Paul Frees (June 22, 1920 - November 2, 1986) was a voice actor born in Chicago.

His career reached from 1942 to 1987, and he was involved in more than 250 films, cartoons, and TV appearances, often uncredited, as voice actors often weren't given the recognition they deserved.

Some of his most memorable voices were those of Disney's Ludwig Von Drake, the narrator in The Haunted Mansion and several pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean (both rides at Disney parks), and many characters in Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated TV specials such as the Burgermeister Meisterburger in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970).

He was a regular presence in Jay Ward cartoons, providing the voices of Boris Badenov, Inspector Fenwick (from Dudley Do-Right), and the Hoppity Hooper narrator, among numerous others. He provided the voices of both John Lennon and George Harrison in the 1964 cartoon series based on The Beatles, and of The Thing in the 1967 series based on the Fantastic Four. In TV commercials, he was the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7-Up "Undeer," and the elf who called out to the Jolly Green Giant, "Hey, Green Giant, what's new besides ho-ho-ho?"

In the years before television, he was the source of the Peter Lorre voice in the Spike Jones version of the song "My Old Flame."

External link

• IMDB entry for Paul Frees