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. 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 (filling in for
Howard McNear as Doc Adams in the episode "The Cast"), 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 (1967–1985, later replaced by
Star Tours) 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 (TV, 1954) •
From Aesop to Hans Christian Andersen (TV, 1955) •
Mars and Beyond (film, 1957) •
The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca (TV miniseries, 1958) •
Tales of Texas John Slaughter (TV miniseries, 1958) •
The Absent-Minded Professor (film, 1961) •
Moochie of Pop Warner Football (TV, 1960) • ''
The Monkey's Uncle'' (film, 1965) 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 (from
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show), Inspector Fenwick (from
Dudley Do-Right, impersonating
Eric Blore), Ape (impersonating
Ronald Colman), 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 (most notably the dwarf
Bombur) 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 (TV special) (1967) Voice of the Sea Captain and others •
The Mouse on the Mayflower (1968) Voice of Captain Jones •
The Little Drummer Boy (1968) Voices of Ali, Aaron's Father, Three Wise Men •
Frosty the Snowman (1969) Voices of Hocus Pocus, Traffic Cop, Ticket Taker, Santa Claus •
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970) Voices of Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, and W.C Fields (uncredited) • ''
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town'' (1970) Voices of Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsley, Topper, Kringle brothers, Sombertown Civilian, Burgermeister's soldiers, Physician •
Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971) Voices of Colonel Bunny's assistant, Fireman, Man at Thanksgiving Table, Santa Claus •
The First Easter Rabbit (1976) Voices of Santa, Zero, and Spats • ''
Frosty's Winter Wonderland'' (1976) Voices of Jack Frost and Traffic Cop • ''
Rudolph's Shiny New Year'' (1976) Voices of Santa Claus, General Ticker, Aeon the Terrible, Humpty Dumpty, 1776 (aka Sev) •
The Hobbit (1977) Voices of Bombur and Troll #1 •
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) Voices of Santa Claus, Olaf and Donkey Dealer •
The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) voices of the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas present • ''
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July'' (1979) Voices of Jack Frost, Policeman, Winterbolt •
Jack Frost (1979) Voices of Father Winter, Kubla Kraus •
The Return of the King (1980) Voices of Orc,
Uruk-hai, Elrond (replacing the deceased
Cyril Ritchard who voiced Elrond in
The Hobbit) •
The Last Unicorn (1982) Voices of Mabruk and the Cat •
The Flight of Dragons (1982) Voice of Antiquity •
The Legend of Frosty the Snowman (2005) Voice of Hocus Pocus (Archive Recordings)
George Pal Frees portrayed the
Orson Welles sound-alike radio reporter in
George Pal's film
The War of the Worlds (1953), 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
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 (1960), 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 (also 1960) and doing the opening voice-over narration for Pal's
Doc Savage (1975) film. Frees did the narration for the
George Pal documentary
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985), 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 (1987), also produced and directed by Leibovit.
Other voice work The versatile actor voiced several characters, including three of the main characters in the US versions of Belvision's ''
Hergé's Adventures of Tintin'' cartoons, based on the books by
Hergé. He did work for Hanna-Barbera in their
Tom and Jerry shorts at MGM. In the 1956 Cinemascope Tom and Jerry cartoon,
Blue Cat Blues, he was Jerry's voice who narrated the short; he voiced Jerry's cousin Muscles in ''
Jerry's Cousin five years earlier and the cannibals in His Mouse Friday'' where he said the lines "Mmmmm, barbecued cat!" and "Mmmmm, barbecued mouse!" At the MGM Animation studio, he also did multiple voice roles for
Tex Avery's short films, notably playing every role in
Cellbound in 1955. Frees worked with
Spike Jones on his 1960 album
Omnibust, heard as announcer "Billy Playtex" and several other characters on "The Late Late Late Late Movies, Part I and II". From October 1961 through September 1962, Paul Frees provided the voice for the shady lawyer named Judge Oliver Wendell Clutch, a weasel on the animated program
Calvin and the Colonel starring the voices of
Freeman Gosden and
Charles Correll. The series was an animated television remake of their radio series ''
Amos 'n Andy''. For the 1962
Christmas special ''
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol'', produced by
UPA, Paul Frees voiced several characters, including
Fezziwig, the Charity Man, and two of the opportunists who steal from the dead Scrooge (Eyepatch Man and Tall Tophat Man) and
Mister Magoo's
Broadway theatre director. He subsequently provided numerous voices for the follow up series
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo. Frees provided the voices of both
John Lennon and
George Harrison in the 1965
The Beatles cartoon series, the narrator, Big D and Fluid Man in the 1966 cartoon series,
Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, and
The Thing in the 1967 series
Fantastic Four, as well as President James Norcross in the 1967 cartoon series
Super President. He played several rolesnarrator, Chef of State, the judges and the bailiffin the
George Lucas /
John Korty animated film,
Twice Upon a Time. Frees provided the voice-over for the trailer to the 1971
Clint Eastwood thriller,
Play Misty for Me. In television commercials, he was the voice of the
Pillsbury Doughboy, the
7-Up bird
Fresh-Up Freddie,
Froot Loops spokesbird
Toucan Sam (previously voiced by
Mel Blanc, later voiced by
Maurice LaMarche), Boo-Berry in the series of
