Paul Frees ~ Voice Craftsman
.
It’s amazing that I’ve heard and recognized him all my life, yet didn’t know his name until around 1986 when I read that he had passed …
He had an incredible 4 octave range …
So not only could he be the booming voice in Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” (Welcome foolish mortals…) but was also the voice of “Little Green Sprout” on those canned veggie commercials …
Born in 1920, he left too early at 66 years old …
He made a few appearances in movie also – my favorite was George Pal’s “WAR OF THE WORLDS” as well as the original “THE THING”.
Maybe my absolute favorite was the goofy spoof “HARDWARE WARS” …
He was one of my dramatic voicing inspirations – I can hear him a little in my performance of “ADVANCE NOW” (www.GreatBooksAlive.com) – the 2 disc audio set I adapted from original works by Dr Brown Landone … although it was subliminal to me when tracking the voice – but we are all made up of pieces and parts of those giants who influenced us when young.
You would be surprised where he shows up … he did a lot of Disney, Rankin and Bass and A LOT of television commercials …
He even narrated my second favorite Disney short, “Donald Duck in Mathmagicland” –
Category: Tony Rollo Blog


