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Billy West
File:File:Billy West by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg
West in July 2012
Born William Richard Werstine
April 16, 1952 (1952-04-16) (age 72)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation
  • Voice actor
  • musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
Years active 1980–present

William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), better known as Billy West, is an American voice actor, musician, singer, and songwriter. His most notable voice roles include the title characters of Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show, as well as the Futurama characters Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, and Zapp Brannigan. In commercials, he is the current voice of the Red M&M and formerly voiced Buzz for Honey Nut Cheerios. He also voices established characters Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Popeye, Shaggy Rogers, Super Snooper, Muttley, and Woody Woodpecker, and was a cast member on The Howard Stern Show, during which time he was noted for his impressions of Larry Fine, Marge Schott, George Takei, and Jackie Martling.

Early life[]

West was born William Richard Werstine in Detroit, Michigan, on April 16, 1952. He is of Irish descent, and was born with ADHD and autism.

Career[]

Early career[]

West worked at WBCN in Boston, performing daily on the air on The Big Mattress show, then moved to New York City in 1988, working at K-Rock Radio (92.3 FM WXRK). West became a regular on The Howard Stern Show at that time until leaving in 1995. West moved to Los Angeles, where he found success as a voice actor and performer.

Radio and television[]

West launched his career in the early 1980s, performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station in 1988 to work on the short-lived revival of Beany and Cecil, which was his first role in television. He was a cast member and impressionist on The Howard Stern Show during the 1990s, where he gained notice for his impersonations of Three Stooges middleman Larry Fine, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott and Stern's head writer Jackie Martling. West's most notable film work was in Space Jam (1996), providing the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. He has provided the same voices for other Looney Tunes films and video games.

West's first major roles were on Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show, which were two of the first three Nicktoons on Nickelodeon (the other being Rugrats). Over his career, West has been the voice talent for close to 120 different characters including some of the most iconic animated figures in television history. He has become one of the few voice actors who can impersonate Mel Blanc in his prime, including characterizations of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, the voice Arthur Q. Bryan used for Elmer Fudd, as well as other characters from Warner Bros. cartoons. In 1998, Entertainment Weekly described West as "the new Mel Blanc" and noted his ability to mimic well-known voices, though he would rather develop original voices. West's favorite characters are Philip J. Fry and Stimpy, both of which he originated. West has been very outspoken over his displeasure about the influx of movie star actors providing voice-over for films and major shows. West has stated that he did not like the Disney version of Doug and that he "couldn't watch" the show. West was the voice of the show's namesake, Geeker, throughout Project Geeker's 13-episode run. West was the voice of Zim in the original pilot for Invader Zim. Richard Steven Horvitz was chosen for the series role because West's voice was too recognizable, according to creator Jhonen Vasquez during DVD commentary. West is the voice of "Red" in numerous M&M commercials as well as the 3-D movie I Lost my M in Vegas, currently playing at M&M's World in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also voices a number of minor characters in the series Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. He voiced the character Moobeard in Moobeard the Cow Pirate, a short animation featured on Random! Cartoons and reprises his role as Elmer Fudd in Cartoon Network's series The Looney Tunes Show. In 1999, he also had a cameo in the Emmy Award-winning cartoon Dilbert.

The Ren & Stimpy Show[]

West provided the voice of Stimpy J. Cat in Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show from 1991 until 1996, and he later provided the voice of Ren Höek from 1993 to 1996 when Ren's original voice and series creator John Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon (then a division of the original Viacom) for delivering late and objectionable episodes. He performed other characters on the series, such as Mr. Horse (another role he took over after Kricfalusi's departure) and the announcer for the "Log" ads (a voice West would use years later as the narrator for The Weird Al Show).

According to West, he was originally supposed to do the voice of both Ren and Stimpy (and performed both characters on the tape that was used to sell the show to Nickelodeon), but then Kricfalusi decided to do the voice of Ren himself once the show was sold and he had West on board as part of the selling point. However, West provided Ren's laughter with Kricfalusi as Ren's speaking voice.

Futurama[]

File:Billywestcropped.jpg

West in July 2006

West's roles in Futurama include Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, and Dr. Zoidberg, among others. As he and other Futurama cast and crew point out in DVD commentaries, he voiced so many characters throughout the series that conversations are often held entirely between characters he is voicing. West went into the Futurama auditions and was asked to try out for, as he says, "just about every part". He eventually landed the roles of Farnsworth, Zoidberg, and Brannigan. He later got the main role of Fry, which originally had gone to Charlie Schlatter. While West is known for his original voices, the voice he uses for Fry is often considered to be closer to his natural voice than any other character he has played; in an audio commentary, he states Fry is "just [himself] at age 25". This similarity, West acknowledges, was done purposefully in order to make it harder to replace him in the part along with placing more of himself personally into the role.

The role of Zapp Brannigan was written for the late Phil Hartman, who died before the show started and West was given the role. West has described his interpretation of Zapp Brannigan's voice as an imitation of Hartman, but described the actual vocalizations of the character as being based on "a couple of big dumb announcers I knew." Futurama was renewed by Comedy Central as four direct-to-DVD films broken into 16 television episodes. West reprised his roles for these films and was signed on for two new 26-episode production seasons (four 13-episode air seasons) of Futurama which aired summers of 2010 to 2013.

Commercial television[]

West was the announcer of the program Screen Gems Network which ran from 1999–2001. He was the promotional announcer for The Comedy Channel before it merged with HA! to become Comedy Central. Over his career, Billy West has voiced multiple characters in television commercials. These include (but are not limited to):

  • Red, the plain milk chocolate M&M (1996–present) (after Jon Lovitz's departure from the role in 1996).
  • Buzz, the bee for Honey Nut Cheerios (1990–2004).
  • An alien for Pentium 4.
  • Popeye for Minute Maid.
  • Babe Ruth, Mickey Goldmill and Bruce Lee for Brisk Iced Tea.
  • Marfalump, a mascot for Pepsi from 1999 to 2000; created to tie in with the release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

West voiced the Speed Racer character in a late 1990s advertisement for Volkswagen, because the commercial's producers could not locate Peter Fernandez, the original voice of Speed. However, the producers did locate Corinne Orr, the original voice for the characters Trixie and Spritle.

Online[]

West provided voices for Eric Kaplan's web cartoon Zombie College and two characters in Tofu the Vegan Zombie. He appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast on January 30, 2015. The episode was recorded live at The Smell in Downtown Los Angeles during the third annual Riot LA Comedy Festival.

West began his own podcast show in July 2015. It features him doing numerous characters per episode, recurring segments such as "Song Demolition", "Billy Bastard – Amateur Human Being" and special guest Jim Gomez.

Films[]

Perhaps West's most notable film work came in the 1996 film Space Jam, where he provided the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. West reprised the roles of Bugs and Fudd in subsequent Looney Tunes feature-length films and returned as Fudd in the theatrically released Looney Tunes: Back in Action. In 1998, West starred in the direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island as Shaggy Rogers, becoming the second person to portray the character (the first being Casey Kasem). He was one of the top contenders to replace Kasem after his retirement in 2009 but lost the role to Matthew Lillard. In 2000, he was the voice of one of the lemurs in Disney's Dinosaur. In 2004, West voiced the classic character Popeye in the 75th-anniversary film Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, and made his live-action film debut in Mark Hamill's Comic Book: The Movie. He also appeared in a cameo in Garfield: The Movie. Other films featuring West's vocal talents include Joe's Apartment, Cats & Dogs, Olive, the Other Reindeer, TMNT, The Proud Family Movie and several Tom and Jerry direct-to-video films.

Music[]

West is a guitarist and singer-songwriter with a band called Billy West and The Grief Counselors. They have released their first album, Me-Pod. West has toured as a guitarist for Roy Orbison and Brian Wilson.

In 1982, West sang lead, doing an impersonation of Mike Love, on a Beach Boys-inspired tune, "Another Cape Cod Summer This Year," by studio band ROUTE 28, written and produced by Erik Lindgren on his Arf! Arf! Records label.

