Paul Frees facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Paul Frees
Frees in a rare onscreen appearance in Suddenly (1954)
Born	Solomon Hersh Frees (1920-06-22)June 22, 1920 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	November 2, 1986(1986-11-02) (aged 66) Tiburon, California, U.S.
Other names	The Man of a Thousand Voices Solomon Hersh Frees Solomon Frees Paul Hersh Frees Buddy Green
Occupation	Actor comedian impressionist vaudevillian
Years active	1942–1986
Spouse(s)	Anelle McCloud ​ ​ (m. 1943; died 1945)​ Kleda June Hansen ​ ​ (m. 1947; div. 1950)​ Joyce Schultz ​ ​ (m. 1951, divorced)​ Jeri J. Cole ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1969)​ Beverly T. Marlow ​ (m. 1971)​
Children	2

Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920 – November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, and impressionist. He was famous for his amazing voice work in many cartoons and movies during the "Golden Age of Animation." You might know him best as the voice of Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. People often called him "The Man of a Thousand Voices" because he could create so many different characters with his voice.

Paul Frees: Early Life

Paul Frees was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 22, 1920. He grew up in a neighborhood called Albany Park. Paul had an incredible voice that could go from very deep, like the "Ghost Host" in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, to higher pitches, like the farmer in the Green Giant commercials.

Paul Frees' Amazing Career

Paul Frees started performing in the 1930s, doing impressions in live shows called vaudeville. He used the stage name Buddy Green back then. His radio career began in 1942 and lasted for over 40 years. During this time, he worked on more than 250 films, cartoons, and TV shows. Often, his voice work was not officially credited.

His early career was paused when he joined the United States Army during World War II. He fought in Normandy, France, on D-Day and was injured. After recovering, he went to art school, but he soon returned to radio work.

Paul Frees was a regular on many radio shows, like Escape and Suspense. He even played the main character in a 1949 series called The Green Lama.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Frees was often hired to re-record lines for other actors in movies. This was done to fix accents, improve English speaking, or correct bad performances. For example, he voiced parts of Toshiro Mifune's character in Midway and even some of Tony Curtis's female voice in Some Like It Hot. He also dubbed Humphrey Bogart's voice in The Harder They Fall because Bogart was very ill.

Unlike many voice actors who worked for just one company, Paul Frees lent his voice to many major animation studios. These included Walt Disney Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Walter Lantz Productions, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Jay Ward Productions, and Rankin/Bass.

Voices for Disney

Some of Paul Frees' most famous voices were for Disney. He voiced Professor Ludwig Von Drake, a smart duck character, in many episodes of the Disney anthology television series. This character also appeared on many Disney records.

Frees also narrated several Disney cartoons, including the educational film Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. He also provided voices for characters in Disney theme parks. He was the spooky "Ghost Host" at the Haunted Mansion attraction.

For the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, Frees recorded the famous line "Dead Men Tell No Tales." He also voiced several pirate characters, like the Auctioneer. Later, Disney released CDs with some of his unused recordings from these rides.

As a tribute, a computer-animated singing bust that looked like Paul Frees appeared in the 2003 movie The Haunted Mansion. You can also hear his voice from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Paul Frees also had a small live-action role in the 1959 Disney film The Shaggy Dog. He played a doctor and also narrated the movie's beginning.

For all his contributions, Paul Frees was honored as a Disney Legend in 2006, after his death.

Voices for Jay Ward Cartoons

Paul Frees was a regular voice in cartoons from Jay Ward Productions. He voiced Boris Badenov from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. He also played Inspector Fenwick in Dudley Do-Right and characters like Ape and District Commissioner Alistair in George of the Jungle. He was also the narrator for Hoppity Hooper.

Voices for Holiday Specials

Frees is well-remembered for voicing many characters in Rankin/Bass cartoons and stop-motion TV specials, especially holiday ones.

• In 1968, he was Captain Jones in The Mouse on the Mayflower.
• That same Christmas, he voiced the father of the Drummer Boy and the three Wise Men in The Little Drummer Boy.
• In 1969, he was Hocus Pocus, the traffic cop, and even Santa Claus in Frosty the Snowman.
• He played the main villain, Burgermeister Meisterburger, in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970).
• He also voiced characters like Aeon the Terrible in Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976).

Frees also voiced characters like Mabruk and the Cat in The Last Unicorn. He provided voices for the Jackson Five cartoon series and for characters like Bombur in Rankin/Bass's animated versions of The Hobbit and The Return of the King.

Working with George Pal

Paul Frees worked with producer George Pal on several films. In The War of the Worlds (1953), he played a radio reporter and provided the dramatic opening narration.

He also voiced the "talking rings" in Pal's film The Time Machine (1960), explaining the future of humanity. Frees also did the opening narration for Pal's Doc Savage (1975).

More Famous Voices

Paul Frees voiced many other characters. He was three of the main characters in the US versions of Hergé's Adventures of Tintin cartoons.

For Hanna-Barbera, he voiced characters in Tom and Jerry shorts, like Jerry's cousin Muscles in Jerry's Cousin. He also did many voices for Tex Avery's cartoons at MGM.

In commercials, he was the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7-Up bird Fresh-Up Freddie, Froot Loops spokesbird Toucan Sam, and Boo-Berry for the monster cereals. He was also the Farmer who talked to The Little Green Sprout in the Jolly Green Giant commercials.

Frees narrated many live-action films and TV series, including Naked City. He also voiced the unseen billionaire John Beresford Tipton on the TV series The Millionaire.

His voice was often compared to Orson Welles, and he did impressions of Welles several times. Some of his other notable voice roles include:

• Narrator for The Manchurian Candidate.
• The voice of the aliens in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.
• The voice of the supercomputer Colossus in Colossus: The Forbin Project.
• The voice of "Josephine" (Tony Curtis's female character) in Some Like It Hot.
• The hermit crab "Crusty" in The Incredible Mr. Limpet.
• The second voice of KARR in Knight Rider.

Beyond Voice Acting

While Paul Frees was mostly known for his voice work, he was also a songwriter and screenwriter. He wrote the 1960 film The Beatniks.

Sometimes, Frees appeared on camera in small roles. In 1954, he was in the film Suddenly with Frank Sinatra. He also played a scientist in The Thing from Another World. In the 1970 film Patton, he provided voices for a war correspondent and other characters. He also did the final narration in Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

His Lasting Impact

After Paul Frees passed away, voice actor Corey Burton has continued to voice some of Frees's characters. Burton, who met Frees in the 1970s, has re-recorded dialogue for Disneyland attractions. This was sometimes because the old recordings had worn out, or because the dialogue needed to be updated. For example, Burton voiced the "Ghost Host" for the "Haunted Mansion Holiday" attraction. He also recorded Frees's Ghost Host lines for the 2003 The Haunted Mansion movie.

About Paul Frees' Life

Paul Frees was married five times and had two children, a son named Fred and a daughter named Sabrina.

His Final Years

In his last two years, Paul Frees faced several health issues. He passed away at his home in Tiburon, California, on November 2, 1986, at 66 years old. His agent announced that he died from heart failure. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

Filmography

Live-action Film Roles

Voice Roles in Animated Films

Voice Roles in Television Shows

Theme Park Voice Roles

Images for kids

• 

  Frees in a rare onscreen appearance in Suddenly (1954)

See also

In Spanish: Paul Frees para niños