The Top 5 Camouflaged Voice Actors
- mariaharr
- Feb 16, 2015
- 3 min read
When you think top voice actors, you inevitably think Mel Blanc. That’s just the way it goes in the world of voice acting. You can’t talk about voice actors without at least bringing up “The Man of a 1000 Voices,” who worked on "Looney Tunes" from 1927-1989. Mel Blanc is a legend and demands the mention- but there we go, we’ve mentioned him! So we'll just move on from there.
Modern voice actors are many and varied. Some do the same type of voice, over and over, and do it well! (We love them for it!) Others are a little harder to find in the many roles they lend their voices to.
So here’s a list of the top 5 voice actors whose gems of voices are hidden all over the world of cartoons, video games, anime and live action roles.
#5 Crispin Freeman
Known for: Alucard, “Hellsing”
Crispin Freeman has a standard voice in many of his anime roles. It’s a beautiful voice, don’t get me wrong, but from one role to the next it’s rather similar. Until you get to some of work. Going from voices like that of Alucard in “Hellsing” to Togusa in “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” and then to Alan Gabriel in “Big O” you can really see a great variance to his voice. Until you get really familiar with his work, it’s hard to spot him!
Notable and Varied Roles: Alucard – Hellsing, Togusa – Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Sundown – Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Tsume – Wolf’s Rain, Bruce Irvin – Tekken series, Balmung - .Hack series
#4 Tara Strong
Known for: This is a tough one, as Strong has starred as so many famous characters that have gone on to the heights of popularity.
At the moment, Tara Strong is enjoying some much-deserved love in the cartoon world for her incredible range of characters. Her voice can often be found with squeaky young girls or small animals, and is very distinctive. So it’s when she surprises us with roles such as Timmy Turner from “The Fairly Oddparents,” Raven in “Teen Titans” or Boh in “Spirited Away” that her voice acting talent truly stands out.
Notable and Varied Roles: Bubbles – Powerpuff Girls, Rikku – Final Fantasy series, Timmy Turner – The Fairly Oddparents, Raven – Teen Titans, Dil Pickles – Rugrats, Boh – Spirited Away, Toot Braunstein – Drawn Together
#3 Steve Blum
Known for: Spike Spiegel, from “Cowboy Bebop”
In the world of anime voice acting, Steve Blum is quite prolific. And in the world of bit-part video game voice acting, he’s even more so. Blum’s voice is all across the spectrum, from the cold, tight tones of Amon in “The Legend of Korra,” to the effeminate voice of Leeron Littner in “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.” Then watch a clip of Blum performing as Guilmon from “Digimon Tamers” to get a real surprise!
Known for: Spike – Cowboy Bebop, Amon – Legend of Korra, Wolverine – numerous Marvel properties, Additional Voices – over 300 video games
#2 Billy West
Known for: Philip J. Fry, from “Futurama”
While Billy West is mostly known for his top billed roles in “Futurama,” West is credited for 196 roles (according to IMDB) and most of them are for voice acting. Sure, many of those roles are just bit-parts, but even looking at his numerous and varied roles in “Futurama,” you can see he’s a talented voice-chameleon.
Notable and Varied Roles: Fry – Futurama, Dr. Zoideberg – Futurama, Richard Nixon’s Head – Futurama, Dick Cheney’s Head – Futurama, Zapp Brannigan – Futurama, Zim – Invader Zim, Goose – Adventure Time, Rocket Raccoon – Ultimate Spider-Man
#1 Frank Welker
Known for: Megatron, from “Transformers”
Unlike many of the famous modern voice actors, Frank Welker does more than just humans. Welker does everything. High pitches, low pitches, goofy voices, serious voices, cats, dogs, growls, grunts and you name it! Welker has done it! Not much can be said about Welker that can’t be explained in this 11 min. clip of some 80 odd voices he’s lent and noises he’s made for all sorts of cartoons and movies. It’s honestly quite amazing.
Notable and Varied Roles: Megatrong – Transformers, Nibbler – Futurama, Cujo – Cujo, Sharptooth – The Land Before Time, Jabberjaw – Jabberjaw, Kermit – Muppet Babies, Galvatron – Transformers: Age of Extinction, Curious George – Curious George
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