West has collaborated with Deborah Harry, Lou Reed, and Los Lobos, and he has played live on several occasions with Brian Wilson, including the guitar solo on the Beach Boys tune "Do it Again" on Late Show with David Letterman, in the mid-1990s.

The Futurama episode "Proposition Infinity" features the track "Shut up and Love Me" which was written and played by Billy West and Greg Leon, under the name Wailing Fungus.

Radio[]

Throughout the 1980s, West provided character voices on Charles Laquidara's Big Mattress radio show on Boston's WBCN. West was one-half of the award-winning WBCN Production team from 1980–1986. From 1989 through 1995, West provided The Howard Stern Show with character voices such as Jim Backus, Lucille Ball, Raymond Burr, Johnny Carson, Johnnie Cochran, Connie Chung, Pat Cooper, Jane Curtin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Doris Day, Louis "Red" Deutsch, David Dinkins, Mia Farrow, Larry Fine, Pete Fornatale, Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee Gifford, Rudolph Giuliani, Mark Goddard, Bobcat Goldthwait, the Greaseman, Jonathan Harris (as Dr. Zachary Smith), Leona Helmsley, Evander Holyfield, Shemp Howard, Lance Ito, Elton John, Don Knotts, Jay Leno, Nelson Mandela, Jackie Martling (as the Jackie puppet), Ed McMahon, Al Michaels, Bill Mumy (as Will Robinson), Cardinal O'Connor, Maury Povich, Soon-Yi Previn, Marge Schott, Frank Sinatra, Rae Stern (Howard Stern's mother), George Takei, Joe Walsh and Robin Williams until eventually leaving the show over money. West was an occasional contributor to The Adam Carolla Show, a syndicated morning radio show that replaced Stern's show on CBS in LA. On February 19 and 20, 2007, The Howard Stern Show ran a special two-part retrospective of West's work with the show. It marked his first work with the show since leaving after his last show on November 1, 1995. On June 9, 2009, West appeared on Jackie Martling's Jackie's Joke Hunt on Stern's satellite radio channel Howard 101.

Video games[]

Characters voiced by West include Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in numerous Looney Tunes video games.

Other video game characters West has voiced include:

  • Stimpy in The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! (1993), Nicktoons Racing (2000), and Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots (2007).
  • Dr. Zoidberg in The Simpsons Game (2007).
  • Additional Voices in Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (2002).
  • Ricky Sr. and O'Toole in Open Season (video game) (2006).
  • Sparx in The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (2007).
  • Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg and Zapp Brannigan in Futurama (2003).
  • Nash and Zam in Crash Nitro Kart (2003).
  • Voices for the player character in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000).
  • Murfy in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (2003).
  • Muttley and L'il Gruesome in Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley (2001).
  • Additional Voices in Mad Dash Racing, for the Xbox.
  • Red in M&M's: The Lost Formulas (2000).
  • Hamton J. Pig in Tiny Toon Adventures: Toonenstein.
  • Atomic Bomberman in Atomic Bomberman.
  • Emilio Baza in Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned.
  • Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time.
  • The Yak in Nicktoons MLB (2011).
  • Fire Kraken, Freeze Blade, Food Fight, Chill Bill and Rocky Roll in Skylanders: Swap Force, Skylanders: Trap Team and Skylanders: SuperChargers.
  • The narrator in Minecraft: Story Mode (2015).

Personal life[]

West was born with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

West purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills West neighborhood of Los Angeles for $480,000 in 1998, and sold it for $1.18 million in March 2016.

Filmography[]

Film[]

