Live-action roles His live action film career has included roles in films such as
Thunder Alley (1967),
Blue (1968),
The Proud Rider (1971)
Brother John (1971),
Rollercoaster (1977),
Fast Company (1979),
How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980) and
C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1989). Bell also appeared in live-action exploitation shorts and
PSAs - scare films made in California during the early 1960s, ranging in content from venereal disease (
Damaged Goods) to psychedelic drug abuse (
Trip To Where). He appeared in the
Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot episode, "
Encounter at Farpoint", as Bandi administrator Groppler Zorn, and in the
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "
The Homecoming" as a
Bajoran and in "
The Maquis." Bell appeared in multiple episodes of
Dallas as Les Crowley during the 1980–81 season, in
M*A*S*H in the episode "Souvenirs" as Willie Stratton and also guest starred in two episodes of ''
Three's Company'' as Rama Mageesh and Michael, a sleazy dance instructor in the sixth-season episode "Some of That Jazz" (1981). Bell played Bill Duncan, Sabrina (
Kate Jackson)'s ex-husband on ''
Charlie's Angels'', as well as appearing as King Edward Spencer on Jackson's series
Scarecrow and Mrs. King. In 1970, he appeared in an episode of
The Silent Force.
1970s and 1980s voice work Bell had an important part in animated entertainment in the 1970s and 1980s. His first voice role was that of Stutz, the leader of
The Houndcats. In 1973, he was Mark on the
Hanna-Barbera series
Speed Buggy. He voiced Redbeard the Pirate's Ghost in
The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode "The Ghostly Creep from the Deep" as the second Redbeard themed monster in Scooby-Doo. Bell also reprised Mark on the same cartoon in the episode "Weird Winds of Winona". From 1977 to 1984, Michael Bell played two of his best-known roles,
Zan and
Gleek on various
Super Friends incarnations. He also voiced
The Riddler on
Challenge of the Superfriends. He also provided the voice of
Lex Luthor as a young man, in the episode "History of Doom". However,
Stan Jones was the voice of the adult Luthor throughout the series. Bell later played Luthor in the 1988
Superman series. He was also Doctor Ben Cooper in
Jana of the Jungle and in 1979, he voiced the title character of
The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and later made a guest appearance as
Doctor Octopus in another superhero show,
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. Outside of animation, Bell performed on records and commercials, including the Young Man in
A&M Records'
Story of Halloween Horror album in 1977, and Parkay Margarine and Mug Root Beer ads. Bell provided the overdubbing of
Peter Criss' dialogue in the band
KISS's TV movie
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. In 1980, he provided the voice of the title character in
The B.B. Beegle Show, an unsold TV show pilot that featured puppets. Throughout the 1980s, Michael Bell starred in four hit animated series; • as
Grouchy Smurf, Lazy Smurf,
Handy Smurf and Johan in
The Smurfs • as
Prowl,
Scrapper,
Sideswipe, Bombshell,
First Aid, Swoop, Gort,
Brainstorm and Doctor Fujiyama in
The Transformers and
The Transformers: The Movie • as
Duke, Xamot,
Blowtorch and numerous others in
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and
G.I. Joe: The Movie • as Lance & Sven in
Voltron: Defender of the Universe. He also starred in the 1982 animated series
The Incredible Hulk.
The Hulk was voiced by
Bob Holt, while his human side, Bruce Banner, was played by Bell. In a 2004 interview, Bell joked about how Holt would be annoyed that he was growling his throat out, while Bell's acting was much easier on his throat. During this time, the actor also played Hiro Taka on
Spiral Zone and Allstar Seaworthy on
The Snorks (1984-1989)
Later voice work Bell continues to work in animation in the 1990s and into the 21st century in movies and television, with roles such as
Quackerjack from
Disney's
Darkwing Duck, Aziz on
Aladdin and
Ezekiel Rage on
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. He was also featured as Opus in the Bloom County television special
A Wish for Wings That Work. From 1991 to 2004, in the
Rugrats and
All Grown Up!, he voiced three of the main characters' parents;
Drew Pickles, Charles Finster Sr., and Boris Kropotkin. Bell did the voices of Drake on
W.I.T.C.H., Max Hauser, Duke's Dad on
G.I. Joe: Renegades, Willy Wachowski on
Handy Manny and additional roles in
Tangled (2010). In 2018, Bell reprised his role as Quackerjack on the reboot of
DuckTales.
Video game voice work He is also a prolific voice in video games, which include
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix,
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos,
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction,
Age of Empires III, ''
Baldur's Gate,
Ratchet & Clank, the character Dark Fact in the game Ys I & II, and the character Raziel in four games in the Legacy of Kain'' series, among many others. He also plays the Fear in
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Documentary narration He narrated the documentary programs ''
Earth's Fury (also known as Anatomy of Disaster
internationally), Expeditions to the Edge
, Bullet Catchers
and Mysteries of Asia
, while he narrated some episodes of E! True Hollywood Story''.
Stage roles In 1983, he and his future wife Victoria Carroll opened The West End Playhouse in Van Nuys. The two of them organized, wrote, directed, and acted in dozens of productions. One of the most notable was
The Ladies of the Camillias in which Bell played the villain Ivan and Victoria starred as Madame Sarah Bernhardt. The play won multiple Drama Logue Awards. He served as the theater's director until 1988, when by mutual agreement to devote more time to their child, Bell and Carroll sold the theater to Edmund Gaynes and Pamela Hall.
Voice director Bell was the voice director for
Kidd Video,
Peter Pan and the Pirates, as well as the web series
The LeBrons. ==Union activism==