Jeff Bergman

Jeffrey Allen Bergman (born July 10, 1960)[1][2] is an American voice actor, comedian and impressionist who has provided the modern-day voices of various classic cartoon characters, most notably with Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera characters. Bergman was the first to replace Mel Blanc as the voice of Bugs Bunny and several other Warner Bros. cartoon characters following Blanc's death in 1989. Bergman alternated with Joe Alaskey and Greg Burson before their respective deaths, and with Eric Bauza, in voicing several of Blanc's characters for various Warner Bros. Animation productions.

Jeff Bergman
Born
Jeffrey Allen Bergman

(1960-07-10) July 10, 1960
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Pittsburgh
Occupation
  • Voice actor
  • comedian
  • impressionist
Years active1986–present
Notable credit(s)
Bugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Fred Flintstone
George Jetson
Yogi Bear
Huckleberry Hound
Cartoon Trump
Children2

Early life

Bergman was born in Philadelphia on July 10, 1960. Throughout his early childhood, he impersonated several celebrities and cartoon characters, his first impression being comic influence Ed Sullivan at the age of 6. At the age of 15, Bergman began doing impressions of various Looney Tunes characters. He studied theater and communications at the University of Pittsburgh where he first did voice work when he got involved with a student-run radio station and interned at KQV and WDVE radio stations in Pittsburgh.[3][2] While there, he made his first demo reel and was profiled in a story on KDKA-TV's Evening Magazine. The story was picked up on similar TV news magazines shows and helped land him his representation with William Morris Agency following his graduation from Pitt in 1983. During his time at Pitt, he encountered voice actor and comedian Mel Blanc, who was best known for voicing groundbreaking animated characters, such as Bugs Bunny, Tweety, and Barney Rubble. They met in Blanc's hotel room in 1981, where Bergman voiced Blanc's characters for him, earning himself a 45-minute session. Bergman credits Blanc with helping him gain his diploma two years later.[3][2]

Career

Bergman voiced the Pillsbury Doughboy following Paul Frees' death in 1986 to 2013. Bergman's work with Warner Bros. began in 1986, recording voices for The Bugs Bunny Show. After being rebuffed several times by Warner Bros. directors, he recorded a tape of himself as several of Blanc's characters, including Bugs Bunny. He took the tape to the production company and used a switch to toggle back and forth between his work and the original Mel Blanc recording. The producers were unable to tell the difference between the voices, and Bergman, at the age of 29, became the first performer to provide the voice of Bugs Bunny after Mel Blanc died on July 10, 1989 Bergman's 29th birthday.[2]

His first performance as Bugs Bunny, as well as those of Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, was in the 1990 animated short Box-Office Bunny, Bugs's first in over 25 years. Bergman later voiced Bugs and Daffy again in the 1990 TV specials Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue and The Earth Day Special (also voicing Tweety Bird and Porky Pig in the latter). He voiced Bugs, Daffy, Elmer and Yosemite Sam in the 1991 short (Blooper) Bunny, as well as several characters (including Sylvester the Cat and Foghorn Leghorn) in animated TV specials and newer animated series' such as Taz-Mania, Tiny Toon Adventures and The Plucky Duck Show. He also lent his voice to Bugs, Daffy and Porky in the animated sequences of Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

Outside of Looney Tunes, Bergman also voiced George Jetson in the theme park attraction The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. Bergman later conceded that he had begun promoting himself as the new official voice of the Looney Tunes characters. Warner Bros. took exception to this and, to avoid repeating the stranglehold of Mel Blanc's exclusivity,[4] began using other voice actors such as Joe Alaskey (who was the first person to replace Blanc as the voice of Yosemite Sam in Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988), Greg Burson and Billy West.

Throughout the 2000s, Bergman kept himself busy by voicing various Hanna-Barbera characters, namely Fred Flintstone, in newer specials such as The Flintstones: On the Rocks, only rarely returning to the voices of the Looney Tunes in times when Alaskey and West were not available. In 2003, he voiced Bugs in a sketch on the NBC comedy show Saturday Night Live. Eventually, after almost 20 years, and after sporadically appearing as the Looney Tunes characters for nearly two decades, he returned as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester the Cat, Pepé Le Pew and Tweety in 2011's The Looney Tunes Show. He also returned for the 2015 series New Looney Tunes, voicing Bugs, Foghorn, Sylvester and Elmer Fudd, as well as other minor characters such as Michigan J. Frog. He also voices some characters in Looney Tunes Cartoons; Eric Bauza voices Bugs and Daffy for that series, with Bergman handling Foghorn, Sylvester and Elmer Fudd.

