Christopher Charles Collins (born Christopher Lawrence Latta; August 30, 1949 – June 12, 1994) was an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known as the voice of Cobra Commander in the '' G.I. Joe'' animated series and Starscream in the first ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

'' animated series. He had a few guest roles in the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

'' series '' The Next Generation'' and '' Deep Space Nine'', he voice acted Moe Szyslak and Mr. Burns in the first season of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' (1989–1990), and he had many other roles in

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series and

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s. He also had a successful

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

career.

Early life

Christopher Lawrence Latta was born in Orange, New Jersey to Robert Latta (1920–1966), a New York stage actor, and Jane Morin (1925–2001), an advertising executive. He grew up in the Morningside Heights (sometimes called "West Harlem") section of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His legal name became Christopher Charles Collins when his stepfather adopted him. After a year at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, he studied acting, dance, voice, and mime in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Career

Radio work and stand-up comedy

In the mid-1970s, he acted on the New York and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

stage and did voice-over work for Boston radio station WBCN. Collins's stand-up career peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he performed in most of the major comedy venues in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In 1990, he won the San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition.

Voice acting

Collins made his animation voice acting debut as one of the English dubbers of the 1979

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series ''

Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975, totaling u ...

'' (also called ''

Star Blazers ''Star Blazers'' is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime television series . ''Star Blazers'' was first broadcast in the United States in 1979. It was the first popular English-translated anime that had an overarching plot and storylin ...

''). He was most recognizable in that series as the voice of space marine Sgt. Knox during the Comet Empire installment. When he began regular voice work, he adopted the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Chris Latta, as another

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

actor was performing as Chris Collins. In 1983, Collins began voicing Cobra Commander for a five-part ''G.I. Joe'' animated mini-series. He continued voicing the role in a second five-part animated mini-series in 1984, a regular animated series beginning in 1985, a 1987 direct-to-video animated movie and a 1989 animated series. Starting in 1984, Collins voiced the Decepticon Starscream for the ''Transformers'' animated series. He voiced other G.I. Joe and Transformers characters in these series as well as in toy commercials. These included the Autobot scientist Wheeljack, the Autobots' human friend Sparkplug Witwicky, the G.I. Joe Marine Gung-Ho and the Dreadnok Ripper. In '' Inhumanoids'', he voiced D'Compose and Tendril. In '' Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light'', he voiced Darkstorm and Cravex. He provided voices in '' The Real Ghostbusters'', credited as Chris Collins. In ''

'', Collins originated the voice of Mr. Burns in the first-season episodes " Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", " The Telltale Head", and " Homer's Odyssey", and recorded lines as Moe Szyslak for "The Telltale Head" and " Some Enchanted Evening" (but was dubbed over in the latter). Along with several other early ''Simpsons'' voice actors, he left during the first season. Hank Azaria took over the voice of Moe, while Harry Shearer assumed the role of Mr. Burns. In a 2018 interview with '' GQ'', Azaria commented on replacing Collins as Moe, saying that he did not find out until years later that he had replaced another actor. Azaria said that when he asked why he had replaced Collins, he was told by

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...

, "He (Collins) was great... He was just a dick. His voice was great, he was just kind of jerky to everyone." Azaria continued, "Think about how awful—that guy could have been on ''The Simpsons'' his whole life. Lesson to you kids: Always be nice!"

Live action

Later in the 1980s, he adopted the stage name of Christopher Collins and acted in many live-action television series and motion pictures. In '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', he played

Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...

Captain Kargan in the episode " A Matter of Honor" and Pakled Captain Grebnedlog in the episode " Samaritan Snare". In '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', he portrayed two different Markalians: Durg in " The Passenger", and an unnamed assistant to The Albino in " Blood Oath". In '' Married... with Children'', he played Roger, one of Al Bundy's bowling buddies and a member of NO MA'AM (National Organization of Men Against Amazonian Masterhood). He portrayed a mugger on an episode of ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'' titled " The Subway". He appears as Mr. Forbes in a first-season episode of ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'' titled "Abandando Abandoned". In 1989, he hosted '' King Koopa's Kool Kartoons'', but was later fired from the show and replaced with Patrick Pinney allegedly due to inappropriate behavior toward crew and audience members. His first live-action feature film appearance is a bit part as the sharing husband in the film '' Road House''. He appeared in '' True Identity'', '' Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot'', '' Blue Desert'', and '' A Stranger Among Us''. On April 28, 2012, Collins was posthumously inducted into the Transformers Hall of Fame. His daughter Abigail accepted on his behalf.

