Arnold’s phony agenda managed to dupe MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, who appeared soon after on his television program, publicly lambasting the “Governor” for his alleged plan.^[2] Ten days later, Scarborough, after learning that the entire moon destruction scenario was a hoax, apologized on-air for his erroneous comments.^[2]

• On January 10, 2006, one day after The Howard Stern Show’s debut on Sirius Satellite Radio, Thompson fooled Star Trek actor George Takei into believing he was actually speaking with Governor Schwarzenegger. Several minutes after the phone call with Fake Arnold ended, Takei was finally let in on the joke. One year later, on January 9, 2007, Fake Arnold’s prank on George Takei was ranked sixth of the Top 10 best moments from The Howard Stern Show in 2006.

Beyond the Voice

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

In February 2007, Thompson made his first on-camera television appearance as Governor Schwarzenegger on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS). Since then, Thompson has become a regular performer on the show, making regular appearances as actor Robert De Niro, Frat Guy, Brian Deese, Levi Johnston and the voice of Morgan Freeman.

Since April 20, 2010, Josh has voiced Craig's robot skeleton sidekick, Geoff Peterson using prerecorded clips of a vaguely George Takei sounding voice. Approximately one year later, Thompson began to occasionally voice and perform Geoff live in-studio, and on May 16, 2011, in a possible backdoor audition, Josh performed Geoff in an actual guest spot. Beginning June 29, 2011^[3], Thompson has been voicing and performing Geoff in-person for every episode, including those filmed in Paris, France, that aired the week of August 1, 2011.^[4]

Since Thompson began voicing Geoff Peterson live, he has incorporated several of his own impressions into the character's repertoire. He also performed his Morgan Freeman impression for Freeman himself on June 10, 2011, asking the amazed actor "What would you like to ask yourself?" Freeman was very gracious and called the impression "extraordinary."^[5]

More Than Freeman

As of late 2010, Josh is appearing in the advertisements for More Than insurance, doing his Morgan Freeman impression. The joke of the advert is that Thompson's character is named More Than Freeman.

Original characters

As a standup comic, Josh is known for controversial and outrageous stage personas like crooked televangelist Apostle BG, Darnell the Janitor, Luis "Confrontational By Nature" Valdez, and product pitchman-turned-cabaret singer Robin Sooper.

Filmography

Television

• Family Guy (2011), various
• The Cleveland Show (2011), various
• American Dad (2011), various
• More Than Insurance TV adverts (2011), Morethan Freeman
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2009), Alex Trebek (voice)
• True Beauty (TV series) (2009), Clothing Store Clerk
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2007-Present), Geoff Peterson/Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger/Robert De Niro/Additional Characters
• The Emperor's New School (2006), Friendly Joe (voice)
• The Princes of Malibu (2005), Himself/Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (voice)
• The Howard Stern Show (2003-2011), "Fake" Arnold Schwarzenegger (voice)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2000), Himself

Video games

• NCIS: The Video Game (2011), Leroy Jethro Gibbs (voice)
• Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010), Prince Phillip (voice)
• Final Fantasy XIII (2010), Rygdea (voice)
• G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (video game) (2009), General Hawk (voice)
• Dead to Rights: Retribution (2009), Various Characters (voice)
• James Cameron's Avatar: The Game (2009), Various Characters (voice)
• Brütal Legend (2009), Healer/Additional Characters (voice)
• Up (2009), Various Dogs (voice)
• Free Realms (2009), Goblin/Yeti/Dog/Additional Characters (voice)
• Bolt (2008), (voice)
• WALL-E (2008), Human Male (voice)
• Call of Duty: World at War (2008), U.S. Soldier (voice)
• Elements of Destruction (2008), Dr. Edgar Herbert (voice)
• Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War (2006), Alexander the Great/Emperor Octavian (voice)
• Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action (2006), Sleazel Weazel (voice)

Film

• Bigger, Stronger, Faster* (2008), Himself/Arnold Schwarzenegger (voice)
• Yogi Bear (2010), Narrator (voice)

Music

• Austrian Death Machine Arnold Schwarzenegger (voice) on 2009 album Double Brutal

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Can I Have Your Autograph Please? - Fake Arnold". Dean's Planet. http://web.archive.org/web/20100204205208/http://www.deansplanet.com/doc_fake_arnold.html.  via Wayback Machine
2. ^ ^{a b} "Host Gets Fooled By Arnold Impersonator". The Radio Equalizer. http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2005/05/host-gets-fooled-by-sterns-arnold.html. 
3. ^ http://twitter.com/#!/joshrthompson/status/86267271504334848
4. ^ http://www.etonline.com/tv/112890_Craig_Ferguson_and_Kristen_Bell_Tape_The_Late_Late_Show_with_Craig_Ferguson_in_Paris/index.html
5. ^ Freeman talks to himself

External links

• Josh Robert Thompson at the Internet Movie Database
• Josh Robert Thompson's official website
• Josh Robert Thompson on YouTube
• Josh Robert Thompson on Facebook
• Josh Robert Thompson on Twitter
• Dean's Planet interview

Persondata
Name	Thompson, Josh Robert
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 11, 1975
Place of birth	Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Date of death
Place of death