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Meet the man behind Fred Jones, Hefty Smurf, and many other classic cartoon characters
Let's split up and look for more clues!
Even if you haven't heard of Frank Welker, you have definitely heard Frank Welker.
As an actor, he has appeared in 898 productions (and counting!) but he is most well known for his voice acting work. He originated the role of Fred Jones from the Scooby-Doo universe and has appeared in everything from Transformers to Curious George.
Let's go through a few of our favorite roles from a truly impressive voice acting career.
Hefty Smurf
Welker had an anecdote from his time as the incredibly strong Hefty Smurf, he said in an interview that he received a letter from young fan invited him (as Hefty) and the other Smurfs to a picnic. He said the whole cast was touched but that they didn't go to the picnic because they didn't want the fan to find out that Smurfs weren't real.
Orbitty
Orbitty is a small endangered alien who follows Elroy home from a field trip and quickly becomes a beloved family member on The Jetsons. In a question and answer section on his website, Welker said he had a lot of fun playing Orbitty but the best part was getting to work with and learn from Daws Butler and Don Messick.
Brain
Frank Welker's voice acting experience has included many animal impersonations, including the helpful dog from Inspector Gadget, Brain!
Dr. Claw and M.A.D. Cat
Speaking of Inspector Gadget, Welker also played M.A.D. Cat and his evil owner, Dr. Claw.
Darkseid
Welker's appearances in Super Friends mostly involved him playing super enemies. He starred as the supervillain, Darkseid, who rules the planet Apokalips. Darkseid has two goals in life: to conquer earth and to marry Wonder Woman.
Kalibak
Welker also played Darkseid's sidekick and son, Kalibak.
The Joker
The Joker is obviously, a villain that needs no explaining. Welker has only voiced the Joker on Super Friends but has said he would love to be the Joker again.
Mr. Mxyzptlk
Welker brought a playfulness to the "Imp-Practical Joker". Mr. Mxyzptlk isn't totally a villain but...he messes with the Super Friends enough to definitely not be considered a good guy.
Honorable Mentions
Before we get to Fred, we have some honorable mentions. Frank Welker's voice acting career is impressive and has covered nearly 55 years of classic and modern cartoons, so we couldn't include everything in one list. But some of his most famous roles include Curious George, Jabberjaw, Dynomutt, Totoro (in the English dub of My Neighbor Totoro), and many more famous characters. He was a pivotal player on Transformers and he was the voice of Megatron, Galvatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, Rumble, and others in television, movies, and video games. He was also in every single episode of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius as Goddard the robot dog.
Fred Jones
The first cartoon character Welker ever voiced is also one that he keeps coming back to. He has voiced Fred from the very beginning and it all started with a casting agent went to one of his comedy shows and recommended him for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?. Welker also took over the role of Scooby after Don Messick's passing and he is the only surviving member of the original Scooby-Doo cast who still acts in the Scooby-Doo universe.
