Frank Welker



Name: Frank Welker  Birthname: Franklin W. Welker Born: March 12, 1946 Birthplace: Denver, Colorado, USA Years Active: 1967 to Present  Best Known For: His voice acting career that spans 3 decades  Official Website The Frank Welker Homepage

Franklin W. Welker (born March 12, 1946) is a veteran American voice actor. He is responsible for a broad spectrum of character voices, and other vocal effects that have appeared over the last 40 years in American television and motion pictures. Welker is listed as the number one "All Time Top 100 Stars at the Box Office," not as a box office draw, but in terms of the total revenue generated by the films in which he has participated in.

Background
While in college, in 1967, he started his career as a stand-up comedian and appearing in numerous plays. This in turn got him started on the concert circuit touring with The Righteous Brothers and Sergio Mendes. Welker's first on camera film role was in 1969 as a college kid from Rutgers University in the Elvis Presley picture The Trouble with Girls. In the 1980s, Welker voiced many recurring characters in the Transformers animated series. He voiced eight of the original 14 Decepticons: Megatron/Galvatron, Soundwave, Skywarp, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw, Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, and Ratbat. He also did voicework as the Autobots Mirage and Trailbreaker. With the release of the animated film in 1986, he took on the role of the Autobot Wheelie and afterwards, took over the role of Galvatron from Leonard Nimoy.

Voices on Super Friends
Frank has perhaps provided the most voices for Super Friends than any other voice actor.


 * As the voice of Marvin White for the first series SuperFriends (1973)
 * As the voice of The Wonder Dog for the first series SuperFriends (1973)
 * As the voice of Mr. Mxyzptlk
 * As the voice of Toyman
 * As the voice of Darkseid for two seasons (seasons 5-6)
 * As the voice of Kalibak for two seasons (seasons 5-6)
 * As the voice of the Joker (Ace) for the sixth and final season

Where are They Now
Welker was asked to audition to reprise his original role of Megatron in the 2007 live action Transformers movie. Apparently due to a conflict in schedules, Welker never met with the producers or director Michael Bay. Welker however, reunited with Transformers co-star Peter Cullen in the 2007 Transformers: The Game, with both returning to voice their signature roles. He also reprised his role in the animated prequel, a bonus premium of the DVD package. Welker was also able to return to two of his most famous Transformers roles when he portrayed Megatron and Soundwave as part of a spoof in the third season episode of Robot Chicken, aired shortly after the release of the live action film.

According to MichaelBay.com, Bay is in talks with Frank Welker to reprise his role as the voice of Soundwave for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. This is also reported at SciFiWire.com.