- published: 23 Nov 2015
- views: 698
Jeff Allen Bergman (born July 10, 1960) is an American voice actor, who provides the modern day voices of various classic cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, and Huckleberry Hound.
Originally from Philadelphia, Bergman 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. 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.
Bergman's work with Warner Bros. began when he recorded a tape of himself as several of Mel 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 became the first performer to provide the voice of Bugs Bunny after Mel Blanc died in 1989. His first appearance in that role, as well as those of Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, was in the short "Box Office Bunny". He later voiced Bugs and Daffy again in the 1990 TV special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, and Bugs, Daffy, Elmer, and Yosemite Sam in the 1991 cartoon short (Blooper) Bunny. For a long period after this, the characters were voiced by other actors.
Bugs Bunny is an American animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray hare or rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality, a pronounced Brooklyn accent, and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most notably the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of theatrical short films. His popularity there led to his becoming a corporate mascot of the Warner Bros. company. Bugs has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character and is the ninth most portrayed film personality in the world.
According to Bugs Bunny: 50 Years and Only One Grey Hare, Bugs was born on July 27, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York in a warren under Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In reality, he was created by many animators and staff, including Tex Avery, who directed A Wild Hare, Bugs' debut role, and Robert McKimson, who created the definitive "Bugs Bunny" character design. According to Mel Blanc, the character's original voice actor, Bugs has a Flatbush accent. Bugs has had numerous catchphrases, the most prominent being a casual "Eh... What's up, doc?", usually said while chewing a carrot.