Three-time Emmy nominated Bob Bergen moved to Los Angeles from Cincinnati when he was 14. Actually, he had no choice. His Dad took a job in LA and relocated the family. But LA is where he wanted to be. As a kid, Bob spent endless hours watching and taping cartoons, imitating voices as well as creating characters of his own. His dream was to voice The Looney Tunes, and in particular Porky Pig. Bob’s idol was Mel Blanc, and he worked day and night trying to perfect eh-puh-peh-eh Porky’s famous voice. To his parents dismay, he spent more time working on voices than he did at his school work, though I think they’ve forgiven him by now.
Soon after arriving in LA, Bob began investigating how to get into the world of doing voices for cartoons. He spent hours thumbing through the yellow pages, calling every animation studio in town, gathering information on how to break into the voice-over field.
Bob was invited to teach his animation voice-over workshop at Judy Carter’s California Comedy Conference in Palm Springs. This whirlwind weekend consisted of up and coming comics showcasing to various show biz movers and shakers. Through connections he made at this conference, Bob put together a one man show. After a one time “trial” performance in Burbank, he was asked by Ken Kragen, who managed Kenny Rogers, to be the opening act for Rogers’ summer tour throughout California and Oregon. Upon returning from the tour, Bob showcased his one man show at the Ice House in Pasadena and The Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks. Producer Ed Gaynes offered to produce the show commercially at the Whitmore-Lindley Theater in NOHO. Bob Bergen, Not Just Another Pretty Voice opened to great reviews and ran for 3 months. It was revived again in 2007, playing on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Mexico, as well as Las Vegas, and a 6 week run at The Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood. A new version entitled Bob Bergen: So, Here’s The Deal! has toured in NYC, Atlanta, and Chicago. It’s currently taking bookings in theaters throughout the country. In 2020 Bob began his 33rd year teaching his animation voice-over workshop workshop in Los Angeles as well as weekend intensives throughout the US and Canada.
Bob’s voice has been heard in hundreds of commercials, including McDonald’s, Mitsubishi, Geico, Petsmart, Publix, Albertsons. His promo resume includes Disney Channel, NBC, FOXKids. He’s the imaging branding voice for radio stations throughout the US. Animated features include Tangled, TinkerBell, Spirited Away, A Bug’s Life, Iron Giant, Cars, The Emperor’s New Groove, Up, Wall-E, to name a few. He voices Luke Skywalker for LucasArts interactive games, as well as all 3 Robot Chicken: Star Wars specials. He’s supplied special vocal effects for dozens of films, including Gremlins, Army of Darkness, Dunsten Checks In, Fright Night 2, Honey, I Blew up the Kid, Santa Clause 2 & 3, He’s an Annie Award nominee for Porky Pig/Cadet in the Emmy nominated series Duck Dodgers. In 2011 he stars as Porky Pig in Cartoon Network’s new series The Looney Tunes Show.
Bob has been an active member of The Academy of Television Arts and Sciencessince 1994, He’s a 2 time volunteer Big Brother, and was honored as the 2007 Jewish Big Brother of the Year.
The Abaton Calendar is a resource created for and by voice talent, to help create meaningful connections and forge and maintain professional and personal relationships. (And hopefully, have a hell of a lot of fun in the process).