Paul Frees


Solomon Hersh Frees, better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during the Golden Age of Animation, and for providing the voice of Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Frees was sometimes known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices", an appellation more commonly bestowed on Mel Blanc.

Early life

Solomon Hersh Frees was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, on June 22, 1920. He grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood and attended Von Steuben Junior High School.

Career

In the 1930s, Frees first appeared in vaudeville as an impressionist, under the name Buddy Green. He began his career on radio in 1942 and remained active for more than 40 years. During that time, he was involved in more than 250 films, cartoons, and TV appearances; as was the case for many voice actors of the time, his appearances were often uncredited.
Frees's early radio career was cut short when he was drafted into the United States Army during World War II, where he fought at Normandy, France, on D-Day. He was wounded in action and was returned to the United States for a year of recuperation. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute under the G.I. Bill. When his first wife's health failed, he decided to drop out and return to radio work.
He appeared frequently on Hollywood radio series, including Escape, playing lead roles and alternating with William Conrad as the opening announcer. He announced the dramatic signature on Suspense in the late 1940s, and parts on Gunsmoke, and Crime Classics. One of his few starring roles in this medium was as Jethro Dumont/Green Lama in the 1949 series The Green Lama, as well as a syndicated anthology series The Player, in which Frees narrated and played all the parts. He starred as Larry Mitchell on Crime Correspondent on CBS Radio.
He did dubbing for live-action films including Midway, dubbing Toshiro Mifune's performances as Admiral Yamamoto; and Some Like It Hot, in which Frees provides much of the falsetto voice for Tony Curtis' female persona Josephine and the voice of funeral director Mozzarella. Frees dubbed the entire role of Eddie in the Disney film The Ugly Dachshund, replacing actor Dick Wessel, who had died of a sudden heart attack after completion of principal photography. Frees also dubbed some of Humphrey Bogart’s lines in his final film The Harder They Fall. Bogart was suffering at the time from what was later diagnosed as esophageal cancer, thus could barely be heard in some takes, hence the need for Frees to dub in his voice.
Frees worked extensively with at least nine of the major animation production companies of the 20th century: Walt Disney Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Walter Lantz Productions, UPA, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Filmation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Jay Ward Productions, Rankin/Bass, and Ruby-Spears.

Disney

Some of Frees's most memorable voices were for various Disney projects. Frees voiced Disney's Professor Ludwig Von Drake in 18 episodes of the Disney anthology television series, beginning with the first episode of the newly renamed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on September 24, 1961. The character also appeared on many Disneyland Records. Von Drake's introductory cartoon, An Adventure in Color, featured "The Spectrum Song", sung by Frees as Von Drake. A different Frees recording of this song appeared on a children's record, and was later reissued on CD.
In addition to voicing characters, Frees narrated a number of Disney cartoons, including the Disney educational short film Donald in Mathmagic Land. This short originally aired in the same television episode as Von Drake's first appearance.
Frees also provided voices for numerous characters at Disney parks. He voiced the unseen "Ghost Host" at Haunted Mansion Attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
For the Pirates of the Caribbean, Frees recorded the ghost voice saying the iconic "dead men tell no tales" used in the ride, as well as lending his voice to several audio-animatronic characters, including the Auctioneer, Magistrate Carlos, and the "Pooped Pirate" in the ride. Disney eventually issued limited edition compact discs commemorating The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, featuring some outtakes and unused audio tracks by Frees and others. Frees also provided narration for the Tomorrowland attraction Adventure Thru Inner Space and the original Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Audio clips from the attractions in Frees's distinctive voice have been included in fireworks shows at Disneyland.
An animated singing bust in Frees's likeness appeared in the 2003 film The Haunted Mansion as a tribute. Similarly, audio recordings of Frees from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction can be heard in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in an homage to the ride.
Frees also had a small on-camera role for Disney in the 1959 film The Shaggy Dog, playing Dr. Galvin, a police psychiatrist who attempts to understand why Mr. Daniels believes a shaggy dog can uncover a spy ring. He also speaks the film's opening narration.
His other Disney credits, most of them narration for segments of the Disney anthology television series, include:
  • The "Man in Space" series of shows
  • From Aesop to Hans Christian Andersen
  • Mars and Beyond
  • The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca
  • Tales of Texas John Slaughter
  • The Absent-Minded Professor
  • Moochie of Pop Warner Football
  • The Monkey's Uncle
For his contributions to the Disney legacy, Frees was honored posthumously as a Disney Legend on October 9, 2006.

Jay Ward Productions

Frees was a regular presence in Jay Ward cartoons, providing the voices of Boris Badenov, Inspector Fenwick, Ape, District Commissioner Alistair and Weevil Plumtree in George of the Jungle, Baron Otto Matic in Tom Slick, Fred in Super Chicken, and the Hoppity Hooper narrator, among numerous others.

Rankin/Bass

Frees is well-remembered for providing the voices for many characters in Rankin/Bass cartoons and stop-motion animated TV specials, most notably for a number of holiday-themed specials. In 1968, he appeared as Captain Jones in the Thanksgiving special The Mouse on the Mayflower, and that Christmas he appeared as the father of the Drummer Boy, Ali, and as the three Wise Men in The Little Drummer Boy. He was also Hocus Pocus, the traffic cop, the ticket-taker, and Santa Claus in Frosty the Snowman in 1969 and played the central villain, Burgermeister Meisterburger, and his assistant Grimsley in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town in 1970. He provided several voices, including Aeon the Terrible, for Rudolph's Shiny New Year in 1976.
Frees also voiced King Haggard's wizard Mabruk and the Cat in The Last Unicorn and provided several voices for the Jackson Five cartoon series between 1971 and 1973. He provided the voices for several J. R. R. Tolkien characters in Rankin/Bass animated versions of The Hobbit and The Return of the King.
Rankin/Bass TV specials or films featuring Paul Frees:
  • Cricket on the Hearth Voice of the Sea Captain and others
  • The Mouse on the Mayflower Voice of Captain Jones
  • The Little Drummer Boy Voices of Ali, Aaron's Father, Three Wise Men
  • Frosty the Snowman Voices of Hocus Pocus, Traffic Cop, Ticket Taker, Santa Claus
  • The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians Voices of Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, and W.C Fields
  • Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town Voices of Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsley, Topper, Kringle brothers, Sombertown Civilian, Burgermeister's soldiers, Physician
  • Here Comes Peter Cottontail Voices of Colonel Bunny's assistant, Fireman, Man at Thanksgiving Table, Santa Claus
  • The First Easter Rabbit Voices of Santa, Zero, and Spats
  • Frosty's Winter Wonderland Voices of Jack Frost and Traffic Cop
  • Rudolph's Shiny New Year Voices of Santa Claus, General Ticker, Aeon the Terrible, Humpty Dumpty, 1776
  • The Hobbit Voices of Bombur and Troll #1
  • Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey Voices of Santa Claus, Olaf and Donkey Dealer
  • The Stingiest Man in Town voices of the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas present
  • Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July Voices of Jack Frost, Policeman, Winterbolt
  • Jack Frost Voices of Father Winter, Kubla Kraus
  • The Return of the King Voices of Orc, Uruk-hai, Elrond
  • The Last Unicorn Voices of Mabruk and the Cat
  • The Flight of Dragons Voice of Antiquity
  • The Legend of Frosty the Snowman Voice of Hocus Pocus

    George Pal

Frees portrayed the Orson Welles sound-alike radio reporter in George Pal's film The War of the Worlds, where he is seen dictating into a tape recorder as the military prepares the atomic bomb for use against the invading Martians. Memorably, his character says the recording is being made "for future history... if any". Frees also provided the film's dramatic opening narration, prior to Sir Cedric Hardwicke's voice-over tour of the Solar System.
Frees subsequently provided the apocalyptic voice for the "talking rings" in Pal's later film The Time Machine, in which he explains the ultimate fate of humanity from which the time traveler realizes the origin of the Morlocks and Eloi.
Producer Pal later put Frees to work again in his fantasy film Atlantis, the Lost Continent and doing the opening voice-over narration for Pal's Doc Savage film.
Frees did the narration for the George Pal documentary The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal, written, produced, and directed by Arnold Leibovit. Two years later, Frees provided the voice for Arnie the Dinosaur and the Pillsbury Doughboy in The Puppetoon Movie, also produced and directed by Leibovit.