Jeff Bergman
Jeff Bergman | |
---|---|
Born | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | July 10, 1960
Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh |
Occupation | Voice actor |
Years active | 1986–present |
Jeff 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 characters.
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 alternated with Greg Burson and Joe Alaskey before their respective deaths in 2008 and 2016, and with Eric Bauza, in voicing several of Blanc's characters for various Warner Bros. Animation productions.
Early life[]
Bergman was born on July 10, 1960, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2] 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. He studied theater and communications at the University of Pittsburgh where he first did voice work when he got involved with a student-run radio station and interned at KQV and WDVE radio stations in Pittsburgh.[2][3] 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 Pitt, he encountered voice actor and comedian Mel Blanc, who was best known for voicing groundbreaking animated characters, such as Bugs Bunny, Tweety, and Barney Rubble. They met in Blanc's hotel room in 1981, where Bergman voiced Blanc's characters for him, earning himself a 45-minute session. Bergman credits Blanc with helping him gain his diploma two years later.[2][3]
Career[]
Bergman voiced the Pillsbury Doughboy following Paul Frees' death in 1986 to 2013. 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. The producers were unable to tell the difference between the voices,[citation needed] 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]
His first performance as Bugs Bunny, as well as Daffy Duck, was in 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). Bergman later voiced Bugs and Daffy again as well as Elmer Fudd in the 1991 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. He also lent his voice to Bugs, Daffy and Porky in the animated sequences of Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Outside of Looney Tunes, Bergman also voiced George Jetson in the theme park attraction The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. Bergman later conceded that he had begun promoting himself as the new official voice of the Looney Tunes characters. Warner Bros. took exception to this and, to avoid repeating the stranglehold of Mel Blanc's exclusivity,[4] began using 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, Billy West and Blanc's son Noel Blanc.
Throughout the 2000s, Bergman kept himself busy by voicing various Hanna-Barbera characters, namely Fred Flintstone, in newer specials such as The Flintstones: On the Rocks, only rarely returning to 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. 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 also voiced George Jetson and Mr. Spacely in Jetsons: The Movie when their previous voice actors George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc both died during production – he had been working at his local radio station in Pennsylvania when he received the call to travel to California and complete the dialogue. 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!. He also gave a voice sample for a character in the 2011 Spyro game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.
From 2000 until 2015, Bergman was also the voice 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.[3] He also voiced Zap in Skylanders: Giants, Skylanders: Swap Force, Skylanders: Trap Team, Skylanders: SuperChargers, and Skylanders: Imaginators.
Bergman is the new voice of Eustace Bagge in the upcoming Courage the Cowardly Dog/Scooby-Doo crossover, Straight Out of Nowhere, filling in for the previous artists, the late Lionel Wilson and the late Arthur Anderson.
Personal life[]
Bergman resides in New York City.[5]
Filmography[]
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 |
Short film |
1992 | Invasion of the Bunny Snatchers | Bugs Bunny Daffy Duck Elmer Fudd Yosemite Sam Porky Pig |
Short film |
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 | |
2012 | Foodfight! | Charlie Tuna | |
2013 | Despicable Me 2 | Additional Voices | |
2014 | The Lego Movie | Additional Voices | |
2015 | The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! | Fred Flintstone[6] | Direct-to-video |
Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run | Bugs Bunny Daffy Duck Foghorn Leghorn Pepé Le Pew |
Direct-to-video | |
2016 | Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders | The Joker | Direct-to-video |
2017 | The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania! | George Jetson Mr. Spacely |
Direct-to-video |
2017 | Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory | Droopy, American Reporter | Direct-to-video |
2017 | Batman vs. Two-Face | The Joker, Bookworm and Desmond Dumas | |
2017 | Despicable Me 3 | Additional Voices | |
2021 | Tom & Jerry | Droopy | Uncredited |
2021 | Space Jam: A New Legacy | Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Yogi Bear, and Fred Flintstone | [7][8][9] |
2021 | Straight Out of Nowhere: Scooby-Doo! Meets Courage the Cowardly Dog | Eustace Bagge | Direct-to-video |
Television[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
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 |
TV short | |
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" "Slugfest/Duck Dodgers Jr./Duck Trek" | |
1995–2000 | Ace Ventura: Pet Detective | Additional voices | |
1996–1999 | Doug | Coach Spitz | |
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 |
TV movie | |
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 | Saturday Night Live | Bugs Bunny Viet Cong Propaganda Skunk Grape Ape |
Episode: "Queen Latifah/Ms. Dynamite" |
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" |
2005 | Being Ian | Additional Voices | Episode: "The Kelleys" |
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" |
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–present | Teen Titans Go! | Tucker X, Ace Mulligan, Larry Burgess, Horace Tutt, Jr. | 45 episodes |
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 | Additional voices | Episode: "The Klimpaloon Ultimatum" | |
Mike Tyson Mysteries | Elton John (Episode 3) Elon Musk (Episode 3) Robert Redford (Episode 4) The Phantasm (Episode 39) |
Voice | |
2015–2020 | New Looney Tunes | Bugs Bunny Sylvester Foghorn Leghorn Elmer Fudd Michigan J. Frog Boyd (Season 2) Poochini |
Voice[10] |
2016 | Uncle Grandpa | Bugs Bunny | Episode: "Pizza Eve" |
American Dad | Additional voices | Episode: "Next of Pin" | |
2016–2018 | Bunnicula | Mike Myers | 104 episodes |
2017 | Comrade Detective | Graffiti Cop #1 (voice) | Episode: "Bread Is Bread" |
2017 | Chuck's Choice | G'Dook, G'nooki | Main role; Episode: "The Good, The Bad and The UD" |
2017 | True and the Rainbow Kingdom | Robot Maximus | |
2018–2020 | Rusty Rivets | Frankford | |
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" |
2019 | The Loud House | Additional Voices | Episode: "Friended! with the Casagrandes" |
2020 | Yabba-Dabba Dinosaurs | Fred Flintstone | Voice |
2020–present | Looney Tunes Cartoons | Sylvester Elmer Fudd Foghorn Leghorn Ralph Wolf |
Voice |
2020 | Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous | Mr. DNA | Voice |
2021 | Jellystone! | Yogi Bear Wally Gator Mr. Jinks Lippy the Lion |
Voice |
Video games[]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | Taz-Mania | Tasmanian Devil | Sega Genesis version |
1994 | Flintstones/Jetsons: Timewarp | Fred Flintstone Barney Rubble George Jetson Mr. Spacely Officer Muscle Trainer 3000 Interstellar Express Ship R.U.D.I. Ring Salesman Office Worker Spacely's Sprockets Computer Caveman Caveman Tourist |
[11][12] |
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 | Zap | |
2014 | Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes: Cartoon Universe | Bugs Bunny Daffy Duck Foghorn Leghorn Sylvester |
|
2015 | The Jetsons | George Jetson | Slot machine |
Skylanders: Trap Team | Zap | ||
Looney Tunes Dash! | Bugs Bunny Daffy Duck Elmer Fudd Yosemite Sam Tweety Sylvester Tasmanian Devil Foghorn Leghorn Beaky Buzzard |
[13] | |
The Flintstones | Fred Flintstone Barney Rubble |
Slot machine[14] | |
Skylanders: SuperChargers | Zap | [15] | |
2016 | Ice Age: Arctic Blast | Manny | [16] |
Skylanders: Imaginators | Zap | ||
2018 | Lego The Incredibles | Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible | [17] |
The Flintstones: Welcome to Bedrock | Fred Flintstone Barney Rubble |
Slot machine[18] | |
Yogi Bear | Yogi Bear Ranger Smith |
Slot machine[19][20] | |
2020 | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | Ronald Reagan |
References[]
- ^ "Jeff Bergman (visual voices guide)". Behind the Voice Actors.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Bergman, Jeff (January 30, 2013). "Episode: 9: Jeff Bergman interview (Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck in The Looney Tunes Show)". Luminary (Interview). Interviewed by Tim Nydell. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Owen, Rob (May 1, 2011). "Pitt grad voices Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck on Cartoon Network". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA.
- ^ That's Still Not All Folks! 2009, by Joe Alaskey, page 96 ISBN 978-1593931124
- ^ https://www.bubbleblabber.com/exclusive-our-cartoon-presidents-jeff-bergman/
- ^ The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! Closing Credits
- ^ Bergman, Jeff (Summer 2021). "Making A Good Impression". Pitt Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Susan Wiedel. University of Pittsburgh.
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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Space Jam: A New Legacy - Trailer 1". YouTube.com. Warner Bros. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Buddha Bugs/Now and Zen". Wabbit. Season 1. Episode 1. September 21, 2015. Cartoon Network.
- ^ "Flintstones/Jetsons: Timewarp". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "Flintstones vs. Jetsons – Timewarp Back". The world of CD-i. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "Looney Tunes Dash!". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "Flintstones Slot Machine from WMS Gaming". YouTube. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ Vicarious Visions. Skylanders: SuperChargers. Activision. Scene: Closing credits, 7:13 in, Voice Actors.
- ^ "Ice Age: Arctic Blast". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "Lego The Incredibles". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
- ^ "The Flintstones - Welcome to Bedrock". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
- ^ "Yogi Bear Slot Machine Gameplay". YouTube. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
- ^ "Yogi Bear Slot Machine". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
External links[]
- Jeff Bergman at IMDb
- Jeff Bergman at Voice Chasers
- Jeff Bergma – TV.com
- Jeff Bergman Credits – TV Guide
- 1960 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American comedians
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American comedians
- 21st-century American male actors
- American impressionists (entertainers)
- American male comedians
- American male voice actors
- Comedians from Pennsylvania
- Hanna-Barbera people
- Male actors from Philadelphia
- University of Pittsburgh alumni