# Famous Cartoon Voices!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 3, 1999, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752 "1999-10-03T08:39:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [October 3, 1999, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/1 "1999-10-03T08:39:00Z")
First a question that has been eating at me forever. Does anyone know who the voice of one of the old Thundercats characters. For some reason think of the charaters name right now, but he’s the blue bald one who is the oldest Thundercat. I know this guys voice, but can’t match it to anyone I know of. I am guessing its so familiar because he does regular acting now. Is Liono a common actor too?
This leads me into a more general question that is probably better suited to MPSIMS, but since we’re on the subject…Does anyone know of any actors who got their start doing cartoons? We all know some of the big name voice artists, but what about guys just trying to make and then succeed. Listening to the voices on Cartoon Network I guess that there are several who likely have made it big somehow.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [October 3, 1999, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/2 "1999-10-03T09:02:00Z")
If you are talking about “Panthro”, the voice was performed by Earl Hyman. I’m not sure if he has done any live acting, but he does a number of voices on the “Thundercats”. Check this out:
[Thundercats](http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Set/3331/cast.html)
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TT
“Believe those who seek the truth.
Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 3, 1999, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/3 "1999-10-03T10:26:00Z")
Earl Hyman? Isn’t that Wilson from _Home Improvement?_
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“So what you are telling me, Percy, is that something you have never seen is _slightly less blue_ than something else that you have never seen.”
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [October 3, 1999, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/4 "1999-10-03T10:33:00Z")
This is Earl Hymen, and now I finally know how I know of him :D.
[http://www.myhost.com/nicks/Pallph.jpg](http://www.myhost.com/nicks/Pallph.jpg)
He’s the grandpa on _The Cosby Show_.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 3, 1999, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/5 "1999-10-03T10:38:00Z")
Oh yeah. Wilson is Earl _Hindman_.
Shucks.
😉
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“So what you are telling me, Percy, is that something you have never seen is _slightly less blue_ than something else that you have never seen.”
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### Author:  [@Louie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Louie)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/6 "1999-10-04T02:00:00Z")
What about the guy who does the voice for Garfield in “Garfield and Friends”? I swear I hear that voice in almost every cartoon I watch.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/7 "1999-10-04T02:05:00Z")
That’s Lorenzo Music, who first gained promenance at “Carlton, your doorman” on RHODA.
Back to the original question, Arsenio Hall did voice work for THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS, but he had done some TV before. He didn’t become a star until later, though.
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### Author:  [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/8 "1999-10-04T02:28:00Z")
Casey Kasem did (and still does) cartoon voices. I think the most easily recognized one is Robin from the old Batman & Robin and Superfriends cartoons. His biggest cartoon character is Shaggy from Scooby Doo. IMDB says that he did Mr. Magoo, but I can’t remember what Mr. Magoo sounded like.
Ted Knight (from Mary Tyler Moore) was the narrator for Superfriends. You hear him a lot, because that show is extremely dependent on exposition, esp in the Aquaman scenes 🙂
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/9 "1999-10-04T03:28:00Z")
I remember Ted Knight as the voice of the hero on “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” Beyond that, William “Cannon” Conrad did a lot of cartoon voices.
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### Author:  [@timmar68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timmar68)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/10 "1999-10-04T03:36:00Z")
What is IMDB? I thought Jim Backus was the voice of Mr. Magoo.
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MaryAnn
Sometimes life is so great you just gotta muss up your hair and quack like a duck!
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### Author:  [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/11 "1999-10-04T04:31:00Z")
Oooh boy, MaryAnn! Allow me to introduce you to one of the most useful websites around (in a trivial sort of way).
[The Internet Movie Database](http://www.imdb.com)
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### Author:  [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/12 "1999-10-04T05:02:00Z")
Oh and incidentally, it looks like Jim Backus was the voice of Mr. Magoo, and Casey Kasem also did some other voice on the cartoon. They don’t specifically say who Casey did the voice or voices of.
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### Author:  [@Undead\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Undead_Dude)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/13 "1999-10-04T05:20:00Z")
And of course Michael Dorn is the voice of I.M. Weasel from “Cow and Chicken” and the “I Am Weasel” spinoff.
Of course that’s hardly a career starter. It might actually be an indication that he’s not getting many offers other than Worf.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/14 "1999-10-04T08:21:00Z")
Half of Star Trek is in _Gargoyles_.
Wanna know something cool? I have a page on the IMDB 🙂
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“So what you are telling me, Percy, is that something you have never seen is _slightly less blue_ than something else that you have never seen.”
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### Author:  [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/15 "1999-10-04T09:35:00Z")
Slightly OT, since he was famous for quite a few things before _The Hobbit_, but I’ve always thought that **John Huston** was the definitive voice of Gandalf.
DHR
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### Author:  [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/16 "1999-10-04T09:38:00Z")
More in line with the original question–did Hank Azaria (sp.?) get his start in cartoons? IIRC, he did the voice of Apu in _The Simpsons_ for many years before he appeared as Agador the Butler in _The Birdcage_.
DHR
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/17 "1999-10-04T10:51:00Z")
Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith were both in Herman’s Head, but that began post-Simpsons also.
I had seen Yeardley Smith in some minor roles pre-Simpsons (she has a very distinctive look) but I don’t know what Hank has done (travels to IMDB…)
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“So what you are telling me, Percy, is that something you have never seen is _slightly less blue_ than something else that you have never seen.”
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### Author:  [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/18 "1999-10-04T12:32:00Z")
Cheryl Ladd (of _Charlie’s Angels_ fame) started out in cartoons. She was the singing voice of Melody in _Josie and the Pussycats_. And Tim Matheson (Otter in _Animal House_) was the voice of _Jonny Quest_.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/19 "1999-10-04T12:48:00Z")
If you look at Hanna Barbera cast lists for things like Scooby Doo or Flintstones etc, you see names like Rip Taylor and Rene Auberjonois.
Wasn’t Cary Grant one of the cats in _Top Cat?_
Bwahahahahahaha!!!
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“So what you are telling me, Percy, is that something you have never seen is _slightly less blue_ than something else that you have never seen.”
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### Author:  [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)
#### Post date: [October 4, 1999, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-cartoon-voices/3752/20 "1999-10-04T13:25:00Z")
Ann Jillian did a voice on “Sealab 2020”
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