monster cereal commercials, and The Farmer who helps The Little Green Sprout, (voiced by
Ike Eisenmann), by demonstrating the
Jolly Green Giant's sweet and tender vegetables. He also played a British detective in a 1971 non-animated television commercial for
Taster's Choice coffee. When the character segués into a manic rant for a few lines, the voice anticipates the
Ludwig Von Drake characterization. Frees appeared on several other Spike Jones recordings including "Pop Corn Sack" also from 1947 in which he provided the voices of
Charles Boyer,
Edward G. Robinson,
Katharine Hepburn and
Al Jolson. • Dialog looping for French actor
Jacques Roux, among other uncredited voice work, in the 1963 film
The List of Adrian Messenger • The
Orson Welles sound-alike narrator in
Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America Vol. 1: The Early Years. When Vol. 2 came out after his death, he was replaced by
Corey Burton. • The voice of Peter Tishman who purchases Manhattan from the Indians on
Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume One: The Early Years (sounding very much like Ludwig Von Drake) • Another Orson Welles sound-alike as the voice of the aliens in
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers • Yet another Orson Welles sound-alike opening the film
Burn, Witch, Burn!, the American release of
Night of the Eagle (1962), where for over two minutes he talks about witchcraft and invokes a banishing spell over the audience • Yet again, as an Orson Welles sound-alike narrator in the 1967 film ''
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre'' • Uncredited voice of a reporter trying to get a quote from General George S. Patton in the 1970 film
Patton • Screen credit for multiple voices in the 1971 animated television film
The Point! • Uncredited voice of the sentient
supercomputer Colossus in the film
Colossus: The Forbin Project • Narration for the spoof short film
Hardware Wars (1977), which was styled as a mock
film trailer specifically parodying Malachi Throne's narration of the original
Star Wars trailer • Second Voice of
KARR in "K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R."a 3rd-season episode of
Knight Rider • Voice of "Josephine" (the female persona of
Tony Curtis's character Joe) in the
Billy Wilder film
Some Like It Hot • The voice of Dr. Hu in the English-language version of
King Kong Escapes • The voices of "Antoine" and "Alecto" in the English-language version of
Atoll K (aka
Utopia) • The voice of the hermit crab Crusty in
The Incredible Mr. Limpet, a
Warner Bros. feature that mixed live action with animation • Intro voice for the 1967 sitcom
Mister Terrific • Intro voice for
Bradbury 13, a series of thirteen radio dramas featuring
Ray Bradbury short stories, originally produced for National Public Radio by Michael McDonough at Brigham Young University, 1984 • Credited with singing "
Darktown Strutters' Ball" in the 1971 film
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (as heard on the film's
soundtrack album, along with several other songs performed in character but not used in the film) • Voice of the title character in the 1957 film
The Cyclops • Narrator of extended recap title sequence in early first-season episodes of
I Dream of Jeannie in 1965 (and the show's sponsor I.D. announcer during season one) • Featured on the 1959 Spike Jones album
Spike Jones in Hi-Fi, A Spooktacular in Screaming Sound in recordings "Poisen to Poisen", "My Old Flame", "Everything Happens to Me" and "This is your Death", doing the vocal and voices. "Tammy": vocal by Paul Frees, "Two Heads are Better than One": vocal by George Rock and Paul Frees. • The uncredited voice of the radio news announcer in the 1964 musical film
Robin and the 7 Hoods • The uncredited voice of Levi Calhoun (played by Robert Tessier) in the 1975 Western
Breakheart Pass • The uncredited English voice of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in the 1976 film
Midway • Narrator and Voice of Satan (visualized in the film as a snake) in the 1962 film ''
The World's Greatest Sinner''
Other credits Although Frees was primarily known for his voice work (like
Mel Blanc, he was known in the industry as "The Man of a Thousand Voices"), he was also a songwriter and screenwriter. His most notable screenwriting work was the little-seen 1959 film
The Beatniks, a screed against the then-rising
Beat counterculture in the vein of
Reefer Madness. In 1992, the film was mocked on an episode of
Mystery Science Theater 3000. On rare occasions, Frees appeared on-camera, usually in minor roles. In 1954, he appeared in the film noir classic
Suddenly starring
Frank Sinatra and
Sterling Hayden. He played a scientist in
The Thing from Another World, a death-row priest in
A Place in the Sun, and French fur trader McMasters in
The Big Sky. In 1955, he appeared as an irate husband suing his wife (played by
Ann Doran) for
alimony in an episode of
CBS's sitcom
The Ray Milland Show; and, in 1957, in an uncredited role as a helicopter pilot in the 1957 science-fiction movie,
Beginning of the End. In
Jet Pilot, Frees plays a menacing Soviet officer whose job is to watchdog pilot
Janet Leigh, but instead manages to eject himself from a parked jet, enabling Leigh to rescue
John Wayne and fly back to the West. He is also credited with narrating the opening of the 1958-1959 series
Rescue 8 starring Jim Davis and Lang Jefferies. In the 1970 film
Patton, Frees provided the voices of a war correspondent interviewing
Patton while Patton rides his horse, and of a member of Patton's staff, as well as voice-overs for several other actors, including the Moroccan official hosting a troop review for Patton. Frees is also heard in
Tora! Tora! Tora! as the English-language voice of the Japanese ambassador to the United States. He also does the final narration in
Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the first sequel to
Planet of the Apes. ==Legacy==