Carlos Alazraqui

Carlos Jaime Alazraqui (born July 20, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice actor, singer, impressionist, producer and screenwriter, possibly best known as Deputy James Garcia on Reno 911!. His extensive voice-over work includes the role of Spyro from Spyro The Dragon, Bobbi Fabulous on Phineas and Ferb, the Taco Bell chihuahua in the Taco Bellcommercials, Denzel Crocker and Juandissimo Magnifico on The Fairly OddParents, Rocko and Spunky on Rocko's Modern Life, Clam in Camp Lazlo, Grandpapi Rivera in El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, and as Mr. Weed in Family Guy. He is a weekly contributor on The Stephanie Miller Show.
== Early life ==
Carlos Jaime Alazraqui was born on July 20, 1962, in Yonkers, New York,[1] to Argentine parents. He moved with his family to Concord, California, at an early age. He attended college at California State University, Sacramento, California, from 1982 to 1986,[1] where he began competing in open mic contests. After winning in his fourth year of competing at the San Francisco International Comedy Competition, Alazraqui took his prize money and moved to Los Angeles.[3]
== Career ==
Voice work
Alazraqui has performed several voices for Nickelodeon cartoons, including Rocko on Rocko's Modern Life, as well as Denzel Q. Crocker and Juandissimo Magnifico on The Fairly OddParents, Winslow T. Oddfellow and Lube on CatDog, and Scooter on SpongeBob SquarePants. He also voiced several additional voices for the Cartoon Network shows, Cow and Chicken, KIDSCITY: The Village Dome of Kids and I Am Weasel during their runs in the mid-late 1990s. He also voiced Spyro in Spyro the Dragon. He was later replaced by Tom Kenny as Spyro in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!, Spyro: Year of the Dragon and Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. He also voiced the Taco Bell chihuahua in the Taco Bellcommercials,[4] Rikochet in the first two seasons of ¡Mucha Lucha! and Mr. Weed (the head of the "Happy Go Lucky" toy factory) on Family Guy. It is mentioned in the DVD commentary track that Alazraqui was reluctant to leave Family Guy. In particular, Seth MacFarlane suggests that the death of Alazraqui's character took the actor by surprise. He also voiced Dr. Julius No in GoldenEye: Rogue Agent.
In 2005, he added the voices for two Cartoon Network series – The Life and Times of Juniper Lee where he played Monroe, a guardian dog with a Scottish accent and 2 characters in Camp Lazlo: Clam and Chef McMuesli. In 2006, he added Salty Mike from Squirrel Boy and Walden in Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! on Nick, Jr. to his credits. He played Wisk in Glen Hill's 2000 film version of L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. He also provided the voice of Nestor in the Happy Feet films.
Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, a storyboard writer for Rocko's Modern Life, described Alazraqui's normal voice as bearing "no accent at all". Marsh describes Alazraqui's "Scottish accent" as "one of the best" and that he performs his other accents as "all very well". According to Marsh, Alazraqui uses various accents in his comedy routines.[5] He had worked for the Disney Channel on Handy Manny, where he provided the voice for Felipe, the bilingual Phillips-head screwdriver and for Abuelito, Manny's grandfather. He was the original "voice guy" on the Stephanie Miller Show. His replacement was Jim Ward having previously substituted for him. In January 2008, Alazraqui returned to fill in briefly while Ward recovered from surgery. In 2014, he voiced Mesmo and Torts in Mixels. He voices Tio Tortuga in Sheriff Callie's Wild West.[citation needed]
In addition, Alazraqui joined Miller's Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour in 2014, playing some of the dates with Ward and he has a semi-regular segment on Miller's radio show Coffee with Carlos.[6]
=== Television ===
Alazraqui is known for his live-action work in Reno 911!, in which he portrayed Deputy James Garcia for five seasons (2003–08). He played the same role in the series' 2007 spinoff film Reno 911! Miami. As a nod to this role, he also played a "bumbling" Reno cop in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Let it Bleed". He has been a celebrity on the Tom Bergeron version of Hollywood Squares.[7]
=== Film ===
Alazraqui wrote and starred in The Last White Dishwasher, a short film.
Web series
In 2009, he collaborated with Ted Nicolaou on the web series The Club,[8] which was released in November 2010. The series features Jill-Michele Meleán, Debra Wilson, Johnny A. Sanchez, Lori Alan, and Daran Norris.
In 2013, Alazraqui starred as a drug dealer[9] in one episode of the Melinda Hill web series Romantic Encounters.
Category:Voice Actors