Bergman also voiced George Jetson and Mr. Spacely in Jetsons: The Movie when their previous voice actors George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc both died during production he had been working at his local radio in Pennsylvania when he received the call to travel to California and complete the dialogue. Bergman is a recurring cast member on Family Guy, usually voicing Fred Flintstone and Sylvester the Cat, as well as The Cleveland Show and American Dad!. He also gave a voice sample for a character in the 2011 Spyro game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.

From 2000 until 2015, Bergman was also the voice of Turner Broadcasting's Boomerang.

Bergman had a recurring role as a radio intern Gus Kahana on the AMC comedy-drama Remember WENN, which aired in the late 1990s.[3] He also voiced Zap in Skylanders: Giants, Skylanders: Swap Force, Skylanders: Trap Team, Skylanders: SuperChargers, and Skylanders: Imaginators.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1986The Bugs Bunny ShowAdditional Voices
1990The Funtastic World of Hanna-BarberaGeorge Jetson
Ghosts
Police Chief
Short film
Gremlins 2: The New BatchBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Porky Pig
Looney Tunes segments
Jetsons: The MovieGeorge Jetson
Mr. Spacely
Basketball Coach
Stand-in for George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc, after their deaths in 1989
Box-Office BunnyBugs Bunny
Elmer Fudd
Daffy Duck
Short film
1991(Blooper) BunnyBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Elmer Fudd
Yosemite Sam
1992Invasion of the Bunny SnatchersBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Elmer Fudd
Yosemite Sam
Porky Pig
1998The Secret of MulanAdditional voicesDirect-to-video
2006Porky and Daffy in the William Tell OverturePorky PigShort film
2010Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock HolmesButch
Droopy
Direct-to-video
2012Big MiracleRonald Reagan
2012Foodfight!Charlie Tuna
2014The Lego MovieAdditional Voices
2015The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown!Fred Flintstone[5]Direct-to-video
Looney Tunes: Rabbits RunBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Foghorn Leghorn
Pepé Le Pew
2016Batman: Return of the Caped CrusadersThe Joker
2017The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania!George Jetson
Mr. Spacely
2017Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate FactoryDroopy, American Reporter
2017Batman vs. Two-FaceThe Joker, Bookworm and Desmond Dumas
2021Space Jam: A New LegacySylvester and Foghorn Leghorn

