Frank Welker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frank Welker
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Welker at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2023
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Franklin Wendell Welker
March 12, 1946 Denver, Colorado, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Santa Monica College |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1967–present |
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Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor famous for his amazing voice work. He started his career in the 1960s and has voiced around 850 characters in movies, TV shows, and video games, making him one of the busiest voice actors ever! His films have earned over $17.4 billion worldwide, which means he's also one of the highest-earning actors.
Welker is best known for voicing Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo cartoons since they began in 1969. He also started voicing Scooby-Doo himself in 2002. In 2020, he voiced Scooby in the movie Scoob!, being the only original voice actor from the series in that film.
In 2016, he received a special Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award for his incredible career. He was also nominated for another Emmy in 2022 for his voice performance in an animated show.
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Early Life and Education
Franklin Wendell Welker was born on March 12, 1946, in Denver, Colorado. His parents were Merrill and Lillian Welker.
He later moved to California and studied theater at Santa Monica College. In 1966, he earned honors for his performance as the Cowardly Lion in the college's play The Wizard of Oz.
Career Highlights
Voice Acting Adventures
Frank Welker started his career in 1967 as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, someone who can copy voices. He then moved into acting on screen before becoming a voice actor. His very first voice-over job was for a commercial for Friskies cat food!
A producer's girlfriend suggested he try out for Hanna-Barbera when they were casting Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. Welker first tried out for Scooby-Doo (and even Shaggy Rogers), but he ended up getting the role of Fred Jones in 1969. He has voiced Fred in almost every Scooby-Doo cartoon and movie since then. Since 2002, he has also been the voice of Scooby-Doo! After Casey Kasem passed away in 2014, Welker became the only original voice actor still working on the Scooby-Doo franchise.
His next big character voice was for Wonder Dog (who was inspired by Scooby-Doo) and Marvin White in the 1973 show Super Friends. He continued to voice many characters for Hanna-Barbera, including Jabberjaw, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, and the Shmoo in The New Fred and Barney Show. Frank Welker described the Shmoo's voice as a "bubble voice."
In the 1980s and 1990s, Welker became incredibly busy. He voiced many popular cartoon characters like Uni on Dungeons & Dragons, Brain, Doctor Claw, and M.A.D. Cat on Inspector Gadget. He also voiced Mister Mxyzptlk, Darkseid, and Kalibak on Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show.
He was also the voice of Baby Kermit and Baby Beaker on Muppet Babies. You might also know his voices from G.I. Joe (Wild Bill, Dreadnok Torch), Scooter on Challenge of the GoBots, and Ray Stantz and Slimer in The Real Ghostbusters. He voiced Dr. Jeremiah Surd on The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest and Bubba the Caveduck and two of the Beagle Boys on DuckTales. He even voiced many characters on The Smurfs, like Hefty Smurf and Poet Smurf, and characters on Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
Welker also voiced characters on The Simpsons, such as Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II, and other animals from 1991 to 2002. He provided the voices for Nibbler on Futurama. On Animaniacs, he voiced Mr. Plotz, Runt, Ralph the Guard, and Buttons. He was Gogo Dodo, Furball, and Beeper on Tiny Toon Adventures, and Hector the Bulldog on The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries. He also voiced Tom Cat, Jerry Mouse, and McWolf on Tom & Jerry Kids.
He voiced many Disney characters too, like Gus Goose, Salty the Seal, Figaro, Pegasus from Hercules, Abu the Monkey from Aladdin, and the Aracuan Bird and Cri-Kee from Mulan in House of Mouse.
Welker has also created the sounds for many animals and creatures in movies. These include Abu the monkey, Rajah the tiger, and the Cave of Wonders in Aladdin (1992) and its sequels. He voiced Arnold the Pig in Return to Green Acres (1990), the whales in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, and the penguins in Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011). He also performed Spock's screams in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and voiced Totoro in the English version of My Neighbor Totoro (1988). He was the voice of Gargamel's cat Azrael in the live-action Smurfs movies.
Since 2006, he has voiced George in the popular children's series Curious George and the movie. In 2007, Welker became the new voice of Garfield the cat. He voiced Garfield in movies like Garfield Gets Real (2007) and on The Garfield Show until 2016. In 2011, he even voiced Batman in a Scooby-Doo crossover episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He also did the meowing for Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.
Welker has also voiced many video game characters, like Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and The Shadow Blot in Epic Mickey and its sequel. He also voiced Zurvan in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and Odin for Lego Marvel's Avengers.
On-Screen Acting
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Frank Welker's first on-camera movie role was in The Trouble with Girls (1969), where he played a college kid who became friends with Elvis Presley. He also appeared in the Disney film The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) with Kurt Russell, and its sequel Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972). He also acted with Don Knotts in How to Frame a Figg (1971).
He made appearances on TV shows like Laugh-In, Love, American Style, and The Partridge Family. In 1984, he played a voice actor in an episode of Simon & Simon. Later, he appeared in Steven Soderbergh's movie The Informant! (2009) as Matt Damon's father.
In 1978, Welker showed off his impression skills on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast for George Burns. He honored George Burns by speaking in the voices of famous people like Walter Cronkite, Henry Kissinger, and Muhammad Ali.
Transformers Universe
In the 1980s, Welker voiced many important characters in the original Transformers animated series. He voiced several Decepticons, including their leader Megatron, Soundwave, Skywarp, and Ravage. He also voiced Autobots like Mirage and Trailbreaker. In The Transformers: The Movie (1986), he voiced Wheelie, and later took over the role of Galvatron.
In 2010, Welker returned to voice Megatron and Soundwave in the series Transformers: Prime. He changed Megatron's voice for Prime to sound even more evil. In the 2015 series Transformers: Robots in Disguise, he voiced Soundwave again.
Welker also voiced Megatron and Soundwave in a spoof on Robot Chicken. In the live-action Transformers movies, he voiced Soundwave and Ravage in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009). He also voiced Shockwave and Barricade in Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). In Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), he voiced Galvatron with a voice similar to his Transformers: Prime Megatron.
Even though Hugo Weaving voiced Megatron in the first three live-action movies, Welker voiced Megatron in the video games based on those films and in the Transformers: The Ride attractions at Universal Studios. In the fifth movie, Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), he finally voiced Megatron in the film itself, using his Transformers: Prime voice for the character.
As of 2019, Frank Welker continues to voice Megatron for different Transformers projects, sometimes using his original voice for the character and sometimes the Prime version.
Personal Life
Frank Welker is good friends with his longtime Transformers co-star and fellow voice actor Peter Cullen, who voices Optimus Prime. This is a fun contrast to the rivalry between their characters, Megatron and Optimus Prime!
Welker has been a licensed pilot since 2010. He flies a Beechcraft Bonanza B36T plane from an airport in Los Angeles County, California.
Filmography
See also
In Spanish: Frank Welker para niños
