Sir Michael Hordern

Born Michael Murray Hordern, and later knighted to Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE, Sir Michael Hordern became a recent favorite of mine since two or three years ago. Some of Hordern’s work include the Narrator on the original stop-motion “Paddington Bear” series, the voice of Badger on Cosgrove Hall’s adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s “The Wind in the Willows,” and the voice of the Wiseman on Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth.”

Hordern was an interesting actor. His voice has an unusual range to it which worked out quite well for his work. At one point, he took part in 1981 radio adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” where he voiced as Gandalf. He was noted, at that time, the best person to voice as Gandalf.

I have had the privilege to view a movie he was in called, “The Trouble With Spies,” starring Donald Sutherland and Robert Morley. In this, he plays as a man called Jason Locke, who is a local visitor to the inn where Appleton Porter (Sutherland) was staying. He gave an excellent performance and made the character believable.

Sir Michael Hordern fascinates me, and I hope his work will still be remembered.

Sir Michael Hordern: October 3, 1911- May 2, 1995

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The website you are looking at right now may contain scenes of graphic nostalgia and overflowing memories.

This is Toon Whisperer, where I discuss the strangest, yet greatest people in the world: Voice actors. I discuss those that are still living and provide great voices for previous and upcoming characters of today and of yesteryear. I also discuss those that have passed on who have left an impact on not only us, but other voice actors, as they inspired the ones of today to pursue their dreams and follow their own hearts to the world of voice acting.

The way I describe voice actors may be a bit different than what people are normally used to, but nonetheless, I add information and my own words to each actor and say my own praises on their work.

I am also accepting requests of voice actors to discuss, so that I can hear your ideas and share my opinions on them as well. I hope you enjoy your stay here and take to heart the things I jot down.

Jodi Benson

Born Jodi Marie Marzorati, Jodi Benson has been a professional voice actress since she was younger. Notable vocal credits include her has Ariel on “The Little Mermaid,” Patsy Smiles on “Camp Lazlo,” and Barbie on “Toy Story 3.” She has an amazing vocal range, accompanied by a beautiful singing voice.

Benson has also done some live action work, including a cameo in the Disney movie, “Enchanted.” She’s also done a bang-up job as a dead ringer as the voice of Lady on “Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure,” and has recently been heard voicing as Belle after Paige O’Hara couldn’t do the voice any longer.

As mentioned, Benson has a beautiful singing voice, singing amongst other actresses such as Judy Khan and Lea Salonga on the song, “If You Can Dream,” and possibly her most famous song, “Part of Your World.”

Benson’s voice has captured the hearts of those who long to keep dreams to their hearts, and is an inspiring person with a warm soul and wonderful compassion.

Cliff Edwards

Born Clifton Avlon Edwards, Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards is a name that not many people are familiar with today. Edwards started out on music, playing his signature ukulele. Later, Walt Disney got the idea to feature Edwards’ voice as the Robot Barber Chair on the 1937 Donald Duck cartoon, “Modern Inventions.” Afterwards, Edwards provided the familiar voice of Jiminy Cricket in “Pinocchio,” and as the voice of Jim Crow on “Dumbo.” You heard right; Jiminy Cricket and Jim Crow were voiced by the same man.

Cliff Edwards sung great songs as these characters, such as “Give a Little Whistle,” “When I See an Elephant Fly,” “I’m a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow,” and his most famous song, “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Edwards’ Jiminy Cricket also had a few spots after the “Pinocchio” movie such as “I’m No Fool,” “You and Your Senses,” “The Nature of Things,” and the “Encyclopedia” series.

Cliff Edwards’ wide vocal range has entertained people for many years, up until his death in 1973. A few people still remember the care and skill he brought into all of his performances, and I for one am one of those people. May his signature song, “When You Wish Upon a Star” continue to fill our hearts with hope and faith as years go by.

Today, I’ll be doing something a little different. So I don’t run out of voice actors, I now plan to discuss one voice actor, and alternate between living and non-living.

Living: Eddie Deezen

Born Edward Harry Deezen, Eddie Deezen has been in the voice acting industry for many years now. He also may look recognizable too, as he’s played as Eugene Felsnic on “Grease” and “Grease 2.”  His voice is easily recognizable, as he’s voiced Mandark on “Dexter’s Laboratory,” the Know-it-All on “The Polar Express,” and Snipes on “Rock-a-Doodle.”

Deezen is a man with an interesting distinctive voice. Once you hear it, you won’t really forget it any time soon. He is a great actor in such great movies such as “1941,” “War Games,” and just last year, “All I Want for Christmas.”

