Paul Frees
Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during the Golden Age of Animation and for providing the voice of Boris Badenov in "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show". Mel Blanc, a contemporary voice actor, said Frees was known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices", even though the appellation was bestowed on Blanc himself. Early life. Frees was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago, Illinois, on  June 22, 1920; he grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood and attended Von Steuben Junior High School. He had an unusually wide four-octave voice range that would enable him to voice everything from the thundering "basso profundo" of the unseen "Ghost Host" in the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland in California and at Walt Disney World in Florida to the voice of the farmer who educates the Little Green Sprout (voiced by Ike Eisenmann) about vegetable products of the Jolly Green Giant in the Green Giant vegetable commercials. Career. In the 1930s, Frees first appeared in vaudeville as  an impressionist, under the name Buddy Green. He began his career on radio in 1942 and remained active for more than 40 years. During that time, he was involved in more than 250 films, cartoons and TV appearances; as was the case for many voice actors of the time, his appearances were often uncredited. Frees's early radio career was cut short when he was drafted into the United States Army during World War II where he fought at Normandy, France on D-Day. He was wounded in action and was returned to the United States for a year of  recuperation. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute under the G.I. Bill. When his first wife's health failed, he decided to drop out and return to radio work. He appeared frequently on Hollywood radio series, including "Escape", playing lead roles and alternating with William Conrad as the opening announcer of "Suspense" in the late 1940s, and parts on "Gunsmoke" (doing an impersonation of Howard McNear as Doc Adams for at least one episode, "The Cast"), and "Crime Classics". One of his few starring roles in this medium was as Jethro Dumont/Green Lama in the 1949 series "The Green Lama , as well as a syndicated anthology series The Player", in which Frees narrated and played all the parts. Frees was often called upon in the 1950s and 1960s to "re-loop" the dialogue of other actors, often to correct for foreign accents, lack of English proficiency, or poor line readings by non-professionals. These dubs extended from a few lines to entire roles. This can be noticed rather clearly in the films "Grand Prix" (as Izo Yamura) and "Midway" where Frees reads for Toshiro Mifune's performances as Admiral Yamamoto; or in the film "Some Like It Hot", in which  Frees provides the voice of funeral director Mozzarella as well as much of the falsetto voice for Tony Curtis' female character Josephine. Frees also dubbed the entire role of Eddie in the Disney film "The Ugly Dachshund", replacing actor Dick Wessel, who had died of a sudden heart attack after completion of principal photography. Frees also dubbed Humphrey Bogart in his final film "The Harder They Fall". Bogart was suffering at the time from what would be diagnosed as esophageal cancer and thus could barely be heard in some takes, hence the need for Frees to dub in his voice . He also voiced the cars in the comedy "The Great Race". Unlike many voice actors who did most of their work for one studio, Frees worked extensively with at least nine of the major animation production companies of the 20th century: Walt Disney Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Walter Lantz Productions, UPA, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Filmation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Jay Ward Productions, Rankin/Bass, and Ruby-Spears. Disney. Some of Frees's most memorable voices were for various Disney projects. Frees voiced Disney's Professor Ludwig Von Drake in eighteen episodes of the Disney anthology television series, beginning  with the first episode of the newly renamed "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" on September 24, 1961. The character also appeared on many Disneyland Records. Von Drake's introductory cartoon, "An Adventure in Color", featured "The Spectrum Song", sung by Frees as Von Drake. A different Frees recording of this song appeared on a children's record, and was later reissued on CD. Frees narrated a number of Disney cartoons, including the Disney educational short film "Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land". This short originally aired in the same television episode as Von Drake's first appearance. He also  provided voices for numerous characters at Disney parks, including the unseen "Ghost Host" in the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and several audio-animatronic pirates, including the Auctioneer, in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and recorded the iconic "Dead Men Tell No Tales" used in the ride. Disney eventually issued limited edition compact discs commemorating the two rides, featuring outtakes and unused audio tracks by Frees and others. Frees also provided narration for the Tomorrowland attraction Adventure Thru Inner Space (1967–1985) and the original Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Audio clips from the attractions in  Frees's distinctive voice have even appeared in fireworks shows at Disneyland. A computer-animated singing bust in Frees's likeness appeared in the 2003 