Hiya-
Just a note from a listener to WAMU’s “Old Time Radio Broadcast” in the DC metropolitan area. I suspect that the bulk of Walter’s fame and fortune came from his work in radio. Although his voice is well-known to us baby-boomers thanks to Peabody & Sherman, he is the UBIQUITOS voice of adolescence in radio sitcoms from the 40’s & 50’s– most notably (to my limited experience) as “Leroy” in “The Great Gildersleeves”. He also was frequently used by Stan Freberg, and is quite funny in a couple of supporting roles on Freberg’s “History of the United States, vol 1” (as Ben Franklin’s assistant, and the 2nd drummer in the Spirit of ’76).
Anyhoo, thought I’d take a moment to see if that helps you track down his history a bit further. And thanks for the pictures! I’ve long wondered what he looked like. I suspect that Walter suffered from the same syndrome that effects Gary Coleman and a couple of other “child” actors of today who have a genetic flaw that prevents their bodies from progressing into puberty.
Also, I have a mild interest in the backgrounds/history of voice-over artists (Paul Frees being one of my favorites, as well)– is there a particular web-site that would be of interest to me?
Thanks! T Howley
I told Tom some of the same things, that I told Ray, in response to his E-mail, vis ä vis, Tetley’s hormonal condition. The work, that Tom mentions, with Stan Freberg, is related to the records that Tetley recorded for Capitol Records around 1950 (see our tribute to Walter Tetley).
I also told Tom that he could find quite a lot of info, on Paul Frees, by visiting IMDB.
Some of the info about him, at this website, can be found by clicking on some of the options in the left margin (on the first page). I further mentioned that the tape-recorded letter, that Paul Frees sent me, was totally delightful and wonderful! His taped letter was probably about 30-40 minutes in length.
For those of you not familiar with Paul Frees, he voiced Boris Badenov, Captain Peachfuzz and Fred the Lion from Super Chicken (both Ed Wynn sound-alikes), Inspector Fenwick and various Narrators (all of these in Jay Ward cartoons).
He also did the Pillsbury Doughboy, Morocco Mole (Peter Lorre sound-alike) and the villain, Yellow Pinky (Sydney Greenstreet sound-alike), in Hanna-Barbera’s SECRET SQUIRREL. He also voiced Disney’s animated duck character, Professor Von Drake, as well as many of the voices used in many of Disney’s rides in Disneyland.
Frees also was one of the top talents used in many holiday specials (both cartoons and claymation) done by Rankin-Bass (including FROSTY THE SNOWMAN and HERE COMES PETER COTTON TAIL).
Surely a surprise to a lot of people, like Daws Butler and June Foray, Frees even did a few voices in some of the Warners Bros.’ cartoons, though, just like Butler and Foray, he never received any credit for his voices, because Mel Blanc’s contract asserted that he was to get exclusive credit for voices done for Warners.
Frees also did a lot of very serious work. He narrated the movie, IN COLD BLOOD, based on Truman Capote’s book. He also did a lot of dubbing in movies; especially for actors whose accent caused a problem with the dialogue. He also, most assuredly, used his voice “straight” for thousands of TV and radio commercials. The IMDb filmography gives his nickname as “The Man of a Thousand Voices”.
Though I did not mention this to Tom, Frees recorded a record album, in the 60s or the 70s, with MGM, entitled PAUL FREES AND THE POSTER PEOPLE. In this album, he sang a lot of the hit songs, from the 60s, in the voices of deceased film stars/actors.
1/6/01
Brian-
Thanks for the reference to the imdb (can’t believe I didn’t think of it!)– as I have a copy of “Thing From Another World”, I’m going to take another look at it to see if I can spot a young Mr. Frees in his bit role. And, sure, feel free to include my letter in your mailbag– and thank you, I would indeed prefer to have my email addy “supressed”. If I have question or two about this field at some point in the future, don’t be surprised to hear from me– every so often one gets a nagging desire to nail down a fact or two…..
I told Tom that another great movie, to see Paul Frees in, albeit a bit part, is the 1951 movie, A PLACE IN THE SUN (with Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelly Winters). To make a long story short, I told him that the acting, in this film, was SUPERB……especially Montgomery Clift.
Frees can be seen, near the tail end of this movie, as the priest, who visits with Clift’s character, in prison, before he is about to be executed. Frees is only 31 years old and clean-shaven in this movie. For the record, he was rather short (as can be seen in the movie: somewhere between 5’4″ to 5’6″).
I told Tom that Frees was a bit heavier, around the time that he corresponded with me, though not much more than your typical “middle-aged spread”. He also sported a mustache around that time. He told me, in his tape-recorded letter that it was “ORANGE” (he really did say that!).