I have the great pleasure of knowing Mr. Eddie Deezen by being friends with him on Facebook. He posts interesting facts about certain people who have been in the entertainment business, and I found that by reading them, he happens to mention actors whose movies I’ve seen before. I also find it great to know that when I comment on a specific movie I loved said actor in, he “likes” the comment, so it’s interesting to know that he and I have a few things and common.

It’s wonderful to get to know you, Mr. Deezen, and I hope we can all hear more of your work when you can.

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Living: Kevin Michael Richardson

Kevin Michael Richardson is another voice actor I’ve known and respected for many years. He is well known as the voice of Captain Gantu on “Lilo and Stitch,” Cleveland Jr on “The Cleveland Show,” and Exile on “Road Rovers.” His distinctive deep voice is very familiar to the ears.

He has been on a few shows on TV, such as a character named Stan on “How I Met Your Mother.” He’s also a great singer, having sung alongside Seth MacFarlane and Frank Sinatra, Jr on one occasion. Though he is a bass, his range is incredibly versatile, as illustrated with his higher voice as Demongo on “Samurai Jack,” and a lower sinister voice as the current voice of Shredder on “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Kevin Michael Richardson has been one of my favorite voice actors since I was younger, and I shall continue to listen and respect his work for years to come.

Non-Living: Mel Blanc

Born Melvin Jerome Blanc, Mel Blanc is perhaps the most well respected voice actor who ever lived. Of course, he’s voiced many characters of “Looney Tunes” such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Pie, Pepe Le Pew, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, and many others. He has also voiced Barney Rubble on “The Flintstones,” Heathcliff the cat on the cartoon of the same name, and Tucker Mouse on Chuck Jones’ adaptation of “A Cricket in Times Square.”

Mel Blanc was a kind and well loved man. He wouldn’t mind doing so many voices at one time for he loved to make people happy. Even when a fan would approach him, he wouldn’t mind doing a voice of a certain character for that fan. He worked really well with other people like June Foray, Don Messick, and Daws Butler.

Voice acting has done more than making people happy for him. In fact, there was one case where voice acting saved his life. In 1961, Mel Blanc was involved in a car accident. He slipped into a coma, but was otherwise alive at the time. The doctors and the people who loved him were worried that he might not make it. However, one doctor got the idea to turn on a television set while Looney Tunes was on. Another doctor had called out if Bugs Bunny could hear him. Miraculously, Mel Blanc was able to do the voice just as a certain character he voiced had their name called. Mel Blanc made an able recovery thanks to voice acting.

Mel Blanc is one who will always be treasured. He has provided many characters with bold long legacies, and will be remembered for the compassion and devotion he brought to all of his performances.

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Living: Rob Paulsen

Born Robert Fredrick Paulsen III, Rob Paulsen has been in the voice acting industry since the 1980’s. He has voiced such memorable characters such as Yakko Warner on “Animaniacs”, the first voice of Raphael on the original “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series, and as Augustus “Gusto” Gummi on Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears.

Paulsen originally was a singer before he was discovered as a voice actor. With his velvety singing voice and remarkable voice acting ability, I’m not surprised. He’s very talented, and very modest. Interestingly, he’s in Ciro Nieli’s version of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, and though he’s voicing Donatello currently, there was one instance where he reprised his role as Raphael.

Paulsen is a very uplifting and warm-hearted person. Most of the voice actors he works with are his dearest friends. In fact, he even interviews some of his friends on his own podcast; “Talkin’ Toons with Rob Paulsen.” For more information, please visit robpaulsenlive.com

As Rob Paulsen says, “Laughter is the best medicine, and the cool thing is, you can’t OD and the refills are free.”

Non-Living: Paul Winchell

Born Paul Wilchinsky, Paul Winchell has provided many voices for familiar characters. He did have a tendency to stutter when he was younger, but once he learned ventriloquism, his stutter went away. He brought to live the voice of a ventriloquists dummy he called Jerry Mahoney. After that, he started doing voice over as Tigger from the “Winnie the Pooh” franchise, Dick Dastardly on “Wacky Races”, and Mr. Owl of the “Tootsie Pop” commercials.

Winchell brings an interesting vocal quality to each of his roles. You could really sense the true spirit of whatever character he voices. For Tigger, you truly felt a warm uplifting happy-go-lucky light, and for Dick Dastardly, you could feel his dastardly wickedness in his sinister tone of voice.

What I found interesting that Winchell was also an inventor, bringing to life the disposable razor, a retractable fountain pen, and patented the Jarvik artificial heart. Also, talent runs through his family as his daughter, April Winchell (whom I shall discuss on here soon) is also a talented voice artist.