film "The Haunted Mansion" as a tribute. Similarly, audio recordings of Frees from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction can be heard in "" in a homage to the ride. Frees also had a small live-action role for Disney in the 1959 film "The Shaggy Dog", playing Dr. Galvin, a military psychiatrist who attempts to understand why Mr. Daniels believes a shaggy dog can uncover a spy ring. He also did the film's opening  narration. His other Disney credits, most of them narration for segments of the Disney anthology television series, include the following: For his contributions to the Disney legacy, Frees was honored posthumously as a Disney Legend on October 9, 2006. Jay Ward Productions. Frees was a regular presence in Jay Ward cartoons, providing the voices of Boris Badenov (from "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show"), Inspector Fenwick (from "Dudley Do-Right", impersonating Eric Blore), Ape (impersonating Ronald Colman), District Commissioner Alistair and Weevil Plumtree in "George of the Jungle", Baron Otto Matic in Tom Slick, Fred in "Super Chicken", and the "Hoppity  Hooper" narrator, among numerous others. Rankin/Bass. Frees is well-remembered for providing the voices for many characters in Rankin/Bass cartoons and stop-motion animated TV specials, most notably for a number of holiday-themed specials. In 1968, he appeared as Captain Jones in the Thanksgiving special "The Mouse on the Mayflower", and that Christmas he appeared as the father of the Drummer Boy, Ali, and as the three Wise Men in "The Little Drummer Boy". He was also Hocus Pocus, the traffic cop, the ticket-taker, and Santa Claus in "Frosty the Snowman" in 1969 and played the  central villain, Burgermeister Meisterburger, and his assistant Grimsley in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" in 1970. He provided several voices, including Aeon the Terrible, for "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" in 1976. Frees also voiced King Haggard's wizard Mabruk and the Cat in "The Last Unicorn" and provided several voices for the Jackson Five cartoon series between 1971 and 1973. He provided the voices for several J. R. R. Tolkien characters (most notably the dwarf Bombur) in Rankin/Bass animated versions of "The Hobbit" and "The Return of the King". Rankin/Bass TV specials or films featuring Paul  Frees: George Pal. Frees portrayed the Orson Welles sound-alike radio reporter in George Pal's film "The War of the Worlds" (1953), where he is seen dictating into a tape recorder as the military prepares the atomic bomb for use against the invading Martians. Memorably, his character says that the recording is being made "for future history... if any". Frees also provided the film's dramatic opening narration, prior to Sir Cedric Hardwicke's voice-over tour of the solar system. Frees subsequently provided the apocalyptic voice for the "talking rings" in Pal's later film "The Time Machine  (1960), in which he explains the ultimate fate of humanity from which the time traveler realizes the origin of the Morlocks and Eloi. Producer Pal later put Frees to work again in the fantasy film Atlantis, the Lost Continent" (also 1960) and doing the opening voice-over narration for Pal's "" (1975) film. Frees did the narration for the George Pal documentary "The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal" (1985), written, produced, and directed by Arnold Leibovit. Two years later, Frees provided the voice for Arnie the Dinosaur and the Pillsbury Doughboy in "The Puppetoon Movie" (1987), also produced and  directed by Leibovit. Other voice work. The talented actor voiced several characters, including three of the main characters in the US versions of Belvision's "Hergé's Adventures of Tintin" cartoons, based on the books by Hergé. He had also done work for Hanna-Barbera in their Tom and Jerry shorts at MGM. In the 1956 Cinemascope Tom and Jerry cartoon, "Blue Cat Blues", he was Jerry's voice who narrated the short; he had also voiced Jerry's cousin Muscles in "Jerry's Cousin" five years earlier and the cannibals in the Tom and Jerry episode "His Mouse Friday  where he said the lines Mmmmm, barbecued cat!" and "Mmmmm, barbecued mouse!" At the MGM Animation studio, he also did multiple voice roles for the legendary Tex Avery's films, notably playing every role in "Cellbound" in 1955. Frees worked with Spike Jones on his 1960 album "Omnibust", appearing as announcer "Billy Playtex" and several other characters on "The Late Late Late Late Movies, Part I and II". From October 1961 through September 1962, Paul Frees provided the voice for the shady lawyer named Judge Oliver Wendell Clutch, a weasel on the animated program "Calvin and the Colonel" starring the  voices of Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, the series was an animated television remake of their radio series "Amos 'n Andy". For the 1962 Christmas special "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol", produced by UPA, Paul Frees voiced several characters, including Fezziwig, the Charity Man, two of the opportunists who steal from the dead man (Eyepatch Man and Tall Tophat Man) and Mister Magoo's Broadway theatre director. He subsequently provided numerous voices for further cartoons in the series that followed, "The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo". Frees provided the voices of both John Lennon and George Harrison in the 1965  The Beatles cartoon series, the narrator, Big D and Fluid Man in the 1966 cartoon series, "Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles" and of The