Voice actor Billy West was born in Detroit, MI, in 1950. He started doing celebrity impressions for The Howard Stern Show in the early '90s. He did a lot of commercials, including the voice of the Honey Nut Cheerios bee and various M&Ms. From 1991 to 1994, he provided the voice of Douglas Funnie on the Nickelodeon show Doug. West was also the voice of both Ren Höek and Stimpson J. Cat on The Ren & Stimpy Show for several seasons. Since providing voices for Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny in Space Jam (1996), he regularly voices Looney Tunes characters in feature films and straight-to-video releases. His other new versions of classic characters include Woody Woodpecker (The Woody Woodpecker Show), Shaggy from Scooby Doo (Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island), and Slimer from Ghostbusters (Extreme Ghostbusters). Grown-up audiences may recognize West most for his work on Futurama as the voice of Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, and many others. He's also contributed to Dilbert, King of the Hill, and Crank Yankers. Billy West is also a blues guitarist and vocalist with the band Billy West and the Grief Counselors.
Billy West
Active - 1980 - 2020 |
Born - Apr 16, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan, United States |
Genres - Science Fiction, Comedy, Children's/Family
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Biography by AllMovie
Movie Highlights
Factsheet
- Grew up doing various voices and admiring the voice work of Mel Blanc.
- Originally wanted to be a musician and was in several bands; has played guitar in concert for Roy Orbison and Brian Wilson.
- Left the music world to try his hand at stand-up comedy and received the biggest laughs from doing impressions.
- Worked as a voice talent for a Boston radio station on a morning show he produced called The Big Mattress.
- Joined The Howard Stern Show in 1989.
- Big break came in 1991 when he was cast as the title voice on Nickelodeon's Doug and as Stimpy on Ren & Stimpy.
- Provided the voices of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in Space Jam.
- Is best known for being the voice of Philip J. Fry on Futurama.
- Tours with his band Billy West and the Grief Counselors.