Robert Berger (born March 8, 1964), known professionally as Bob Bergen, is an American voice actor. He voices
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
cartoon characters
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created man ...
and
Tweety
Tweety is an animated character, a yellow canary bird in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid". He appeared in ...
and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted the children's game show ''
Jep!
''Jep!'' is an American children's television game show, adapted from the quiz show ''Jeopardy!'' It aired first on Game Show Network throughout the 1998–99 season, and then on Discovery Kids through late 2004. It was hosted by voice actor Bob ...
'', adapted from the
game show
A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...
''.
Early life
In his childhood, Bergen would often spend hours watching and taping cartoons, imitating voices as well as creating characters of his own. He once told his parents that he wanted to voice
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created man ...
, to which his mother objected.
As a teenager in 1978, he phoned
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...
after researching in phone books, crashed a recording session pretending to be Blanc's assistant, and watched him in action. Upon the realization that he needed training and for his voice to change, he began studying voice-over with coaches in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. He took acting lessons with
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 and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...
at his weekly voice-over workshop. In March 1980, Bergen appeared as a contestant on a Teen Week episode of '' Wheel of Fortune'', winning prizes including a watch. After two years at a Meisner acting conservatory and three years of improv study with The Groundlings, he was able to secure an agent at age 18 and pursue his dream, while working as a tour guide at
Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to:
* Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate
** Universal Pictures, an American film studio
** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex
* Various theme parks operat ...
to make ends meet.
Career
In 1990, Bergen joined a handful of actors voicing the ''Looney Tunes'' characters. He is the current voice of Porky Pig, and has also voiced
Tweety
Tweety is an animated character, a yellow canary bird in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid". He appeared in ...
Henery Hawk
Henery Hawk is an American cartoon character who appears in twelve comedy film shorts produced in the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series. His first appearance is in the 1942 theatrical release '' The Squawkin' Hawk'', which was dire ...
Marvin the Martian
Marvin the Martian is an extraterrestrial character from the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series. He frequently appears as a villain in cartoons and video games, and wears a Roman soldier's helmet and skirt. The character has be ...
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...
Jeff Bergman
Jeffrey Bergman (born July 10, 1960) 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 th ...
, Mel's son
Noel Blanc
Noel Barton Blanc (born October 19, 1938) is an American commercial producer, retired voice actor, and the son of the late cartoon voice actor Mel Blanc.
Early life and career
Blanc was born on October 19, 1938, in Los Angeles, California. He ...
Billy West
William Richard Werstine (born 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor, comedian, radio personality, impressionist and musician. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'', the title characte ...
and
Eric Bauza
Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian voice actor based in the United States. He is mostly known for voicing several ''Looney Tunes'' characters, for which he won three Emmy Awards for his performances in '' Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (20 ...
. Warner Bros. had been splitting up the various voice-acting roles to prevent any one of them from being a singular successor. Bergen had previously voiced
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...
and
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...
for ''ABC Family Fun Fair'', an annual stage show for disabled children in the 1980s.
Bergen provided the voice of Arsène Lupin III for the
Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures was an American media company. Founded by screenwriter Carl Macek and animation historian Jerry Beck, it was one of the earliest distributors of English-dubbed Japanese animation.
History Founding
Founded in Los Angeles, ...
dubs in the late 1980s and early 1990s: ''
The Mystery of Mamo
''Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo'', also known as ''Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo'', is a 1978 Japanese adult animated science fiction action adventure comedy film. It is the first animated feature film based on the 1967–69 manga series ''Lupin ...
Hayao Miyazaki
is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...
) and ''Lupin III's Greatest Capers'' (two TV episodes from series two directed by Hayao Miyazaki). He also played the part of No-Face in the 2001
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-winning movie ''
Spirited Away
is a 2001 Japanese Anime film, animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli, and distributed by Toho.Akira''. He is also responsible for the voices of
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was introduced in the original film trilogy as the main protagonist and also appears in the sequel trilogy. Raised as a poor moisture farmer on the desert planet Tat ...
in over a dozen ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' video games as well as the ''
Robot Chicken
''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
Jep!
''Jep!'' is an American children's television game show, adapted from the quiz show ''Jeopardy!'' It aired first on Game Show Network throughout the 1998–99 season, and then on Discovery Kids through late 2004. It was hosted by voice actor Bob ...
'', the children's version of ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...
'', on
Game Show Network
Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...
. He appeared as himself in interview segments of the 2014 documentary '' I Know That Voice'', and in a 2017 episode of the ABC game show ''
To Tell the Truth
''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...
''.
Personal life
Bergen is
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
.
Filmography
Animation
Anime
Films
Direct-to-video films
Live-action
*''
Army of Darkness
''Army of Darkness'' is a 1992 American dark fantasy comedy film directed, co-written, and co-edited by Sam Raimi. The film is the third installment in the Evil Dead, ''Evil Dead'' film series and the sequel to ''Evil Dead II'' (1987). Starring ...
Gremlins
''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voic ...
'' — Various Gremlins voices (credited as Bob Berger)
*'' I Know That Voice'' — Himself
*''
Jep!
''Jep!'' is an American children's television game show, adapted from the quiz show ''Jeopardy!'' It aired first on Game Show Network throughout the 1998–99 season, and then on Discovery Kids through late 2004. It was hosted by voice actor Bob ...
Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...
Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers
''Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers'' is a 2D computer graphics, 2D platform game featuring the Looney Tunes characters Sylvester (Looney Tunes), Sylvester and Tweety. It was released for the Sega Genesis, Genesis/Mega Drive console in 1994 an ...