Paul Winchell is one who will certainly be remembered for a long time, with the memories of nostalgic characters he’s left behind.

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Living: Tara Strong

Born Tara Charendoff, Tara Strong has been in the voice acting industry for many years now. Her first voice acting job was as Hello Kitty for “Hello Kitty’s Furry Tale Theater” at the age of thirteen. She is also known for voicing characters such as Bubbles on the “Powerpuff Girls,” Timmy Turner of the “Fairly OddParents,” and, a current favorite, the speaking voice of Twilight Sparkle on “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”

Tara Strong has a sweet quality to her voice, almost as if she has a honey-coated larynx. She has an adorable speaking voice, can sing quite well, and is quite a positive person. One of my favorite voices she does is Raven on “Teen Titans” and the current non-canon spin-off, “Teen Titans Go!” In this case, she showcases more of her talents as she brings a unique rasp from the bottom of her throat.

One of my favorite songs she sings is “Love Makes the World Go Round” from the Powerpuff Girls episode, “Mime for a Change.” She brings an adorable sound to such a fun song, and is able to harmonize well with E.G. Daily (the voice of Buttercup) and Cathy Cavadini (the voice of Blossom).

In all, Tara Strong is a popular voice actress with a wide range of voices and an uplifting attitude when voicing them.

Non-Living: Pat Buttram

Born Maxwell Emmett Buttram, Pat Buttram has been a big part of my childhood. He may look familiar as he has played the role of Mr. Haney on “Green Acres.” His voice is also familiar. It may or may not surprise you to know that Napoleon on “The Aristocats,” Luke the Muskrat on “The Rescuers,” and Cactus Jake on “Garfield and Friends” were all voiced by him.

Pat Buttram has also been in a few TV shows and movies, not just “Green Acres.” He’s also been in movies alongside Gene Autry, the famous singing cowboy. I have seen a few of Gene Autry’s movies with Pat Buttram, and I’d have to say “Texans Never Cry” is one of my favorites. Buttram serves as the film’s comic relief as character Pecos Bates. In some of Autry’s other movies, he either goes by a different character name, and other times, the characters he play have the same name he does.

Pat Buttram was a very unique voice actor, with a very distinctive voice that’s easy to notice. He was a very humorous man as well, knowing just what to say to make people laugh. Pat Buttram is a name that I will remember for a long time.

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Basically, how my website works is I will pick two of my favorite voice actors (one living, the other non-living) and discuss them.

Living: Grey Delisle

Born Erin Grey Van Oosbree,  Grey Delisle has been a wonderful part of my childhood. At this point in time, she’s the current voice of Daphne Blake of the Scooby Doo franchise.  Before voicing her, she also voiced characters such as Mandy on the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Sam Manson on Danny Phantom, and Vicky on The Fairly OddParents.

What I like about her is her beautiful range. She has the singing voice of an angel, and has the occasional fiery spark of an imp. She has supplied voices with pure heart for heroes such as Wubbzy on Wow Wow Wubbzy, and deliciously wicked evil villainesses such as Azula on Avatar the Last Airbender.

Her singing voice, as I stated, is angelic. I heard her do a cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and it sounds as if the metal gold had been given a specific sound. She brings a softness to it that’s pure and innocent, though it deals with a hard subject manner within. She really knows how to turn a classic into something just as brilliant.

Grey Delisle is a wonderful person with a good heart and a fine spirit. She brings new light and great possibilities along with other voice actresses I respect.

Non-Living: Sterling Holloway

Born Sterling Price Holloway Jr., Sterling Holloway is a voice you’ll recognize, but his face may be a bit unfamiliar. You may know him better as the original voice of Winnie the Pooh, the Cheshire Cat on Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland”,  and the narrator of the English dub of the movie “Alakazam the Great.”

Sterling Holloway was, from what I understand, a kind hearted man. He was a bit shy as well, which was something I would have related with, had he been alive when I was born. I have watched quite a bit of his films and recorded much more. Two of my personal favorites with him are the Gene Autry film, “Robin Hood of Texas,” and the MGM classic, “The Merry Widow.” He brings a bright spirit to each of his roles that you can’t help but smile warmly at.

He did sing a few times, bringing a light easily recognizable close-to-falsetto tone to the melodies. One song he sung was in the movie, “Remember the Night,” where we hear his rendition of “The End of a Perfect Day.” Listening to it brought tears of joy to my eyes.

Sterling Holloway was one of the inspirations for me to create this website. Without him, we wouldn’t have had such wonderful characters we grew up with over the years.

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