List of voice performances in feature and direct-to-video films
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Joe's Apartment Ralph Roach
1996 Space Jam Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd
1998 Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island Norville "Shaggy" Rogers Direct-to-video
2000 Dinosaur Various Lemurs
2000 Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Sumo Singer
2001 Osmosis Jones Collin Uncredited
2001 Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Various Voices
2001 Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring Freddie Direct-to-video
2003 Looney Tunes: Back in Action Elmer Fudd, Peter Lorre
2004 Garfield Dog
2004 Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy Popeye, Pappy Direct-to-video
2005 Tom and Jerry: Blast Off to Mars Biff Buzzard, King Thingg, Gardener #2
2006 Curious George Manager
2006 Queer Duck: The Movie Bi-Polar Bear Direct-to-video
2006 Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd
2007 TMNT Newscaster
2007 Futurama: Bender's Big Score Philip J. Fry, Lars Fillmore, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Richard Nixon, Additional voices Direct-to-video
2008 Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Richard Nixon, Additional voices
2008 Futurama: Bender's Game Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Additional voices
2009 Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Leo Wong, Richard Nixon, Additional voices
2010 Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes Tom
2011 Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz Uncredited
Direct-to-video
2012 Daffy's Rhapsody Elmer Fudd Short film
2014 Movieactors: Giant 8 Classic Cartoons Rancid Rabbit, The Amazing Ray, The Amazing Fay, Randolph
2015 The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Seagull
2015 Pixels Additional Video Game Characters
2017 Best Fiends: Boot Camp General Slug Short film
2020 Scoob! Muttley Direct-to-video

Television[]

List of voice performances in television shows
Year Title Role Notes
1988 The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil Cecil
1991–1994 Doug Douglas Yancey "Doug" Funnie, Roger Klotz, Additional voices
1991–1996 The Ren & Stimpy Show Stimpy J. Cat, Ren Höek*, Mr. Horse*, Additional voices *Replacing John Kricfalusi
1994 The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show France Bug
1996 Earthworm Jim The Sturgeon
1996–2003 Dexter's Laboratory Additional voices
1997–98 The Wacky World of Tex Avery Tex Avery, Freddy the Fly, Sagebrush Sid
1997 Cow and Chicken Additional voices
1997–2000 I Am Weasel
1997 Project G.e.e.K.e.R. GeeKeR
1997 The Weird Al Show Show Announcer, Harvey the Wonder Hamster
1997 Extreme Ghostbusters Slimer, Mayor McShane
1997 Space Goofs Additional voices
1997–1999 King of the Hill Cigarenders Leader, Mr. Holloway, Sergeant Barber
1998 Mad Jack the Pirate Snuk
1998–2000 Histeria! Chit Chatterson, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn
1998–2000 Voltron: The Third Dimension Pidge
1998–2005 The Powerpuff Girls Additional voices
1998–2005 CatDog Rancid Rabbit, Mr. Sunshine, Randolph Grant, Mean Bob
1998 Planet Kate Max, Boliar
1999 Queer Duck Bi-Polar Bear, Additional voices
1999 Detention Emmitt Roswell, Additional voices
1999 Olive, the Other Reindeer Mr. Eskimo Television film
1999 Rayman: The Animated Series Rayman
1999 Dilbert Marketing Guy, Additional voices
1999 Family Guy Church Father Ep. "Death Has a Shadow"
1999–2002 The New Woody Woodpecker Show Woody Woodpecker, Wally Walrus, Smedley, Doug Knutts
1999–2013 Futurama Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg
Zapp Brannigan, Richard Nixon, Additional voices
1999–2002 Screen Gems Network Announcer Syndicated program
2000 Baby Felix Felix the Cat, Additional voices
2000 Poochini's Yard Poochini, Walter White, Mr. Garvey, Lockjaw
2001 Horrible Histories Stitch, Narrator, Various
2001 The Oblongs George Klimer, Anita Bidet, Additional voices
2001 Totally Spies! Lester Crawley
2002 Jackie Chan Adventures Monkey King Ep. "Monkey a Go-Go"
2002 Crank Yankers Confucious, Moo Shu
2002 Ozzy & Drix Muscle Cell Ep. "Reflex"
2002–2006 The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius Sam Melvick, Additional voices
2003 Duck Dodgers Mother Fudd
