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Jeff Bergman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jeff Bergman
Bergman at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Jeffrey Bergman

(1960-07-10) July 10, 1960 (age 64)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Pittsburgh
OccupationVoice actor
Years active1974–present
Children2
Signature

Jeffrey Bergman (born July 10, 1960)[1][2] is an American voice actor who has provided the modern-day voices of various classic cartoon characters, most notably with Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera.

Bergman was the first to replace Mel Blanc as the voice of Bugs Bunny and several other Warner Bros. cartoon characters following Blanc's death in 1989. Bergman shared the roles of Blanc's characters with Greg Burson and Joe Alaskey before their respective deaths in 2008 and 2016, as well as Bob Bergen, Billy West, Jim Cummings, Maurice LaMarche, Fred Tatasciore, and Eric Bauza for various Warner Bros. Animation productions.

Early life

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Bergman was born on July 10, 1960, to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2][3] Throughout his early life, he impersonated several celebrities and cartoon characters, his first impression being comic influence Ed Sullivan at the age of 6. At the age of 15, Bergman began doing impressions of various Looney Tunes characters.[2]

He studied theatre and communications at the University of Pittsburgh where he first did voice work after becoming involved with a student-run radio station and interning at the KQV and WDVE radio stations.[2][4] While there, he made his first demo reel and was profiled in a story on KDKA-TV's Evening Magazine. The story was picked up on similar TV news magazines shows and helped land him his representation with William Morris Agency following his graduation from Pitt in 1983.

During his time at university, Bergman attended an on-campus lecture by Mel Blanc, who was best known for voicing the Looney Tunes such as Bugs Bunny. Bergman later tracked Blanc down and met him at his Oakland hotel room in 1981, where Bergman imitated Blanc's characters for him, earning himself a 45-minute session. Bergman credits Blanc with helping him graduate two years later.[2][4]

Career

[edit]

Bergman voiced the Pillsbury Doughboy from 1986 to 2014 following Paul Frees' death in 1986.[5] Bergman's work with Warner Bros. began in 1986, recording voices for The Bugs Bunny Show. After being rebuffed several times by Warner Bros. directors, he recorded a tape of himself as several of Blanc's characters, including Bugs Bunny. He took the tape to the production company and used a switch to toggle back and forth between his work and the original Mel Blanc recording. Then-Warner Bros. president Edward Bleier was unable to tell the difference between the voices,[6] and Bergman, at the age of 29, became the first performer to provide the voice of Bugs Bunny after Mel Blanc died on July 10, 1989 – Bergman's 29th birthday.[2]

Bergman's first performance as Bugs Bunny was during the 62nd Academy Awards as Bugs presented the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.[7] He voiced Bugs, as well as Daffy Duck, during the 1990 TV specials Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue and The Earth Day Special (also voicing Tweety Bird and Porky Pig in the latter). That same year, he also lent his voice to Bugs, Daffy and Porky in the animated sequences of Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). Bergman later voiced Bugs and Daffy again as well as Elmer Fudd in the 1991 theatrical short Box-Office Bunny, Bugs's first in over 25 years. He voiced Bugs, Daffy, Elmer and Yosemite Sam in the 1991 short (Blooper) Bunny, as well as several characters (including Sylvester the Cat and Foghorn Leghorn) in animated TV specials and newer animated series such as Tiny Toon Adventures and The Plucky Duck Show.

Outside of the Looney Tunes, Bergman also voiced George Jetson and Mr. Spacely in Jetsons: The Movie (1990) when their previous voice actors George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc both died during production;[6] he had been working at his local radio station in Pennsylvania when he received the call to travel to California and complete the dialogue. He also voiced George Jetson in the theme park attraction The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. By the mid-1990s, Bergman decided to not continue voicing the Looney Tunes, due to reluctance about relocating to Los Angeles. At the time, he was living in Pittsburgh so Warner Bros. hired other voice actors such as Joe Alaskey (who was the first person to replace Blanc as the voice of Yosemite Sam in Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988), Greg Burson, Bob Bergen, Billy West and Blanc's son Noel Blanc.[8]

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bergman continued voicing various Hanna-Barbera characters, namely Fred Flintstone, in newer specials such as The Flintstones: On the Rocks following Henry Corden's retirement from the role in 2000, only understudying the voices of the Looney Tunes in times when Alaskey and West were not available. In 2003, he voiced Bugs in a sketch on the NBC comedy show Saturday Night Live. Eventually, after almost 20 years, and after sporadically appearing as the Looney Tunes characters for nearly two decades, he returned as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester the Cat, Pepé Le Pew and Tweety in 2011's The Looney Tunes Show.[4] He also returned for the 2015 series New Looney Tunes, voicing Bugs, Foghorn, Sylvester and Elmer Fudd, as well as other minor characters such as Michigan J. Frog. He also voices some characters in Looney Tunes Cartoons; Eric Bauza voices Bugs, Daffy, and Tweety for that series, with Bergman handling Foghorn, Sylvester and Elmer Fudd.

Bergman is a recurring cast member on Family Guy, usually voicing Fred Flintstone and Sylvester the Cat, as well as The Cleveland Show and American Dad!.

From 2000 until 2015, Bergman was also the announcer of Turner Broadcasting's Boomerang.

Bergman had a recurring role as a radio intern Gus Kahana on the AMC comedy-drama Remember WENN, which aired in the late 1990s.[4] He also provided the voice of Zap in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, Skylanders: Giants, Skylanders: Swap Force, Skylanders: Trap Team, Skylanders: SuperChargers, and Skylanders: Imaginators.

More recently, Bergman became the new voice of Eustace Bagge in the Courage the Cowardly Dog/Scooby-Doo crossover, Straight Out of Nowhere, replacing the previous voice actors, the late Lionel Wilson and the late Arthur Anderson.

Characters

[edit]

Bergman has voiced a large quantity of characters over his career. His vocal repertoire includes Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Taz, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, Boo Boo, Ranger Smith, Wally Gator, Pixie and Dixie, Baba Looey, Mr. Jinks, Top Cat, Officer Dibble, Peter Potamus, George Jetson, Elroy Jetson, Astro, Mr. Spacely, Garfield, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Mr. Slate, Dino, Lippy the Lion, Mr. Incredible, Hadji, Dr. Benton C. Quest, Race Bannon, Squiddly Diddly, Fleegle, Droopy, and Eustace Bagge.

Personal life

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Bergman lives in Los Angeles, California, and has two sons.[9]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
List of performances in film
Year Title Role Notes
1990 The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera George Jetson, Ghosts, Police Chief Short film
Gremlins 2: The New Batch Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig Looney Tunes segments
Jetsons: The Movie George Jetson, Mr. Spacely, Basketball Coach Stand-in for George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc, after their deaths in 1989
Box-Office Bunny Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck Short film
1991 (Blooper) Bunny Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam
1992 Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig
1998 The Secret of Mulan Additional voices Direct-to-video
2006 Porky and Daffy in the William Tell Overture Porky Pig Short film
2010 Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes Butch, Droopy Direct-to-video
2010 Despicable Me Additional Voices
2012 Big Miracle Ronald Reagan
Foodfight! Charlie Tuna
2013 Despicable Me 2 Additional Voices
2014 The Lego Movie
2015 The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! Fred Flintstone[10] Direct-to-video
Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew
2016 Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders The Joker
2017 The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! George Jetson, Mr. Spacely
Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Droopy, American Reporter
Batman vs. Two-Face The Joker, Bookworm, Desmond Dumas
Despicable Me 3 Additional Voices
2021 Tom & Jerry Droopy Uncredited
Space Jam: A New Legacy Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Yogi Bear, Fred Flintstone [11][12][13]
Straight Outta Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog Eustace Bagge, Computer, Mayor Direct-to-video

Television

[edit]
List of performances on television
Year Title Role Notes
1984 The New Show Walter Kronkite's Wonderful World of Bloopers Announcer, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, George Jetson [14]
1986 The Bugs Bunny Show Additional Voices
1990 Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck TV short, first to voice after Blanc's death
The Earth Day Special Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Porky Pig
1990–1991 Tiny Toon Adventures Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Tasmanian Devil, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, Tweety, Additional voices
1991 Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes Bugs Bunny, Pepé Le Pew TV short
Bugs Bunny's Overtures to Disaster Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, Papa Bear, Mr. Meek
1992 Bugs Bunny's Creature Features Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam
The Plucky Duck Show Foghorn Leghorn, Daffy Duck Episodes: "A Quack in the Quarks", "A Ditch in Time" and "Slugfest/Duck Dodgers Jr./Duck Trek"
1996–1999 Doug Coach Spitz
2000-2015 Boomerang Commercial Announcer
2001 The Flintstones: On the Rocks Fred Flintstone, Parking Guard, Vendor TV movie
The Jetsons: Father & Son Day George Jetson, Elroy Jetson, Mr. Cosmo Spacely
2002 Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law George Jetson, Bakov, Clown Episode: "Shaggy Busted"
The Jetsons: The Best Son George Jetson, Elroy Jetson, Robot Boy
2003 Cartoon Network's Funniest Bloopers and Other Embarrassing Moments Porky Pig, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, George Jetson, Foghorn Leghorn, Barnyard Dawg, Henery Hawk TV short
2004 Johnny Bravo Fred Flintstone Episode: "Wilderness Protection Program/A Page Right Out of History"
2006–present Family Guy Fred Flintstone, Sylvester the Cat, Max Weinstein, Victor, Homer Simpson
2007 Totally Spies! Dr. Seth Douglass 34 episodes
2008, 2009 Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy Host, Fred Flintstone Episodes: "A Dog on the $25,000 Pyramid"
"Fred and Barney Try to Get Into a Club"
"Fred Flintstone Takes a Shit"
2010 The Cleveland Show Alda-nator, Garrison Keillor Episodes: "Love Rollercoaster"
"Buried Pleasure"
2011–2014 The Looney Tunes Show Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Girardi
2012 Cartoon Network 20th Anniversary Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck
2013 Mad Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, James P. Sullivan, Dan Schneider Episodes: "First White House Down/McDuck Dynasty"
"Iron Bland 3/Monsters Community"
"World War ZZZ/SHAZAM! & Cat"
2014 Rick and Morty Additional voices Episode: "Rixty Minutes"
Phineas and Ferb Episode: "The Klimpaloon Ultimatum"
Mike Tyson Mysteries Elton John, Elon Musk, Robert Redford, The Phantasm, Voice
2015–2020 New Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Michigan J. Frog, Boyd (Season 2), Poochini Voice[15]
2016 American Dad Additional voices Episode: "Next of Pin"
2018 We Bare Bears Narrator Episode: "El Oso"
2018–2020 Our Cartoon President Donald Trump, Lou Dobbs, Joe Biden, Bill de Blasio, John F. Kennedy Voice
2019 Amphibia Jonah, Additional voices Episode: "Cracking Mrs. Croaker"
2020 Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs Fred Flintstone, Mr. Slate Voice
2020–2023 Looney Tunes Cartoons Sylvester, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Ralph Wolf
2020 Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous Mr. DNA
2020 Animaniacs Sylvester Episode: "Suffragette City"
2021–present Jellystone! Yogi Bear, Ranger Smith, Wally Gator, Mr. Jinks, Lippy the Lion, Dirty Dawg, Snake, Fred Flintstone, George Jetson, Ookla the Mok Voice
2022 Pibby Fred Flintstone
2022 Ada Twist, Scientist Tooth Troll Episode: "Tooth Fairy Bells"
2022–present Bugs Bunny Builders Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn Voice
2023–present Tiny Toons Looniversity Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Foghorn Leghorn Voice[16]
2023 What If...? Odin Voice (2 episodes)

Video games

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1992 Taz-Mania Tasmanian Devil Sega Genesis version
1994 Flintstones/Jetsons: Timewarp Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Dino, Baby Puss, George Jetson, Rosie the Robot Maid, Mr. Spacely, Officer, Satellite Number 4-15 Pilot, Spacely's Sprockets Computer, Muscle Trainer 3000, Interstellar Express Ship, Sleeping Worker, R.U.D.I., Ring Salesman, Food Rack Cycle, Alpha Seltxer 3000, Apollo Anti-Gravity Dish Machine, Garbage Disposatizer 3000, Encyclopedia Titanic, Alphabet Machine, Tree Brontosaurus, Mower-a-Saurus, Elephant, Bear Rug, Birds, Gravaldo, Movie Dinosaur, Caveman, Bathing Dinosaur, Compactosaurus, Dishwasher Pelican, Sawing Bird, Hammering Bird, Office Worker, Caveman, Dinosaur, Groks, Caveman Tourist [17][18]
Taz in Escape from Mars Tasmanian Devil
2011 Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure Zap
2012 The Expendables 2 Videogame Barney Ross
Skylanders: Giants Zap
2013 Skylanders: Swap Force
2014 Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes: Cartoon Universe Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester
Skylanders: Trap Team Zap
Looney Tunes Dash! Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Tweety, Sylvester, Tasmanian Devil, Tasmanian She-Devil, Foghorn Leghorn, Beaky Buzzard [19]
2015 The Flintstones Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble Slot machine[20]
Skylanders: SuperChargers Zap [21]
2016 Ice Age: Arctic Blast Manny [22]
Skylanders: Imaginators Zap
2018 Lego The Incredibles Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible [23]
The Flintstones: Welcome to Bedrock Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble Slot machine[24]
Yogi Bear Yogi Bear, Ranger Smith Slot machine[25][26]
2020 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Ronald Reagan

Theme parks

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Year Title Role Notes
2015 Wun Wabbit Wun Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd [1]
2017 Daffy Duck Dance Off Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Tweety
2018 The Flintstones Bedrock River Adventure Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble
Meet Bugs (And Daffy) Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester
Ani-Mayhem Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Barnyard Dawg

Commercials

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1986–2014 The Pillsbury Company Pillsbury Doughboy [5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Jeff Bergman". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on July 24, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tim Nydell (January 30, 2013). "Episode: 9: Jeff Bergman interview (Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck in The Looney Tunes Show)". Luminary (Podcast). Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  3. ^ "Meet the man behind the voice of Bugs Bunny, Jeffery Bergman". WTAE-TV. July 17, 2021. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d Owen, Rob (May 1, 2011). "Pitt grad voices Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck on Cartoon Network". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on July 24, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "How Well Do You Know the Pillsbury Doughboy?". Pillsbury.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Graham, Jefferson (June 30, 1990). "Porky and pals get new, familiar voice". The Tennessean. p. 7-D. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Short Film Winners: 1990 Oscars. Retrieved July 23, 2022 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ Ramírez, Sebastián Ortiz [@SebastainGOR3] (July 19, 2021). "Jeff Bergman confirmed that he only did the roles temporarily and decided to not continue voicing them because he wasn't ready to start a career in Los Angeles yet. (Jeff lived or lives in Pittsburgh.)"" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 3, 2022 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Leigh Livingstone and Tim Iffland. "Jeff Bergman". Popcorn Podcast (Podcast). Archived from the original on July 24, 2022.
  10. ^ The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! Closing Credits
  11. ^ Bergman, Jeff (Summer 2021). "Making A Good Impression". Pitt Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Susan Wiedel. University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. The movie stars LeBron James, Zendaya, Don Cheadle—and Bergman, of course, who voices Bugs Bunny, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Yogi Bear and Fred Flintstone.
  12. ^ Anderson, Jenna (October 1, 2020). "Jeff Bergman Talks Our Cartoon President, Space Jam: A New Legacy, and More". Comicbook. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  13. ^ "Space Jam: A New Legacy - Trailer 1". YouTube.com. Warner Bros. April 3, 2021. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
  14. ^ "The New Show". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  15. ^ "Buddha Bugs/Now and Zen". Wabbit. Season 1. Episode 1. September 21, 2015. Cartoon Network.
  16. ^ "Meet the All-Star Voice Cast for "Tiny Toons Looniversity"" (Press release). Cartoon Network. June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023 – via The Futon Critic.
  17. ^ "Flintstones/Jetsons: Timewarp". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "Flintstones vs. Jetsons – Timewarp Back". The world of CD-i. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  19. ^ "Looney Tunes Dash!". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  20. ^ "Flintstones Slot Machine from WMS Gaming". YouTube. October 5, 2014. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  21. ^ Vicarious Visions. Skylanders: SuperChargers. Activision. Scene: Closing credits, 7:13 in, Voice Actors.
  22. ^ "Ice Age: Arctic Blast". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  23. ^ "Lego The Incredibles". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  24. ^ "The Flintstones - Welcome to Bedrock". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  25. ^ "Yogi Bear Slot Machine Gameplay". YouTube. December 11, 2019. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  26. ^ "Yogi Bear Slot Machine". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
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