Mel Blanc

Known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” Mel Blanc is widely considered one of the greatest voice actors of all time, and was a pioneer during the golden age of American animation. Blanc is credited with providing the voices for an estimated 90% of all Warner Bros. characters during the 1940s and 1950s, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. Overall, he crafted voices for some 3,000 cartoon characters throughout his prolific six-decade career.

Blanc began voice acting in 1923, at the age of 15, with a singing role on the KGW radio program Stories by Aunt Nell. His popularity skyrocketed after he booked his first gig with Warner Bros. in 1937, as the character Porky Pig in the short film Porky’s Road Race. Blanc debuted the voice for Daffy Duck later that year, and introduced Bugs Bunny in 1940’s A Wild Hare. Over the following decades, Blanc continued to carve out an unparalleled legacy in his field, voicing many other memorable animated characters, including Barney Rubble in The Flintstones and Mr. Spacely in The Jetsons. Blanc worked continuously through the 1980s, up until his death in 1989.

June Foray

While June Foray had a diminutive stature — standing only 4 feet, 11 inches tall — she was an absolute giant in voice acting history. By the age of 12, Foray was providing voices on a local radio program in Massachusetts, and she later moved to Los Angeles to begin a film career in the 1940s. That decision proved extremely fruitful, as Foray caught the attention of Walt Disney, who hired her to voice Lucifer the cat in 1950’s Cinderella. In 1959, Foray voiced Rocky the Flying Squirrel in the famous Rocky & Bullwinkle duo, which became one of her signature characters. Throughout her legendary career, which lasted until the early 2010s (she died in 2017 at the age of 99), Foray was widely beloved in the industry. Animator Chuck Jones once said, “June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc is the male June Foray.”

Mark Hamill

He may be best known for portraying Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, but Mark Hamill has also had a prolific voice acting career since the 1970s. Prior to his time as a Jedi, Hamill voiced various guest roles on The New Scooby-Doo Movies television series in the early part of that decade. But it was his role as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, which ran from 1992 to 1995, that would cement Hamill’s legacy as a voice actor. He reprised the role for the Batman: Arkham video game series, and his portrayal of the Joker inspired countless other versions of the character that came later. Interestingly, Luke Skywalker isn’t Hamill’s only Star Wars role, either — he voiced an alien named Boolio in a cameo for 2019’s Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.

Nancy Cartwright

The Simpsons features a who’s who of talented voice actors, from Dan Castellaneta (Homer Simpson) to Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson) and Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns). One of the most famous voices on the long-running animated show is that of Nancy Cartwright, who plays Bart Simpson. Cartwright has voiced the young prankster since The Simpsons began over 30 years ago, delivering signature lines such as “Eat my shorts” and “Don’t have a cow, man.” Cartwright also voices the characters of Ralph Wiggum and Nelson Muntz, and even provides the trademark sucking sound for one-year-old Maggie Simpson. Her portrayal of famous animated children doesn’t end there: She also voiced Chuckie Finster on Rugrats from 2001 until 2004 and again for the 2022 reboot of the popular animated children’s series.

Tom Kenny

You definitely won’t find Tom Kenny in a pineapple under the sea, though his most famous character does call one home. The voice behind the star of SpongeBob SquarePants, which premiered in 1999, Kenny has had an extensive career in children’s animation, also voicing roles in The Powerpuff Girls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Adventure Time. While working as a stand-up comedian prior to voice acting, Kenny once performed in front of an executive from the Cartoon Network, who scouted him to work in animation. Shortly after, Kenny was hired for his first major role playing Heffer the cow on Rocko’s Modern Life, which ran from 1993 to 1996. During his time as a voice actor, Kenny has won three Annie Awards and two Daytime Emmys.

James Earl Jones

Throughout his six-decade career — both on-camera and behind the mic — James Earl Jones has demonstrated remarkable versatility: He has voiced everyone from the evilest of villains to some of Hollywood’s most memorable heroes. Those roles include the dastardly sith lord Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise and the king of the jungle Mufasa from 1994’s The Lion King. While Darth Vader was physically portrayed by English actor David Prowse, Jones’ voice gave the character his signature intimidating bravado. Jones is so synonymous with Darth Vader that he has reprised the role several times, most recently for the 2022 Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jones also returned to voice the character of Mufasa in the 2019 CGI-heavy remake.

Frank Welker

He may not be a household name, but Frank Welker is the third-highest-grossing actor of all time, according to film industry data website The Numbers, finishing just behind Stan Lee and Samuel L. Jackson. Welker rose to stardom in 1969, when he voiced Fred Jones on the animated series Scooby Doo, Where Are You! More recently, Welker has lent his voice to films such as the Transformers series, The Smurfs, and Mortal Kombat. Welker has also voiced Smokey Bear in commercials about preventing forest fires, Inspector Gadget in the 1983 animated TV series of the same name, and several of the titular characters in 1984’s Muppet Babies. With such an extensive résumé, Welker may just be the most famous actor you’ve heard but never heard of.