Richard Steven Horvitz (born July 29, 1966) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his voice work in animation and video games. His voice credits include the original Alpha 5 on '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', '' Power Rangers Zeo'' and '' Power Rangers Turbo'', Razputin Aquato in '' Psychonauts'', Kaos in '' Skylanders'', Billy and his father Harold in '' Grim & Evil'' and '' The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'', Grey Matter in '' Ben 10'', Rodney in '' Squirrel Boy'', Daggett in '' The Angry Beavers'', Zim in '' Invader Zim'', Orthopox in '' Destroy All Humans!'', the Zoni in '' Ratchet & Clank'', Bumble in '' Kinectimals'', the Space Weaver in '' Broken Age'', Kanchomé in '' Zatch Bell!'', and Moxxie in '' Helluva Boss''.

Early life

Horvitz was born on July 29, 1966, 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, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. His father Louie was a planning engineer for Rocketdyne for over 35 years. His maternal grandfather was born in

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, and his mother's family is from Madera, Mexico. His older brother, Louis J. Horvitz, is a television director and producer. As a child, Horvitz was inspired by Flip Wilson, Tom Jones, and Don Adams, doing impressions of them.

Career

Acting

Richard Horvitz JACON 2009 Orlando Florida

Horvitz first appeared in a 1976 Freshen Up gum commercial, which led to other commercial appearances and several hand modeling jobs. After a brief stint in an off-Broadway production of '' Oliver!'' he went on to make appearances on television series such as ''

Kids Incorporated ''Kids Incorporated'' (also known as ''Kids Inc.'') is an American children's television program that began production in the mid-1980s and continued airing into the mid-1990s. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as ...

'' and '' Safe at Home'', and films such as '' Summer School'', '' How I Got into College'', and ''

Deadly Weapon A deadly weapon, sometimes dangerous weapon (although some jurisdictions differentiate between the two) or lethal weapon, is an item that can inflict mortal or great bodily harm. By statutory definition, certain items, especially firearms, are d ...

''. From 1988 to 1991, he starred as Howie for two seasons in the syndicated television sitcom '' The Munsters Today''.

Voice acting

Starting in 1993, Horvitz changed the focus of his career to voice acting, starting with the voices of Alpha 5 and Alpha 4 in the live-action series '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers''. From there, he had several other voice roles in such animated series as '' The Angry Beavers'' (as Daggett), '' Invader Zim'' (as Zim), '' Kim Possible'', '' Dave the Barbarian'' (as Ned Frischman), '' Zatch Bell!'' (as Kanchomé), '' The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' (as Billy and his father Harold), '' Ben 10'' (as Grey Matter), '' Squirrel Boy'' (as Rodney), and '' Shorty McShorts' Shorts'' (as Dudley). He also co-wrote the ''Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy'' episode "Keeper of the Reaper" alongside his wife Kristen Lazarian. After his stint as Alpha 5 ended, Horvitz went on to voice a few monsters in other ''

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an American media franchise created by Haim Saban, Shuki Levy and Shotaro Ishinomori built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise ''Super Sentai''. It is currently ow ...

'' series and was also the voice of Alpha 7 in the ''

Power Rangers Wild Force ''Power Rangers Wild Force'' is a television series and the tenth season of Power Rangers. It is also the anniversary season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 25th Super Sentai series ''Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger'', which itself ...

'' episode "Forever Red". He voiced the main characters of Raz in the '' Psychonauts'' series and Orthopox in the '' Destroy All Humans!'' series. He has also voiced various NPCs in '' EverQuest II'', the Berserker Darklings in '' The Darkness'', Bumble in '' Kinectimals'', and Kaos in '' Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure''. Horvitz voiced "Green Grapes" in the Fruit of the Loom commercials and has acted on stage, including in Jeffrey Hatcher's ''Mrs. Mannerly''. Horvitz also voiced Moxxie and served as a voice director in the adult animated web series '' Helluva Boss''. He also played the roles of Alpha 8 and Alpha 9 in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

special '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always'', which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise.

Comedy

In 2001, Horvitz was in the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

group The MoHos with Fred Willard, created by Fred's wife Mary Lovell. He and Fred would sometimes perform on various talk shows including '' Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' and '' The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. Horvitz also appeared in an episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' in the short segment "Bear City" and briefly appeared on '' Tosh.0''.

Personal life

Horvitz married playwright and screenwriter Kristen Lazarian on February 9, 1996. They currently live in

and have three sons together. He speaks fluent Spanish.

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Video games

Audiobooks

* '' Goosebumps: Attack of the Mutant'' – Skipper Matthews

Theme park attractions

* '' Tower of Terror (Tokyo DisneySea)'' - Shiriki Utundu * '' The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror'' ( Walt Disney Studios) - Shaft Creatures

Awards and nominations

* Nominated –

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 American cinema and television. Origina ...

for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production for ''Invader Zim'' – 2001 * Nominated –

for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for ''Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus'' – 2020

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horvitz, Richard Steven 1966 births Living people American actors of Mexican descent American entertainers of Cuban descent American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American people of Czech descent American people of Russian descent Cartoon Network people Comedians from Los Angeles Hispanic and Latino American actors Hispanic and Latino American television people Male actors from Los Angeles Nickelodeon people 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American male actors