tv star collector
12-15-2007, 02:06 PM
The flamboyant Paul Frees made it clear that he never did "retakes;" he did "encores." Certainly the most complex character in animation, Frees was lauded as "brilliant" by peers and friends for his talent and faultless ear and, almost in the same breath, was criticized as "impossible," "arrogant," and something of an eccentric. There can be no doubt that with his outlandish dress sense, which included wearing firearms to recording sessions, and a dangerous evening pastime of assisting the LAPD on drug raids, Frees' exotic biograhy rivals the plot of any cartoon he ever voiced.
The man who would be Boris Badenov was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago, Ill., on June 22, 1920. Although he displayed creative talents as a child, he had no intention of becoming an actor. His dream was to be a painter.
Frees enlisted in the military during WWII and was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in battle at Normandy. While recuperating at a San Diego hospital, he turned to painting again as part of his recovery. A friend submitted his first completed painting to a contest. The piece won first prize and Frees won an art scholarship. But he never had a chance to register for classes because tragedy struck--his young bride, Annelle, passed away. He had to find a job to offset mounting bills, and the novice actor entered
the field of radio, doing parts in some two dozen different series. When that medium began to fade, he crossed over to television--doing commercials and guest spots on THE JACK BENNY SHOW and voicing John Beresford Tipton on THE MILLIONAIRE. He also obtained small on-camera roles in movies such as "The Thing from Another World" and "A Place in the Sun."
With a reputation for voice-overs, Frees was used in films as a narrator, radio announcer, TV announcer, and for varieties of off-camera voices. One of his specialties was also dialogue replacement for actors who were unavailable to redo their lines. Frees did impeccable work "looping" dialogue for such stars as Orson Welles, Peter Lorre, Cary Grant, and Boris Karloff. When Humphrey Bogart was ill with cancer, Frees replaced one-third of his dialogue in the 1956 film "The Harder They Fall."
By 1959, Frees had done voice-overs in theatrical cartoons, playing the crow in Columbia Pictures Fox & the Crow series and Barney Bear of MGM. He also worked with Tex Avery and Walter Lantz, but Frees considered working with Jay Ward on TV's ROCKY & HIS FRIENDS to be the highlight of his career. Frees was Boris Badenov, Captain Peachfuzz, and various other characters.
Although the work he did for Jay Ward studios was the most creatively satisfying for Frees, any perks that Ward could have offered (and there were none) would have been no match for what he received from the producer of THE BEATLES cartoons in the mid-1960s.He was flown to England every two or three weeks and once had dinner with the Beatles and Princess Margaret.
Some critics resented the pseudo-Liverpudlian accent Frees affected to play George and John--Lennon was especially "amused" by its inaccuracy--it was not due to any lack of ability on Frees' part. As Frees explained, the cartoons were made for the American market, not for Europe, and they wanted an approximation of the flavor, but not the heavy accent, so that the American market could understand it.
The Beatles weren't the only rock & roll stars Frees associated with during his career. He worked with the Osmond Brothers on THE OSMONDS and also with the Jacksons on THE JACKSON 5 series (both produced by Rankin/Bass). For the Rankin/Bass studio, he also appeared in every TV special they produced, playing an assortment of voices including one of his all-time favorites, the Burgermeister in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." In fact, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass introduced him to the English woman who would become his sixth wife.
In the mid 1980s, Frees decided to retire in the Northern California Bay area, commenting that he was happy to leave Hanna-Barbera, dismissing his later work with the studio as his least favorite. (For H-B, Frees was Morocco Mole, Squiddly Diddly, and Benjamin Grimm (of The Fantastic Four).)
His many other voice credits include the Pillsbury Doughboy and Toucan Sam in TV commercials, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (for King Features), and Disney's Ludwig von Drake. He even replaced Chill Wills as the voice of Francis the Talking Mule in the last Francis film, "Francis in the Haunted House" (1956).
On Nov. 1, 1986, Paul Frees succumbed to heart failure in Tiburon, Calif. In his biography from his public relations agency--Milton Kahn Associates--written in the early 1980s, Frees states, "I can duplicate any voice and dialect I hear." When questioned about the boast for this publication, Frees, without missing a beat, repeated the question in the interviewer's voice. As to Frees occasionally being called a "braggart," it can be said that it is not really bragging if one can really pull it off.
[THE MAGIC BEHIND THE VOICES, by Tim Lawson & Alisa Persons (2004)]
For further reading, I heartily recommend WELCOME, FOOLISH MORTALS ... THE LIFE
AND VOICES OF PAUL FREES, by Ben Ohmart.
The man who would be Boris Badenov was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago, Ill., on June 22, 1920. Although he displayed creative talents as a child, he had no intention of becoming an actor. His dream was to be a painter.
Frees enlisted in the military during WWII and was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in battle at Normandy. While recuperating at a San Diego hospital, he turned to painting again as part of his recovery. A friend submitted his first completed painting to a contest. The piece won first prize and Frees won an art scholarship. But he never had a chance to register for classes because tragedy struck--his young bride, Annelle, passed away. He had to find a job to offset mounting bills, and the novice actor entered
the field of radio, doing parts in some two dozen different series. When that medium began to fade, he crossed over to television--doing commercials and guest spots on THE JACK BENNY SHOW and voicing John Beresford Tipton on THE MILLIONAIRE. He also obtained small on-camera roles in movies such as "The Thing from Another World" and "A Place in the Sun."
With a reputation for voice-overs, Frees was used in films as a narrator, radio announcer, TV announcer, and for varieties of off-camera voices. One of his specialties was also dialogue replacement for actors who were unavailable to redo their lines. Frees did impeccable work "looping" dialogue for such stars as Orson Welles, Peter Lorre, Cary Grant, and Boris Karloff. When Humphrey Bogart was ill with cancer, Frees replaced one-third of his dialogue in the 1956 film "The Harder They Fall."
By 1959, Frees had done voice-overs in theatrical cartoons, playing the crow in Columbia Pictures Fox & the Crow series and Barney Bear of MGM. He also worked with Tex Avery and Walter Lantz, but Frees considered working with Jay Ward on TV's ROCKY & HIS FRIENDS to be the highlight of his career. Frees was Boris Badenov, Captain Peachfuzz, and various other characters.
Although the work he did for Jay Ward studios was the most creatively satisfying for Frees, any perks that Ward could have offered (and there were none) would have been no match for what he received from the producer of THE BEATLES cartoons in the mid-1960s.He was flown to England every two or three weeks and once had dinner with the Beatles and Princess Margaret.
Some critics resented the pseudo-Liverpudlian accent Frees affected to play George and John--Lennon was especially "amused" by its inaccuracy--it was not due to any lack of ability on Frees' part. As Frees explained, the cartoons were made for the American market, not for Europe, and they wanted an approximation of the flavor, but not the heavy accent, so that the American market could understand it.
The Beatles weren't the only rock & roll stars Frees associated with during his career. He worked with the Osmond Brothers on THE OSMONDS and also with the Jacksons on THE JACKSON 5 series (both produced by Rankin/Bass). For the Rankin/Bass studio, he also appeared in every TV special they produced, playing an assortment of voices including one of his all-time favorites, the Burgermeister in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." In fact, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass introduced him to the English woman who would become his sixth wife.
In the mid 1980s, Frees decided to retire in the Northern California Bay area, commenting that he was happy to leave Hanna-Barbera, dismissing his later work with the studio as his least favorite. (For H-B, Frees was Morocco Mole, Squiddly Diddly, and Benjamin Grimm (of The Fantastic Four).)
His many other voice credits include the Pillsbury Doughboy and Toucan Sam in TV commercials, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (for King Features), and Disney's Ludwig von Drake. He even replaced Chill Wills as the voice of Francis the Talking Mule in the last Francis film, "Francis in the Haunted House" (1956).
On Nov. 1, 1986, Paul Frees succumbed to heart failure in Tiburon, Calif. In his biography from his public relations agency--Milton Kahn Associates--written in the early 1980s, Frees states, "I can duplicate any voice and dialect I hear." When questioned about the boast for this publication, Frees, without missing a beat, repeated the question in the interviewer's voice. As to Frees occasionally being called a "braggart," it can be said that it is not really bragging if one can really pull it off.
[THE MAGIC BEHIND THE VOICES, by Tim Lawson & Alisa Persons (2004)]
For further reading, I heartily recommend WELCOME, FOOLISH MORTALS ... THE LIFE
AND VOICES OF PAUL FREES, by Ben Ohmart.