Frank Welker

College Friend

“The way into the business for me was through the SMC theatre department. You meet other people with the same goals and you exchange connections by osmosis.”

After talking with Frank Welker for a few minutes, you’ll be hearing voices. Hundreds of them. As a voiceover talent, Frank may well be without peer in creating dead-on impersonations of famous people and a whole menagerie of quirky characters for animated cartoons. Take Kermit and Skeeter of the “Muppet Babies,” for instance. Or Bart Simpson’s dog. Or Stripe, the evil gremlin in The Gremlins. The list goes on.

“Most of my time is spent in studios,” says Frank. “But after a while in show business, you know a little about everything. So you can branch out—write a little, be an actor or produce.” Welker has “branched out” in just about every direction possible in his career. He’s a stand-up comedian, he co-produced a television show, he’s been featured on network talk shows, starred in the syndicated series “Laugh Trax,” and even played alongside Elvis Presley in the movie Trouble With Girls. But his first gig after moving to Los Angeles from Denver in 1965 was on stage at Santa Monica College.

“SMC had a good solid theatre department,” Frank says. “It was there that I won a Most Distinguished Performance Award for playing the Lion in the Wizard of Oz.” Frank’s career took off in 1967 after being spotted by his first agent in a nightclub in Hollywood. Soon after, he was opening concerts for the Righteous Brothers, Sergio Mendez and Glen Campbell. Despite his success, Frank decided to continue with college, to receive his A.A. degree and move on to UCLA. Says Frank, “I was lucky because I could get the academic background but yet I was able to get practical experience at the same time. And that was important.”

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