Personal life

Collins married twice and had three children. Early in his career, he divided his time between New York, Boston, and

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, ...

before settling in L.A. in 1983. In 1991, he moved to

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city in and the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States. It is a coastal city located northwest of Los Angeles. The population was 110,763 at the ...

. In an interview, Flint Dille recalled:

Death

Collins died on June 12, 1994, at the age of 44, due to complications of

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...

Filmography

*''

'' (1979, TV Series) – Comet Empire General Dire / Sergeant Knox *'' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' (1983, TV Mini-Series) – Cobra Commander / Gung-Ho /

Breaker Breaker may refer to: Objects * A breaking wave on water, or a "breaker", a shallow over which waves break * Circuit breaker, an electrical overload switch * Breaker (hydraulic), a percussion hammer attached to an excavator People * Breaker ...

/ Steeler (voice) *'' Pac-Man'' (1983, TV Series) – (voice) *'' Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'' (1983, TV Series) – Beetle / Sandman (voice) *'' The Transformers'' (1984–1987, TV Series) – Starscream / Wheeljack / Sparkplug Witwicky / Laserbeak / Buzzsaw / Reflector / Defensor / Furg / Krunk (voice) *'' G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra'' (1984, TV Mini-Series) – Cobra Commander / Gung-Ho / Ripper (voice) *'' Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines'' (1985) – Adrian Ravenscrodr / Ernie Slye (voice) *'' The Transformers: The Movie'' (1986, TV Series) – Starscream / Laserbeak (voice, uncredited) *'' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' (1985, TV Series) – Cobra Commander / Gung-Ho / Breaker / Steeler / Ripper / Horrorshow / Frostbite (voice) *'' Inhumanoids'' (1986, TV Series) – D'Compose / Tendril / Statesman Granahue (voice) *'' The Blinkins: The Bear and the Blizzard'' (1986, TV Movie) – Slime (voice) *''Inhumanoids: The Movie'' (1986) – D'Compose / Granahue / Tendril (voice) *'' G.I. Joe: The Movie'' (1987) – Cobra Commander / Gung-Ho / Ripper (voice) *'' Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light'' (1987, TV Series) – Darkstorm / Cravex / Falkama (voice) *'' The Real Ghostbusters'' (1987–1990, TV Series) – Sammy K. Ferret (voice) *'' This Is America, Charlie Brown'' (1988, TV Mini-Series) – Sailor/ Samoset (voice) *''

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

'' (1988, TV Series) – (voice) *'' Mr. Belvedere'' (1988, TV Series) – Tom *'' Mama's Family'' (1989, TV Series) – Larry McCary *'' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1989, TV Series) – Captain Grebnedlog and Captain Kargan *'' Road House'' (1989) – Sharing Husband *'' Anything But Love'' (1989, TV Series) – Charles *'' King Koopa's Kool Kartoons'' (1989, TV Series) – King Koopa *'' G.I. Joe: Operation Dragonfire'' (1989, TV Mini-Series) – Cobra Commander (voice, uncredited) *''

'' (1989–1990, TV Series) – Mr. Burns (voice) / Moe Szyslak (voice) *'' G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero'' (1990–1992, TV Series) – Cobra Commander (voice) *'' Blue Desert'' (1991) – Phone Man *'' Doogie Howser, M.D.'' (1991, TV Series) – Mr. Stapleton *'' Rover Dangerfield'' (1991) – Big Boss / Coyote / Sparky / Wolf / Horse (voice) *'' True Identity'' (1991) – Frank LaMotta *'' Danger Team'' (1991, TV Movie) – Truk (voice) *''

'' (1992, TV Series) – Thug *'' Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot'' (1992) – Gang Member *'' A Stranger Among Us'' (1992) – Chris Baldessari *'' The Golden Palace'' (1992, TV Series) – Angel *'' Civil Wars'' (1992, TV Series) – P.J. Stone *'' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1994, TV Series) – Guard and Durg *'' Married... with Children'' (1993–1994, TV Series) – Roger *''

'' (1994, TV Series) – Paul Forbes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Christopher 1949 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American stand-up comedians Comedians from Manhattan Comedians from Essex County, New Jersey Male actors from New Jersey Male actors from Manhattan New York University alumni People from Harlem Actors from Orange, New Jersey Deaths from encephalitis