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1990Cartoon All-Stars to the RescueBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
TV short, first to voice after Blanc's death
The Earth Day SpecialBugs Bunny
Tweety
Porky Pig
1990–1991Tiny Toon AdventuresBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Foghorn Leghorn
Elmer Fudd
Tasmanian Devil
Yosemite Sam
Sylvester
Tweety
Additional voices
1991Bugs Bunny's Lunar TunesBugs BunnyTV short
Bugs Bunny's Overtures to DisasterBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Porky Pig
Elmer Fudd
Yosemite Sam
Sylvester
Papa Bear
Mr. Meek
TV short
1992Bugs Bunny's Creature FeaturesBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Elmer Fudd
Yosemite Sam
The Plucky Duck ShowFoghorn Leghorn
Daffy Duck
Episodes: "A Quack in the Quarks"
"A Ditch in Time"
"Slugfest/Duck Dodgers Jr./Duck Trek"
1995–2000Ace Ventura: Pet DetectiveAdditional voices
1996–1999DougCoach Spitz
2001The Flintstones: On the RocksFred Flintstone
Parking Guard
Vendor
TV movie
The Jetsons: Father & Son DayGeorge Jetson
Elroy Jetson
Mr. Cosmo Spacely
2002Harvey Birdman, Attorney at LawGeorge Jetson
Bakov
Clown
Episode: "Shaggy Busted"
The Jetsons: The Best SonGeorge Jetson
Elroy Jetson
Robot Boy
2003Saturday Night LiveBugs Bunny
Viet Cong
Propaganda Skunk
Grape Ape
Episode: "Queen Latifah/Ms. Dynamite"
Cartoon Network's Funniest Bloopers and Other Embarrassing MomentsPorky Pig
Fred Flintstone
Barney Rubble
George Jetson
Foghorn Leghorn
Barnyard Dawg
Henery Hawk
TV short
2004Johnny BravoFred FlintstoneEpisode: "Wilderness Protection Program/A Page Right Out of History"
2005Being IanAdditional VoicesEpisode: "The Kelleys"
2006–presentFamily GuyFred Flintstone
Sylvester the Cat
Max Weinstein
Victor
Homer Simpson
2007Totally Spies!Dr. Seth Douglass34 episodes
2008, 2009Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon ComedyHost
Fred Flintstone
Episodes: "A Dog on the $25,000 Pyramid"
"Fred and Barney Try to Get Into a Club"
2010The Cleveland ShowAlda-nator
Garrison Keillor
Episodes: "Love Rollercoaster"
"Buried Pleasure"
2011–2014The Looney Tunes ShowBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Sylvester
Tweety
Foghorn Leghorn
Pepé Le Pew
Girardi
2012Cartoon Network 20th AnniversaryBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
2013–presentTeen Titans Go! Tucker X, Ace Mulligan, Larry Burgess, Head of Gay Conspiracy, Horace Tutt, Jr.45 episodes
2013MadDaffy Duck
Elmer Fudd
James P. Sullivan
Dan Schneider
Episodes: "First White House Down/McDuck Dynasty"
"Iron Bland 3/Monsters Community"
"World War ZZZ/SHAZAM! & Cat"
2014Rick and MortyAdditional voicesEpisode: "Rixty Minutes"
Phineas and FerbAdditional voicesEpisode: "The Klimpaloon Ultimatum"
Mike Tyson MysteriesElton John (Episode 3)
Elon Musk (Episode 3)
Robert Redford (Episode 4)
The Phantasm (Episode 39)
Voice
2015–2020New Looney TunesBugs Bunny
Sylvester
Foghorn Leghorn
Elmer Fudd
Michigan J. Frog
Boyd (Season 2)
Voice[6]
2016Uncle GrandpaBugs BunnyEpisode: "Pizza Eve"
American DadAdditional voicesEpisode: "Next of Pin"
2017Comrade DetectiveGraffiti Cop #1 (voice)Episode: "Bread Is Bread"
2017Chuck's ChoiceG'Dook, G'nookiMain role; Episode: "The Good, The Bad and The UD"
2017True and the Rainbow KingdomRobot Maximus
2018 We Bare Bears Narrator Episode: "El Oso"
2018–2020Our Cartoon PresidentDonald Trump
Lou Dobbs
Joe Biden
Bill de Blasio
John F. Kennedy
voice
2019AmphibiaJonah
Additional voices
Episode: "Cracking Mrs. Croaker"
2019The Loud HouseAdditional VoicesEpisode: "Friended! with the Casagrandes"
2020Yabba-Dabba DinosaursFred FlinstoneVoice
2020–presentLooney Tunes CartoonsSylvester
Elmer Fudd
Foghorn Leghorn
Ralph Wolf
Voice
2020–presentRusty RivetsFrankford
2020Jurassic World Camp CretaceousMr. DNAVoice
2021Jellystone!Yogi Bear
Ranger Smith
Huckleberry Hound
Snagglepuss
Wally Gator
Mr. Jinks
Mildew Wolf
Voice

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
2011Skylanders: Spyro's AdventureZap
2012The Expendables 2 VideogameBarney Ross
2012Skylanders: GiantsZap
2013Skylanders: Swap ForceZap
2014Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes: Cartoon UniverseBugs Bunny
Daffy Duck
Foghorn Leghorn
Sylvester
Skylanders: Trap TeamZap
2015Skylanders: SuperChargersZap[7]
2016Skylanders: ImaginatorsZap
2018Lego The IncrediblesBob Parr/Mr. Incredible
2020 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Ronald Reagan

References

  1. "Jeff Bergman," Behind the Voice Actors
  2. "Episode: 9: Jeff Bergman interview (Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck in The Looney Tunes Show)". podfanatic. 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  3. Owen, Rob (2011-05-01). "Pitt grad voices Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck on Cartoon Network". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved 2011-05-01.
  4. That's Still Not All Folks! 2009, by Joe Alaskey, page 96 ISBN 978-1593931124
  5. The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! Closing Credits
  6. "Buddha Bugs/Now and Zen". Wabbit. Season 1. Episode 1. September 21, 2015. Cartoon Network.
  7. Vicarious Visions. Skylanders: SuperChargers. Activision. Scene: Closing credits, 7:13 in, Voice Actors.
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