Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
,
Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz (April 27, 1899 – March 22, 1994) was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.
Biography
Early years and start in animation
Lantz ...
,
Rankin/Bass, and
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
theatrical cartoons during the
Golden Age of Animation and for providing the voice of
Boris Badenov in ''
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show''.
Voice actor
Mel Blanc said Frees was known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices", though the appellation was bestowed on Blanc himself.
Early life
Solomon Hersh Frees was born to a Jewish family in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
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, on June 22, 1920. He grew up in the
Albany Park neighborhood and attended Von Steuben Junior High School. He had an unusually wide four-octave voice range that enabled him to voice a scale from the thundering ''
basso profundo'' of the unseen "Ghost Host" in the
Haunted Mansion attraction at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisi ...
in California
[ and at ]