2003–2009 My Life as a Teenage Robot Principal Razinski, Additional voices
2004 What's New, Scooby-Doo? Jimmy Proudwolf Ep. "New Mexico, Old Monster"
2004 Invader Zim Zim Ep. "Pilot"
2004 Justice League Unlimited Skeets, Dr. Daniel Brown, Transporter Tech Ep. "The Greatest Story Never Told"
2004, 2006 Codename: Kids Next Door Numbuh 13
2005 The Life & Times of Juniper Lee Leprechaun
2005 The Proud Family Movie Board Member, Cab Driver Television film
2005–2007 Loonatics Unleashed Electro J. Fudd, Sagittarius Stomper
2006 Ben 10 Kraab, Guard, Punk #2
2006–2007 Drawn Together Stimpy, Popeye, Denzel Washington
2006 Zombie College Skully, Graham Web series
2006–2007 Squirrel Boy Kyle Finster
2007 Chowder Additional voices
2007 El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
2007–2009 Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World Various
2008 The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack Additional voices
2008 The Mighty B!
2008 Random! Cartoons Various
2009 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Skeets Ep. "Menace of the Conqueror Caveman!"
2009–2012 Jungle Junction Ellyvan
2010 Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil Additional voices
2010 T.U.F.F. Puppy
2010, 2012 Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated Gunther Gator, Randy Warsaw, Butch Firbanks
2010 Glenn Martin, DDS Mr. Vernon Ep. "Camp"
2011 Mongo Wrestling Alliance Various
2011 Eric Kaplan's Sketch World Additional voices Web series
2011–2014 The Looney Tunes Show Elmer Fudd
2012 The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange Cranberry
2013 Ultimate Spider-Man Rocket Raccoon
2014 The Simpsons Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg Ep. "Simpsorama"
2014 Mixels Lunk, Gobba, Balk
2014 Adventure Time Goose, Dr. Erik Adamkinson, Mayor Ep. "Everything's Jake"
2014 Turbo Fast Fleagor, Mosquito, Adolfo, Waterbug, Jack A. Lopez
2014 TripTank Sextus Scribnous Ep. "Ahhh, Serenity"
2014–2016 The 7D Bashful
2015–present The Stinky & Dirty Show Chill
2016 Rolling with the Ronks! Godzi
2016 Star vs. the Forces of Evil Hungry Larry Ep. "Hungry Larry/Spider with a Top Hat"
2016 Bunnicula Friendless Sven the Destroyer Ep. "Squeaky Doom"
2016 Robot Chicken Doug Funnie, Waffleface Ep. "Yogurt in a Bag"
2016 Mighty Magiswords Herman, Pterodactyl, Spiffy the Sphinx
2017 Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! Sheriff Boon, Paco Ep. "How to Train Your Coward"
2017 Samurai Jack Walrus Merchant Ep. "XCIX"
2017–2019 Wacky Races Muttley, Tiny, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw, Touche Turtle, Jabberjaw
2018 Happy! Raspberry (voice) Ep. "The Scrapyard of Childish Things"
2018–present Rockin' South Mortimer Mousewell
2018–present Disenchantment Sorcerio, The Jester, Mertz, Pops the Elf, King Rulo the Elf Netflix series
2020 Spitting Image Joe Biden

Video games[]

List of voice performances in video games
Year Title Role
1997 Atomic Bomberman Atomic Bomberman
1999 Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd
1999 Tiny Toon Adventures: Toonenstein Hamilton J. Pig
2000 M&M's: The Lost Formulas Red
2000 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn Additional voices
2000 Nicktoons Racing Stimpy
2001 Wacky Races: Starring Dastardly and Muttley Muttley, L'il Gruesome
2001 Mad Dash Racing Additional voices
2002 Rayman M Murfy
2002 Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly Additional voices
2003 Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc Murfy
2003 Futurama Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan
2003 Crash Nitro Kart Nash, Zam
2003 I-Ninja Ninja
2007 The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night Sparx
2007 Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots Stimpy
2007 The Simpsons Game Dr. Zoidberg
2011 Nicktoons MLB The Yak
2013 Skylanders series Fire Kraken, Freeze Blade, Food Fight, Chill Bill, Rocky Roll
2015 Minecraft: Story Mode Narrator, Siggie, Fanboy

Live-action[]

List of acting performances in feature films
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Comic Book: The Movie Leo Matuzik Direct-to-video
2013 I Know That Voice Himself Documentary

See also[]

  • The Magic Behind the Voices
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