Behka Nerds Out Again: Mel Blanc and Other Voice Actors You’ve Heard, But Never Heard Of

As we may or may not know here at Bob Fm, I'm a bit of a comedy nerd.  And, believe it or not, I have had some "performing" experience in the past.  I was a theater minor.  I was in plays and stuff.

As a consequence of that, I have always admired people who are good at it.  People who can be any person from any place at the drop of a hat.  I can do a couple of voices and a couple of accents here and there, and that's served me well in commercials and various other little projects around here, but then there are the people that are so good they'll drop your jaw.  These are people you may not recognize by face or name, but you just know their voice when you hear it - even if it's in the 7000th incarnation.
People like James Urbaniak.

He's a guy who does a lot of voices for commercials, and lots of bit parts here and there in big movies.  He was in 'Sweet and Lowdown' and 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,' and if you saw 'American Splendor,' he played Robert Crumb in that.  He's done tons of TV too, like 'CSI,' 'Weeds,' 'Law and Order' and 'NCIS.'  You know, he's one of those guys that is what they call a "working actor," but isn't super famous.  Urbaniak also does a lot of new Adult Swim shows that you may see on the Cartoon Network.   In particular I love him in The Venture Brothers.

Another one that blows my mind continually is Billy West.  He's done Ren and Stimpy,  Futurama, The Powerpuff Girls, and tons of other stuff.

He's also the guy they turned to when Mel Blanc died to take over for Looney Tunes voices.

And as we all know, Mel Blanc has pretty much done 99% of the classic cartoon characters we know and love but, you may not know that he was a popular radio actor, too.  He worked a lot with Jack Benny on some classic radio and television shows.

But, my favorite work of his is in the classic Looney Tunes genre.  Check out this video, you'll get the idea.

I couldn't find the whole thing online, but this cartoon is by far my favorite.  I love the clever wordplay and the wonderful script, but Mel Blanc really brings both characters to unique, vivid life.

And that kind of thing is genuinely appreciated to people who work with their voices, you know?  I wish I had that kind of mastery, that kind of control in what I do.  But since I don't, I can just appreciate it.

Vocally yours,

Behka