Fred Jones (Scooby-Doo) performer Frank Welker
Fred Jones is a fictional character in the American animated series Scooby-Doo, leader of a quartet of teenage mystery solvers and their Great Dane companion, Scooby-Doo. Fred has been primarily portrayed by voice actor Frank Welker since the character's inception in 1969.Development
Fred Jones was inspired by the titular character of the late 1950s/early 1960s American sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, as played by Dwayne Hickman. Some network sales presentation art from an early version of Scooby-Doo, entitled Who's S-S-Scared?, featured early designs of Fred with brown hair;Originally named "Ronnie" when production for Scooby-Doo began in spring 1969, Fred was named by and after Fred Silverman, who was then head of daytime programming at CBS and a key member of the show's development team. Frank Welker, a young comedian and impressionist, was asked by the network to audition for the voice of Fred, although he had originally intended to audition for first Scooby-Doo (whom he eventually did get to voice after Don Messick died in 1997) and later Shaggy (Casey Kasem, who was cast as Shaggy, had originally wanted to voice Fred). Being cast as Fred led to the start of a long, prolific career in voice work for Welker, with Scooby-Doo being his first voice acting job.
Fred Jones has been given two different first names. In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated and Scooby-Doo! Haunted Holidays, he is called Frederick, while in Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map, he is called Fredward.In a 2012 r/IAmA, Shaggy Rogers actor Matthew Lillard additionally revealed that the original cut of the 2002 Scooby-Doo film had Fred be revealed to be gay (which is why he always wore an ascot tie), and that Freddie Prinze Jr. had portrayed him as such throughout the film.In the continuity of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, it was revealed that Fred's father Fred Jones Sr. was not, in fact, his biological father, but instead, a man who kidnapped him as a child and raised him as his own son. His biological parents Brad Chiles and Judy Reeves later returned, but Fred continued to use the last name of Jones. In the series finale, when the universe is restarted to where Fred was never raised by Fred Jones Sr., but rather his biological parents, it is never stated what his last name is in a new reality. In Aloha, Scooby-Doo!, his middle name is stated to be Herman. While every member of the mystery gang is shown to have a catchphrase they use to express shock or surprise, Fred is the only member without one.