Billy West
Billy West was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States on April 16th, 1952 and is the Voice Actor. At the age of 72, Billy West biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, movies, TV shows, and networth are available.
At 72 years old, Billy West has this physical status:
William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor, comedian, singer, musician, songwriter and former radio personality.
He is known for his voice-work in commercials, films, television series and video games.
His roles include the titular characters on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Douglas Yancey "Doug" Funnie from Doug, and Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan and others on Futurama.
In commercials, he is the current voice of the Red M&M and Buzz from Honey Nut Cheerios until 2004.
He has voiced Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Popeye, Shaggy Rogers and Woody Woodpecker in subsequent animation and was also a cast member on The Howard Stern Show, noted for his impressions of Larry Fine, Marge Schott and George Takei.
Early life
William Richard Werstine was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 16, 1952. He is of Irish descent, and was born with ADHD and autism. He grew up in Boston, in the Roslindale neighborhood. After a semester at Berklee College of Music, West found himself in various bands, gigging the Boston scene by night, and selling guitars in a Harvard Square shop during the day.
West has stated that during the Vietnam War, he was subject to the draft lottery under the Nixon administration, receiving a low draft number which would have resulted in his being drafted in 1970. West was ultimately classified "4-F" and excluded from enlistment on medical grounds as he had hypertension and flat feet. West described his later recurring role as Richard Nixon on Futurama as his "revenge" against Nixon. In a 2019 video post, West opined that the "biggest joke" about his experience was the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum subsequently including images and footage of the Futurama Nixon character as part of its "Nixon in Popular Culture" exhibit.
Personal life
West was married to Violet Benny, but they later divorced.
West has spoken openly about the child abuse he experienced from his father. He says he developed his impressionist skills as a way to distract himself from his trauma.
West has been critical of Dick Cheney and the Republican Party, describing Republican senators as "old men with bad breath and dandruff." He has also mocked the tweets of Donald Trump by reading them out in character as Zapp Brannigan, drawing similarities between Trump and the Futurama antagonist.
West purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills West neighborhood of Los Angeles for $480,000 in 1998, and sold it for $1.18 million in March 2016.
Career
West was a member of the Shutdowns, an oldies band. West appeared on WBCN in Boston, hosting daily comedic routines on The Big Mattress show, before transferring to K-Rock Radio in 1988, (92.3 FM WXRK). West appeared on The Howard Stern Show from 1993, when he first received notice for his appearances of Three Stooges middleman Larry Fine, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, and Stern's head writer Jackie Martling. West landed in Los Angeles, where he found success as a voice actor and performer.
He left the radio station in 1988 to work on Beany and Cecil's short-lived revival, which was his first voice role in television. West's first major appearances on Nickelodeon were on Doug and The Stimpy Show, which were two of the first three Nicktoons on Nickelodeon (the other being Rugrats). West has been the voice actor for nearly 120 different characters, including some of the most popular animated characters in television history. He has risen to become one of the few voice actors to impersonate Mel Blanc in his prime, including descriptions of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, Arthur Q. Bryan's character for Elmer Fuddd, as well as other Warner Bros. cartoon characters. West was described as "the new Mel Blanc" by Entertainment Weekly in 1998, although he would rather produce original voices. Philip J. Fry and Stimpy, two of which he created, are two of West's favorite characters. West has been vocal about his dissatisfaction with the influx of movie star actors to do voice-overs for films and major television shows. West has stated that he does not like the Disney version of Doug and that he "couldn't watch" the movie. During Project Geeker's 13-episode run, West was the voice of the show's namesake, Geeker, and Geeker. In the first pilot for Invader Zim, West was the voice of Zim. According to creator Jhonen Vasquez's review, Richard Steven Horvitz was chosen for the series role because West's voice was too recognizable. West is the voice of many M&M commercials as well as the 3-D film "I Lost my M in Vegas," and he's currently playing at M&M's World in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the film Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, he also voices a number of minor characters. In Moobeard the Cow Pirate, he voiced Moobeard, a short film on Random! Elmer Fuddd appears in Cartoon Network's series The Looney Tunes Show, a cartoon and a reprise. He made a cameo in the Emmy Award-winning cartoon Dilbert in 1999.
Stimpson J. West was the voice of the Stimpson J. Cat in Nickelodeon's The Ren & Stimpy Show from 1991 to 1996, and he continued to act as Ren Höek's original voice and series creator John Kricfalusi from 1993 to 1996 when Ren's original voice and series creator John Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon (then a division of Viacom) for delivering late and objectionable episodes. Mr. Xeno, the series's main protagonist, appeared as Mr. Xanto. Horse (another role after Kricfalusi's demise) and the announcer for the "Log" ads (a man West will use years later as the narrator of The Weird Al Show).
He was originally intended to do both Ren and Stimpy (and appeared on the tape that was used to sell the show to Nickelodeon), but then Kricfalusi decided to do Ren's voice as a selling point, and West was on board. However, Ren's ecstatic with Kricfalusi as Ren's speaking out.
