Paul Frees

Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920 – November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, voice actor, impressionist, comedian and screenwriter known for his work on MGM, Walter Lantz, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during the Golden Age of Animation and for providing the voice of Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Along with his contemporary Mel Blanc, he became known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices." 2Early life Frees was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago, Illinois, on June 22, 1920; he grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood and attended Von Steuben Junior High School in Peoria. He had an unusually wide four-octave voice range that would enable him to voice everything from the thundering basso profondo of the unseen "Ghost Host" in the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland in California and at Walt Disney World in Florida to the voice of the farmer who helps the Little Green Sprout (voiced by Ike Eisenmann) in the Green Giant vegetable commercials. 2Career In the 1930s, Frees first appeared on vaudeville as an impressionist, under the name Buddy Green. He began his career on radio in 1942 and remained active for more than 40 years. During that time, he was involved in more than 250 films, cartoons and TV appearances; as was the case for many voice actors of the time, his appearances were often uncredited. Frees' early radio career was cut short when he was drafted into World War II where he fought at Normandy, France on D-Day. He was wounded in action and was returned to the United States for a year of recuperation. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute under the G.I. Bill. When his first wife's health failed, he decided to drop out and return to radio work.He appeared frequently on Hollywood radio series, including Escape, playing lead roles and alternating with William Conrad as the opening announcer of Suspense in the late 1940s, and parts on Gunsmoke (doing an impersonation of Howard McNear as Doc Adams for at least one episode, "The Cast"), and Crime Classic