Thing in the 1967 series "Fantastic Four", as well as President James Norcross in the 1967 cartoon series "Super President". He played several rolesnarrator, Chef of State, the judges and the bailiffin the George Lucas / John Korty animated film, "Twice Upon a Time". Frees provided the voice-over for the trailer to the 1971 Clint Eastwood thriller, "Play Misty for Me". In television commercials, he was the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7-Up bird  Fresh-Up Freddie, Froot Loops spokesbird Toucan Sam (previously voiced by Mel Blanc, later voiced by Maurice LaMarche), Boo-Berry in the series of monster cereal commercials, and The Farmer who helps The Little Green Sprout, (voiced by Ike Eisenmann) who called out to the Jolly Green Giant, "So what's new besides ho-ho-ho, Green Giant?" Frees narrated many live action films and television series, including "Naked City" (1958–1963). Frees also provided the voice of the eccentric billionaire John Beresford Tipton, always seated in his chair with his back to the viewer while talking to his employee Michael  Anthony (fellow voice-artist Marvin Miller), on the dramatic series "The Millionaire". He was the narrator at the beginning of the film "The Disorderly Orderly" starring Jerry Lewis. He also "looped" an actor's voice in the film "The Ladies Man", also starring Jerry Lewis. Frees had a wide range of other roles, usually heard but not seen, and frequently without screen credit. The resonance of his natural voice was similar to that of Orson Welles, and he performed a Welles impression several times. Some highlights of his voice work: Other credits. Although Frees was primarily known for his voice  work (like Mel Blanc, he was known in the industry as "The Man of a Thousand Voices"), he was also a songwriter and screenwriter. His most notable screenwriting work was the little-seen 1960 film "The Beatniks", a screed against the then-rising Beat counterculture in the vein of "Reefer Madness". In 1992, the film was mocked on an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". On rare occasions, Frees appeared on-camera, usually in minor roles. In 1954, he appeared in the film noir classic "Suddenly" starring Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden. He played a scientist in "The Thing from  Another World", a death-row priest in "A Place in the Sun", and French fur trader McMasters in "The Big Sky". In 1955, he appeared as an irate husband suing his wife (played by Ann Doran) for alimony in an episode of CBS's sitcom "The Ray Milland Show"; and, in 1957, in an uncredited role as a helicopter pilot in the 1957 science-fiction movie, "Beginning of the End". In "Jet Pilot", Frees plays a menacing Soviet officer whose job is to watchdog pilot Janet Leigh, but instead manages to eject himself from a parked jet, enabling Leigh to  rescue John Wayne and fly back to the West. In the 1970 film "Patton", Frees provided the voices of a war correspondent interviewing Patton while Patton rides his horse, and of a member of Patton's staff, as well as voice-overs for several other actors, including the Moroccan official hosting a troop review for Patton. Frees is also heard in "Tora! Tora! Tora!" as the English-language voice of the Japanese ambassador to the United States. He also does the final narration in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", the first sequel to "Planet of the Apes". Legacy. Since  Frees's death, voice actor Corey Burton has provided voices for some of Frees's characters. Burton, who met Frees in the late 1970s, has often re-recorded dialogue for some Disneyland attractions that was originally recorded by Frees. In some cases, Frees's original, pre-digital recordings had simply deteriorated over time, and in others the dialogue had been rewritten to reflect plot changes or introduce new characters, such as the "Stuffed Pirate" replacing Frees's "Pooped Pirate" in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in 1997. Dialogue that was slightly rewritten to reflect newer safety standards is performed  by actors Joe Leahy (English) and Fabio Rodriguez (Spanish). In 2001, Burton provided a Paul Frees impression for the new "Ghost Host" of Haunted Mansion Holiday, a seasonal, holiday-themed overlay for the Haunted Mansion attraction. Burton also recorded Frees's Ghost Host lines for Walt Disney Pictures' 2003 film adaptation of the ride. Personal life. Frees was married five times. His first marriage was to Anelle McCloud, from 1943 until her death in 1945. He then married Kleda June Hansen in 1947, but they divorced three years later in 1950. His third wife was Joyce Schultz. They married in  1951 and had two childrena son, Fred; and a daughter, Sabrinabefore eventually divorcing. His fourth marriage was to Jeri J. Cole in 1967, but they divorced after just two years, in 1969. Beverly T. Marlow was Frees's fifth wife. They married in 1971 but were estranged at the time of his death fifteen years later. Death. For the last two years of his life, Frees suffered from multiple ailments, including arthritis, diabetes, and loss of vision, and had mentioned to friends that he was in near constant pain. Frees died at his home in Tiburon, California on November 2 , 1986, at the age of 66, from a self-administered overdose of pain medication. Though the official cause of death is listed as suicide, his agent issued a press release stating that he died from heart failure. Frees was survived by his son and daughter, and by Marlow, who had moved to Mesa, Arizona. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean.