Bill Farmer (born November 14, 1952) is an American voice actor, comedian and impressionist. He has performed the voice of the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

character

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled f ...

since 1987, and has also been the voice of

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the S ...

and Horace Horsecollar since 1990.

Early life

Farmer was born on November 14, 1952, in

Pratt, Kansas Pratt is a city in and the county seat of Pratt County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,603. It is home to Pratt Community College. History 19th century Pratt was founded in 1884 and named after ...

, the second child in his family. His parents were of English and Welsh descent. Farmer began doing voices, at the age of 10, involved doing impressions, especially those of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

stars like

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

Walter Brennan Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...

. He and his friends would sometimes go through fast food drive-thrus and order foods in his character voices. Farmer graduated from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in 1975, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. In university, he found work in radio and TV and then moved on to

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

as an impressionist. In 1982, while he was still doing stand-up comedy, Farmer worked at a comedy club called the Comedy Corner in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. He continued to work there until his move to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

in 1986, where he began voicing Goofy in January 1987. His decision to move to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

came from a Dallas commercial agent who suggested that, given his talent for voices, he should try his luck in California. He was recently married, but he and his wife talked it over and came to an arrangement. She stayed back in Dallas while he commuted for a year after he got an apartment. Then four months after his moving out to Hollywood, his agent asked him if he could do any Disney characters.

Career

Farmer asserts that voice acting is not about funny voices, but about acting. His mentor was the versatile voice actor

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...

, the man behind many of

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

's characters. He taught Farmer that when doing cartoon voices, a person is not merely doing a funny voice, but they are an actor and the acting is premier and that one has to think like the character one is performing. In 1987, Farmer had a small part as reporter Justin Ballard-Watkins in the film ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Fer ...

''. His very first voice over audition was for Goofy. When he auditioned for the voice, he studied the way the original actor

Pinto Colvig Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. C ...

performed as Goofy in the classic cartoons. He studied the hilarious laugh and the distinctive "gawrsh". He inherited the voice of Goofy (and also

) around the same time

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until h ...

inherited

Minnie Mouse Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As the longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a bow, polka-dotted dress, white bloomers, and low-heeled shoes occasional ...

. He originated the voice of Horace Horsecollar in Disney's version of ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547 ...

'' and has played him ever since as well. Farmer also performed additional voices on '' The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse'' (1987) and ''

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 '' tankōbon'' ...

'' (2004). Other significant characters he has played include

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented ...

and

Foghorn Leghorn Foghorn Leghorn is a cartoon rooster who appears in ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons and films from Warner Bros. Animation. He was created by Robert McKimson, and starred in 29 cartoons from 1946 to 1964 in the golden age of A ...

in the film ''

Space Jam ''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel ...

'' (1996). He has also done several guest voices, both on TV, including '' The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' and in video games, including the ''Destroy All Humans!'' series,

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiun ...

's ''

Tales of Symphonia is an action role-playing game released for the Nintendo GameCube on August 29, 2003, in Japan. It was published by Namco and is the fifth core product of the ''Tales'' series. The game was localized and released in North America on July 13, 2 ...

'', where he voiced Governor-General Dorr, in

Square Enix is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game franchises, among numerous ...

's ''

Kingdom Hearts is a series of action role-playing games developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company and is under the leadership of Tetsuya Nomura, a longtime Square ...

'' series reprising the role of Goofy, Detective Date in the

SEGA is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

game ''Yakuza'', Captain Wedgewood and Frill Lizard in ''

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger ''Ty the Tasmanian Tiger'' is a 2002 3D platforming game developed by Krome Studios and published by EA Games for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox systems. The game was remastered in HD for Microsoft Windows and was made available through ...

'', many voices on '' EverQuest II'', Cletus Samson, Floyd Sanders, Jeff Meyers and Ryan LaRosa in the video game ''

Dead Rising is a series of action-adventure games created by Keiji Inafune. It was originally developed by Capcom until Capcom Vancouver took over developing the franchise. As of March 31, 2022, the game series has sold 15 million units worldwide and is ...

'' and Sam and others in the cult classic adventure game ''

Sam & Max Hit the Road ''Sam & Max Hit the Road'' is a graphic adventure video game released by LucasArts during the company's LucasArts adventure games, adventure games era. The game was originally released for MS-DOS in 1993 and for Mac OS in 1995. A 2002 re-release ...

''. Farmer has also played

Secret Squirrel ''Secret Squirrel'' is a cartoon character created by Hanna-Barbera and also the name of his segment in ''The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show'', which debuted in 1965. He was given his own show in 1966, titled ''The Secret Squirrel Show'', but was ...

on ''

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' is an American adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. A spin-off of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'', the ...

'' in both the animated series and its spin-off video game, Stinkie in '' Casper: A Spirited Beginning'' and ''

Casper Meets Wendy ''Casper Meets Wendy'' is a 1998 American fantasy comedy film based on the Harvey Comics cartoon characters Casper the Friendly Ghost and Wendy the Good Little Witch. The film is a sequel to '' Casper: A Spirited Beginning'', and is the second ...

'', male cats in ''

Cats Don't Dance ''Cats Don't Dance'' is a 1997 American animated musical comedy-drama film directed by Mark Dindal (in his feature directorial debut). It is the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Feature Animation, which was merged during the post-p ...

'', Oliver Sansweet's lawyer in ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, ...

'', Willie Bear in ''

Horton Hears a Who! ''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954 by Random House. This book tells the story of Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Whovi ...

'', Sam the Bus Driver in '' The Grinch'', Mr. Leghorn in ''

Loonatics Unleashed ''Loonatics Unleashed'' is an American superhero animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran on Kids' WB for two seasons from 2005 to 2007 in the United States. The series was based/inspired on the '' Looney Tunes' ...

'' and

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merr ...

and

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...

in ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The write ...

''. From 2014 to 2016, he played Doc, the leader of the title characters in Disney's animated television series '' The 7D''. He also voiced Blackhoof Boar Clan Leader in the 2008 video game ''

Kung Fu Panda ''Kung Fu Panda'' is an American media franchise that originally started in 2008 with the release of the animated feature film of the same name, produced by DreamWorks Animation. Following the adventures of the titular Po Ping (primarily voic ...

''. Farmer still regularly performs comedy routines at the

Laugh Factory Laugh Factory is a chain of comedy clubs in the United States. The chain is owned by Laugh Factory Inc., and the founder and current chief executive is Jamie Masada. Endurance record The Laugh Factory keeps track of an endurance record fo ...

. He has been voicing the character "Hop-Pop" on Disney's ''

Amphibia Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...

''. In 2020, Farmer began hosting the live action television show ''It's a Dog's Life with Bill Farmer'' on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Recognition

In September 2009, Farmer was named a Disney Legend. In 2011, the International Family Film Festival awarded Bill Farmer the 'Friz Award' for Animation. He won the

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally de ...

for Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production for his work as Goofy and Grandma Goofy in ''

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

''.

Personal life

Farmer has been married to his wife, Jennifer, since 1985. Together they have a son, Austin.

Filmography

Film

Animation

Anime

Video games

Theme park attractions

Live-action

Production credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Bill Farmer on Breaking it Down with Frank MacKay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farmer, Bill 1952 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male comedians American male video game actors American male voice actors American people of English descent American people of Welsh descent American impressionists (entertainers) Disney people Annie Award winners Comedians from Kansas Male actors from Kansas People from Pratt, Kansas University of Kansas alumni