Townsend Coleman is an American

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talen ...

who has performed in many

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

and

TV commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

beginning in the early 1980s. Among his most notable roles are

Michaelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

from ''

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

'',

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

on '' ProStars'', Jason Whittaker in

Adventures in Odyssey ''Adventures in Odyssey'' (AIO), or simply ''Odyssey'', is an Evangelical Christian radio drama and Radio comedy, comedy series created and produced by Focus on the Family. Aimed at families with children age 12 and younger, the series first air ...

and the title characters in ''

Where's Wally? ''Where's Wally?'' (called ''Where's Waldo?'' in North America) is a British series of children's puzzle books created by English illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicti ...

'' and '' The Tick''.

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 a nightclub or music f ...

for WGCL in Cleveland, 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'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Sea ...

'' 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 John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of ...

. 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

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

(now

WNYW WNYW (channel 5) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship ...

) and ''The Dance Show'' at

WSB-TV WSB-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Voice acting

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, 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 James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) an ...

'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 fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim He ...

'', Scott Howard on the animated '' Teen Wolf'' and many others. In

, he was the

7-Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up comp ...

" Spot", Keebler Elves, and Raid Bugs. Coleman has also been the voice of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

commercials for programs such as ''

Must See TV Must See TV is 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 o ...

'' and ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...

'' 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 a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizatio ...

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

'' 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 Autobots and the Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms ...

'' 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 (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...

in ''

''. Coleman also provided the voice for

The Tick ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

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 cinema and television. Originally d ...

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

, as confirmed by the writers of the show at Botcon 2008, Coleman also currently provided the voice of Neddy the Mallet in the Cartoon Network series, '' Mighty Magiswords''. Neddy's mannerisms on the show are based on

which led to him being acquired the role. According to the creator Kyle Carrozza, Neddy was Townsend's first original cartoon role in years. Recently, he also returned to the Tick franchise in the 2017 series on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one ...

, but this time providing the voice of the ex-superhero dog Midnight.

Filmography

Film

Video games

Television

Select filmography

* ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn ( Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' - Additional voices * ''Alice Through the Looking Glass'' - Tom Fool * ''

Brandy and Mr. Whiskers ''Brandy & Mr. Whiskers'' is an American animated television series created by sitcom writer Russell Marcus for the Disney Channel. It follows the lives of the titular characters—respectively, a pampered-yet-spunky dog and a hyperactive rabbit� ...

'' - Additional voices * '' The Buzz on Maggie'' - Additional voices * ''

Camp Lazlo ''Camp Lazlo'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. The series follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey that goes to a camp called "Camp Kidney", a Boy Scout-like summer camp in Pimpleba ...

'' - Additional voices * '' CatDog'' - Additional voices * ''

Catscratch ''Catscratch'' is an American animated television series created by Doug TenNapel (also known for creating the ''Earthworm Jim'' series). It aired on Nickelodeon from July 9, 2005, to February 10, 2007. It was a loose adaptation of TenNapel's c ...

'' - Additional voices * '' Danny Phantom'' - Additional voices * ''

Darkwing Duck ''Darkwing Duck'' is an American animated superhero comedy television series produced by Disney Television Animation (formerly Walt Disney Television Animation) that first ran from 1991 to 1992 on both the syndicated programming block '' The D ...

'' - Additional voices * '' Dave the Barbarian'' - Additional voices * ''

Dexter's Laboratory ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a h ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

Dino-Riders ''Dino-Riders'' is an animated television series that first aired in 1988. ''Dino-Riders'' was primarily a promotional show to launch a new Tyco toy line.

'' - Additional voices * '' Earthworm Jim'' - Additional voices * ''

El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera ''El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera'' (sometimes shortened to ''El Tigre)'' is an American flash-animated television series created by Jorge R. Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua for Nickelodeon. It was the first Nicktoon to be animated with Ado ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

The Fairly OddParents ''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda who grant h ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' (also known as ''Foster's Home'', or simply ''Foster's'' for short) is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios a ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

Gravity Falls ''Gravity Falls'' is an American mystery comedy animated television series created by Alex Hirsch for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series follows the adventures of Dipper Pines ( Jason Ritter) and his twin sister Mabel (Kristen Schaal ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi ''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'' is an American animated television series created by Sam Register for Cartoon Network. Produced by Renegade Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, the series stars fictionalized and animated versions of the Japanese p ...

'' - Additional voices * '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'' - Additional voices *

advertising (1992–2009) * '' Poochini's Yard'' - Additional voices * ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic T ...

'' - Additional voices * '' Space Cats'' - Scratch * '' Superman: The Animated Series'' - Additional voices * '' The Jungle King'' - Additional voices * '' The Replacements'' - Additional voices * '' Time Squad'' - Additional voices * ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...

'' - Additional voices

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Townsend Living people American male voice actors Place of birth missing (living people) American male radio actors American male stage actors American male video game actors NBC network announcers Year of birth missing (living people) American radio DJs People from Cleveland Heights, Ohio Male actors from Ohio