Townsend Putnam Coleman III (born May 28, 1954) is an American voice actor who has performed in many

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

and TV commercials beginning in the early 1980s. Among his most notable roles are Michaelangelo from ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'', Wayne Gretzky on '' ProStars'', Jason Whittaker in '' Adventures in Odyssey'' and the title characters in '' Where's Wally?'' and '' The Tick''.

Early life

Townsend Putnam Coleman III was born in

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 ...

, New York, but his family relocated to

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in 1955.

Career

Early work

Coleman was a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

for WGCL in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Ohio in the late 1970s. This included the weekend of July 7–8, 1979, when that radio station presented his own take on ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

'' after the station's refusal to air the "Top 40 Disco Songs" special for that weekend. In the same period, Coleman appeared in several plays through Jerry Leonard's Heights Youth Theater ensemble. The plays were staged at Wiley Junior High School in University Heights, Ohio – just down the road from John Carroll University. Other famous performers who appeared in Leonard's plays include the actress Carol Kane. Shortly before becoming a voice actor, he hosted a pair of dance shows for local television stations: '' We're Dancin''' at WNEW in

(now WNYW) and ''The Dance Show'' at WSB-TV in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Voice acting

Coleman's career as a voice actor took off in the 1980s when, having recently moved to

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 auditioned for the role of Corporal Capeman on '' Inspector Gadget''. He also portrayed Riot on '' Jem'', Gobo in the animated version of Jim Henson's ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy television comedy, comedy puppet television series about interconnected so ...

'', Scott Howard on the animated '' Teen Wolf'' and many others. In TV commercials, he was the 7-Up " Spot", Keebler Elves, and Raid Bugs. Coleman has also been the voice of NBC commercials for programs such as ''

Must See TV Must See TV was an American advertising slogan that was used by NBC to brand its primetime blocks during the 1990s, and most often applied to the network's Thursday night lineup, which featured some of its most popular sitcoms and drama series ...

'' and '' The Tonight Show'' since the early 1990s. Coleman has also provided the voice for Jason Whittaker on the

Focus on the Family Focus on the Family (FOTF or FotF) is an American Christian fundamentalism, Evangelical Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of Evangel ...

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

'' Adventures in Odyssey'' since 1994. He also voiced the Autobot Mini-Cassette Rewind on the ''

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 ...

'' cartoon series (1986) and provided the voice of Colt in '' Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs''. From 1987 to 1996, Coleman voiced

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

in ''

''. Coleman also provided the voice for The Tick in the 1994 cartoon series, for which he received an

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 ...

nomination. Coleman performed a wide range of voices in '' King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow'', including Vizier Abdul Alhazred, Shamir Shamazel, Lord Azure, Ferryman, Beast and the Minotaur. Coleman returned to the ''Transformers'' franchise by voicing Sentinel Prime in the '' Transformers Animated'' series. The character was designed to look like The Tick, as confirmed by the writers of the show at BotCon 2008, Coleman also provided the voice of Neddy the Mallet in the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

series, '' Mighty Magiswords'' (2015). In 2016, Coleman returned to the ''Tick'' franchise, voicing the ex-superhero dog Midnight in the Amazon Prime live-action series.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Radio

Announcer

* NBC advertising (1992–2009)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Townsend 1954 births Living people American male voice actors American male radio actors American male stage actors American male video game actors NBC network announcers American radio DJs People from Cleveland Heights, Ohio Male actors from Ohio