Among others, West includes Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, and Dr. Zoidberg. He and other Futurama characters appeared in DVD commentaries, but there are so many characters in the series that conversations are often held entirely between characters he is voicing. West went to the Futurama auditions and was asked to try out for "about every part." Farnsworth, Zoidberg, and Brannigan were among his many roles. He later became the protagonist of Fry, which had previously been attributed to Charlie Schlatter. Although West is known for his original voices, the voice he uses for Fry is often considered to be more authentic than any other character he has played; in an audio commentary, he says that Fry is "just [himself] at age 25." This similarity, West admits, was done intentionally in order to make it impossible to replace him in the role and integrate more of himself into it.
For the late Phil Hartman, who died before the show started, Zapp Brannigan was written; West was given the role. West has portrayed Zapp Brannigan's voice as an imitate of Hartman, but said the actual vocalizations of the character were based on "a couple of major dumb announcers I knew." Comedy Central brought Futurama two direct-to-DVD films together into 16 television episodes. West revived his roles in these films and was contracted to two new 26-episode production seasons (four 13-episode air seasons) of Futurama, which aired from 2010 to 2013.
West was the program's host, from 1999 to 2001, and he was the program's coordinator. He was the promotional announcer for The Comedy Channel before it merged with HA! Comedy Central is about to become comedic Central. Billy West has played many characters in television commercials throughout his career.These include (but are not limited to):
In a late 1990s Volkswagen commercial, West introduced the Speed Racer character because the commercial's engineers were unable to locate Peter Fernandez, the original voice of Speed. However, the producers did not find Corinne Orr, the original voice for Trixie and Spritle.
In Eric Kaplan's web cartoon Zombie, Graham and Julius F. were portrayed by West. On January 30, 2015, he appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast. During the third annual Riot LA Comedy Festival, The episode was recorded live at The Smell in Downtown Los Angeles.
In July 2015, West began his own podcast show. It features him as a multiple characters per episode, as well as "Song Demolition," "Billy Bastard – Amateur Human Being" and special guest Jim Gomez.
West voiced Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fuddd in the 1996 film Space Jam. He reprised both roles in subsequent Looney Tunes feature films and resurfaced as Fudd in the theatrically released Looney Tunes: Back in Action. West starred in the direct-to-video film Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island in 1998, becoming the second person to portray the character (the first being Casey Kasem). After Kasem's retirement in 2009, he was one of the top candidates to replace him, but Matthew Lillard took over. Muttley appeared in the Warner Bros. Scooby-Doo CGI film Scoob! In 2000, he appeared in Disney's Dinosaur for the first time. In 2004, West voiced the classic character Popeye in the 75th anniversary film Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, and made his live-action film debut in Mark Hamill's Comic Book: The Movie. In Garfield: The Movie, he appeared in a cameo. Joe's Apartment, Cats & Dogs, Olive, the Other Reindeer, TMNT, The Proud Family Movie, and several Tom and Jerry direct-to-video films are among West's vocal performances.
Billy West, a guitarist and singer-songwriter, is a member of Billy West and The Grief Counselors of a band. They've released Me-Pod, their first album. West has appeared on stage as a guitarist for Roy Orbison and Brian Wilson.
"Another Cape Cod Summer This Year," by studio band ROUTE 28, written and produced by Erik Lindgren on his Arf, West sang lead on a Beach Boys-inspired track in 1982.Arf!
The record label.West has performed on several occasions with Deborah Harry, Lou Reed, and Los Lobos, including the guitar solo on the Beach Boys' "Do It Again" on Late Show with David Letterman in the mid-1990s, and he has performed live on numerous occasions with Brian Wilson, including the guitar solo on the Beach Boys' "Do it Again" on Late Show with David Letterman.
The track "Shut Up and Love Me" on Futurama is the track that was written and performed by Billy West and Greg Leon under the name Wailing Fungus.
On Boston's WBCN's Big Mattress radio show in the 1980s, West provided character voices. West was one half of the award-winning WBCN Production staff from 1980 to 1986. West featured characters from 1989 to 1995, including Jim Backus, Lucille Ball, Johnny Carson, Johnnie Cochran, Kevin Cochran, Connie Forster, Matt Cooper, Jeffrey Smith, Edward Johnson, Dennis Hart, Pete Fortin, Johnnie Cochran, Kevin Murphy, Tom Cooper, Deborah McCoy, Jeremy Forkward, Douglas Bennett, Margaret Hart, Pete Forrest, David Davis, Matt Smith, Matt Murray, Connie Stewart, Margaret Gibb West appeared on several occasions on The Adam Carolla Show, a syndicated morning radio show that took its place on CBS in Los Angeles. The Howard Stern Exhibition ran a special two-part retrospective of West's participation in the show on February 19 and 20, 2007. It was his first appearance since leaving after his last show on November 1, 1995. West appeared on Jackie Martling's Joke Hunt on Stern's satellite radio station Howard 101 on June 9, 2009.
In several Looney Tunes video games, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fuddd are among the characters voiced by West.
Other video game characters West has voiced include: The following are two examples: