To paraphrase a cartoon chef from a Pixar movie, “anyone can voice act.” To be truly great, however—to become an icon—you have to be versatile. For proof, let’s look at seven of the best to ever do it.
Mel Blanc
It doesn’t get more legendary than Blanc, also known as “the man of a thousand voices.” Maybe the most influential voiceover artist of all time, Blanc originated almost every iconic “Looney Tunes” character. It’s a testament to his skills that no two of them sound alike, whether it’s Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck or Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd. Blanc could disappear into any role, but what was truly mindblowing is how he could have one character imitate another seamlessly. No one did it like him, and he continues to be a North Star for aspiring voice actors.
Dee Bradley Baker
Voicing several different characters is impressive. Voicing hundreds of distinct versions of the same character is a monumental achievement, and Baker has done exactly that for nearly 20 years. Starting with the series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” Baker plays every single clone in every animated “Star Wars” show, making each one feel like an entirely unique, fleshed-out individual (while looking exactly the same). By the time “The Bad Batch” premiered in 2021, episodes consisted mostly of Baker having conversations with himself.
That achievement is the pinnacle of an impressive career. After getting a start as the giant talking rock-god Olmec on “Legends of the Hidden Temple,” Baker truly reached the next level by taking over iconic characters like Daffy Duck in “Space Jam.”
Nancy Cartwright
Bart Simpson is arguably the most recognizable character of the longest-running sitcom of all time, “The Simpsons” (you couldn’t enter a mall without being bombarded by Bart in the ’90s), and that’s in no small part due to Cartwright’s performance. She’s played the part for more than 800 episodes and nearly four decades, showing incredible consistency while still adding new layers when the show calls for it.
Cartwright originally mentored under Daws Butler, another candidate for this list and the originator of Hanna-Barbera characters like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound. She broke into professional voice acting thanks to “The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show,” but it was “The Simpsons” that propelled her to a legendary career that also includes voicing Chuckie Finster on “Rugrats.”
Frank Welker
Talk about stability: Welker has been working for six decades and has more than 900 credits under his belt. Ever since breaking out in 1969 as the original voice of Fred Jones on “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!,” Welker has continued to keep his credits incredibly varied. Who else could play both legendarily lazy cat Garfield and the Transformers’ archvillain Megatron?
John DiMaggio
DiMaggio has played alcoholic, chain-smoking, gambling-obsessed robots, subterranean monster-killers, magical shapeshifting dogs, and much more. What you’ll always get is a memorable voice performance, whether it’s a main character with time to develop like Bender on “Futurama” and Marcus in the “Gears of War” games or smaller recurring roles like Brother Blood on “Teen Titans” and or Kimahri in “Final Fantasy X.” DiMaggio will always leave his mark, even on characters with a long legacy—just check out his deeply menacing Joker on “Batman: Under the Red Hood.”
Takehito Koyasu
There is arguably no bigger villain voice actor in anime than Koyasu. If a show needs a despicable antagonist, give Koyasu a call. From Dio on the long-running “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” to Shinya Aiba on “Tekkaman Blade,” Koyasu brings a sinister quality that nevertheless conveys deeper, more complex motivation. That his parts all share certain characteristics but nevertheless don’t blend together is what makes Koyasu one of the best.
Christopher Sabat
For an entire generation, “Dragon Ball” was an entry point to anime, and Sabat was a massive part of that. Joining the English dub of the series in 1999, he provided the voice for the Saiyan fan favorite Vegeta, as well as Yamcha, Piccolo, and a host of other characters. Since then, he’s been a staple of the medium, working on some of the biggest shows of all time, from “Fullmetal Alchemist” and “One Piece” to “Yu Yu Hakusho” and “My Hero Academia.” Heroes, villains, antiheroes, Sabat has played them all.