Profile: Paul Frees

[tv star collector]

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.

[comedyfreak]

Wow, I didn't know he did all those voices. I loved Secret Squirl, Squiddly Diddly and the Fantastic Four. It's Clobberin time!

[tv star collector]

I want to make one point of clarification, as there might be some ambiguity
regarding The Fantastic Four. There were two different cartoon versions.
Paul Frees voiced Ben Grimm/The Thing in the first version (1967-1970),
produced by Hanna-Barbera. In THE NEW FANTASTIC FOUR (1978-1979),
produced by DePatie-Freleng, he was voiced by Ted Cassidy. (Later, Cassidy
did do several voices for H-B, though; I think the first was the Giant in the
Gene Kelly TV special "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1968).)

[TJL]

Paul Frees also narrated "Hardware Wars," the king of the Star Wars parody films. Funny stuff.

ABC Family is showing a whole bunch of the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials today.

[snl 70s show fan]

and he was the deep voice in the oxay wash radio commercials of the late 70s and eraly 80s

[comedyfreak]

Originally Posted by tv star collector

I think the first was the Giant in the
Gene Kelly TV special "Jack and the Beanstalk" (1968).)

Ted Cassidy also voiced Injun Joe in HB's Huck Finn.

[tv star collector]

That's right. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK premiered on NBC Feb. 26, 1967.
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF HUCK FINN followed, debuting on NBC Sept. 15,
1968. Cassidy's other voice work for Hanna-Barbera included Frankenstein
Jr., Godzilla, and (of course) reprising his role as Lurch on their first animated
version of THE ADDAMS FAMILY. His unmistakable voice can also be heard on
the prologue of CBS's live-action series THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

[tv star collector]

I forgot to mention: besides Jay Ward, Disney, King Features, Hanna-Barbera and Rankin/Bass, there's at least one more animation studio that Paul Frees
worked for. He was also the voice of Wacko Wolf in Larry Harmon's BOZO THE
CLOWN cartoon series.