Top 10 Voice Actors with Impressive Range
#10: Rob Paulsen
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With over 1,000 endeavors to his name, Paulsen has been a beloved part of people’s childhoods for over four decades. Nineties kids know him from “Animaniacs,” where he played several different characters, including the unspoken leader of the Warner Brothers. He’s also been part of numerous Disney projects on both the big and small screens. If you’re a “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” fan, you’ll know him as both Raphael in the original eighties show, and Donatello in the computer animated series that ran until 2017. He voiced the characters a whopping 30 years apart, which means kids who grew up listening to Paulsen’s work can now enjoy it with their own children.
#9: Jim Cummings
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Giving a character life and personality with only a laugh is an impressive feat, but it’s just another day at the office for Jim Cummings. The actor has voiced hundreds of characters in both film and on TV, and has been working practically nonstop for almost 40 years. From “My Little Pony” to “The Simpsons,” he’s been involved with a huge range of IPs. He even became the first person to play the same Disney character in both animation and a live-action feature as he provided the voices of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in 2018’s “Christopher Robin.”
#8: Seth MacFarlane
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Unlike most of the actors on this list, MacFarlane’s résumé skews a little more adult. He rose to fame as the creator of “Family Guy” and still provides the voices of several major characters. He’s also dabbled in live-action films over the years, perhaps most famously as the adorable potty-mouthed teddy bear in “Ted,” for which he also did motion capture. You might not know that he’s an accomplished singer too, and has released several albums, primarily in the big band and jazz standards styles of the 1950s. He even puts that talent to work in his acting roles.
#7: June Foray
From radio to movies to television, Foray’s incredible career lasted a wildly impressive 85 years. During that time, she put her uniquely flexible voice to work in a huge range of roles. She even provided the voice of the original Chatty Cathy doll … and her creepy “Twilight Zone” counterpart, Talky Tina. One of her most memorable characters was Granny, the woman who owned Tweety Bird and Sylvester the cat in the “Looney Tunes” series. She took over the role from 1955 all the way until 2013, when Foray was in her mid-90s. With the exception of Mel Blanc, voice actors didn’t typically get credited for their work back in the day. That means Foray brought the sweet old lady to life for years before most people knew it was her behind the microphone.
#6: Kevin Michael Richardson
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If you need a deep, booming baritone for your cartoon character, Richardson is your guy. After getting his start in commercials, he appeared on screen in a number of live-action shows and movies. But, the majority of his career has happened in the sound studio. Richardson has worked on both family-friendly and adult-oriented properties, and he’s been involved in some of the biggest franchises of all time. He’s also voiced plenty of superheroes and villains in both the Marvel and DC universes and, in 2004, he became the first Black actor to play the Joker.
#5: Seth Green
You probably recognize his face from his live-action roles in the “Austin Powers” movies and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” However, you might be surprised to learn that Green has also had an extremely successful career in animation. His longest-running role has been the character of Chris Griffin on “Family Guy,” which he’s played since the series’ inception in 1999. He’s also one of the creators and voices behind the stop-motion series “Robot Chicken.” Green has even made it into the MCU, appearing as Howard the Duck in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise. And did we mention he does a phenomenal impression of Matthew McConaughey?
#4: Frank Welker
You’ve definitely heard Welker’s voice at some point – even if you didn’t know it was actually a human you were listening to. Welker has a special talent for animal voices, but he’s done plenty of other well-known characters too. He got his first role as Fred Jones when “Scooby-Doo” premiered in 1969, and he’s been voicing the leader of Mystery Inc. ever since. He’s actually the only member of the original cast still working on the franchise. Welker tends to have serious longevity in his roles. He’s also played various Transformers since the 1980s, including Megatron in the 1986 animated film. Over 30 years later, he would bring the villain to life again, this time in live-action.
#3: Tress MacNeille
As one of the hardest working actors around, MacNeille has been a staple of animated entertainment since the ‘80s. Her breakout role arguably came playing Babs Bunny, one of the two stars of “Tiny Toon Adventures.” Following that job, she quickly landed another leading role in a mega popular kids’ show, this time as Dot Warner in “Animaniacs.” But her work playing smaller parts has been just as impactful as her major roles. She’s voiced over 40 different characters on “The Simpsons” alone. From the teenage bully Dolph to Principal Skinner’s elderly mother, MacNeille’s full range is on display in a single show.
#2: Mel Blanc
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Perhaps no one holds a more important place in the history of animation than Mel Blanc. As the first voice actor to be credited on-screen for his work, he paved the way for thousands of others to make names for themselves in the industry. Blanc was best known for his iconic “Looney Tunes” characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, who he first played all the way back in the 1930s. He often voiced multiple characters at once, meaning many episodes were literally one-man shows. There’s a reason he was dubbed the “Man of a Thousand Voices.” Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. John DiMaggio He’s the Reason We’ve Loved “Futurama” for So Long Grey DeLisle Heroes, Villains, Little Boys, & Old Ladies - She’s Done Them All! Billy West Not Many Can Fill In for Mel Blanc Dee Bradley Baker Giving Unique Voices to Clones of the Same Character Takes Serious Skill Trey Parker The South Park Creator Has Voiced Over 600 Characters Just on That Show
#1: Tara Strong
Since she began voice work at the age of 13, Strong has racked up an impressive list of credits. Although she’s paid her dues playing plenty of minor parts, she’s also earned more lead roles than most, including multiple heroes and villains in both Marvel and DC franchises. From Timmy Turner to Barbara Gordon to Twilight Sparkle, Strong’s range is hard to top. In fact, she’s voiced so many important characters that she eventually became one herself, showing off her talents as an animated version of herself alongside one of her most beloved characters, Raven, on “Teen Titans Go!”
