When the greatest talents are on the job, it’s almost like they’re not there at all. Gifted character and voice actors, like the incomparable Paul Frees, are perfect examples: their voices become part of the soundtrack of our lives.
Solomon Hersh Frees was born in 1920 in Chicago. He served in WWII and upon returning to the States enjoyed a 40+ year career as a voice and character actor. Paul began in Disney films and progressed to work with the Walter Lantz, UPA, Hanna-Barbera and Rankin-Bass studios. He was an expert at dialects and accents; he overdubbed Tony Curtis' "Josephine" voice in the movie Some Like It Hot, and his voice is still heard today narrating a couple of Disneyland attractions.
He provided the distinctive opening narration to the radio series “Escape”, and he could be heard in many memorable cartoon roles, such as Bullwinkle and Rocky’s nemesis Boris Badenov, Inspector Fenwick in Dudley Do-Right, the original Cap’n Crunch and Pilsbury Doughboy, the voice of John Lennon in the 1960’s Beatles cartoon show; and of course everyone’s favorite, Burgermeister Meisterburger in “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town”.
Paul Frees died in 1986, at the age of 66.
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