Michael Bell (born July 30, 1938) is an American actor who is most active in voice over roles. He has acted in video games and animated series, including Legacy of Kain, The Transformers, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, The Houndcats, Rugrats, The Smurfs, The Incredible Hulk and Snorks and appeared on-screen in film and television, including the TV programs Dallas and Star Trek.
Early life Michael Bell was born on July 30, 1938, "Voice actor Michael Bell (1938-)" in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family.
Career Live-action roles His live action film career has included roles in films such as Thunder Alley (1967), Blue (1968), The Proud Rider (1971)"The Proud Rider at IMDb.com (retrieved January 7, 2018); "The Proud Rider at Letterboxd.com (retrieved January 7, 2018) Brother John (1971), Rollercoaster (1977), Fast Company (1979), How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980) and C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1989). Bell also appeared in live-action exploitation shorts and PSAs - scare films made in California during the early 1960s, ranging in content from venereal disease (Damaged Goods) to psychedelic drug abuse (Trip To Where).
He appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint", as Bandi administrator Groppler Zorn, and in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "The Homecoming" as a Bajoran and in "The Maquis."
Bell appeared in multiple episodes of Dallas as Les Crowley during the 1980–81 season, in M*A*S*H in the episode "Souvenirs" as Willie Stratton and also guest starred in two episodes of Three's Company as Rama Mageesh and Michael, a sleazy dance instructor in the sixth-season episode "Some of That Jazz" (1981). Bell played Bill Duncan, Sabrina (Kate Jackson)'s ex-husband on Charlie's Angels, as well as appearing as King Edward Spencer on Jackson's series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. In 1970, he appeared in an episode of The Silent Force.
1970s and 1980s voice work Bell had an important part in animated entertainment in the 1970s and 1980s. His first voice role was that of Stutz, the leader of The Houndcats. In 1973, he was Mark on the Hanna-Barbera series Speed Buggy. He voiced Redbeard the Pirate's Ghost in The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode "The Ghostly Creep from the Deep" as the second Redbeard themed monster in Scooby-Doo. Bell also reprised Mark on the same cartoon in the episode "Weird Winds of Winona".
From 1977 to 1984, Michael Bell played two of his best-known roles, Zan and Gleek on various Super Friends incarnations. He also voiced The Riddler on Challenge of the Superfriends. He also provided the voice of Lex Luthor as a young man, in the episode "History of Doom". However, Stan Jones was the voice of the adult Luthor throughout the series. Bell later played Luthor in the 1988 Superman series.
He was also Doctor Ben Cooper in Jana of the Jungle and in 1979, he voiced the title character of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and later made a guest appearance as Doctor Octopus in another superhero show, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.
Outside of animation, Bell performed on records and commercials, including the Young Man in A&M Records' Story of Halloween Horror album in 1977, and Parkay Margarine and Mug Root Beer ads. Bell provided the overdubbing of Peter Criss' dialogue in the band KISS's TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. In 1980, he provided the voice of the title character in The B.B. Beegle Show, an unsold TV show pilot that featured puppets.
Throughout the 1980s, Michael Bell starred in four hit animated series; as Grouchy Smurf, Lazy Smurf, Handy Smurf and Johan in The Smurfs as Prowl, Scrapper, Sideswipe, Bombshell, First Aid, Swoop, Gort, Brainstorm and Doctor Fujiyama in The Transformers and The Transformers: The Movie as Duke, Xamot, Blowtorch and numerous others in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: The Movie as Lance & Sven in Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
He also starred in the 1982 animated series The Incredible Hulk. The Hulk was voiced by Bob Holt, while his human side, Bruce Banner, was played by Bell. In a 2004 interview, Bell joked about how Holt would be annoyed that he was growling his throat out, while Bell's acting was much easier on his throat.
During this time, the actor also played Hiro Taka on Spiral Zone and Allstar Seaworthy on The Snorks (1984-1989)
Later voice work
Bell continues to work in animation in the 1990s and into the 21st century in movies and television, with roles such as Quackerjack from Disney's Darkwing Duck, Aziz on Aladdin and Ezekiel Rage on The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. He was also featured as Opus in the Bloom County television special A Wish for Wings That Work.
From 1991 to 2004, in the Rugrats and All Grown Up!, he voiced three of the main characters' parents; Drew Pickles, Charles Finster Sr., and Boris Kropotkin.
Bell did the voices of Drake on W.I.T.C.H., Max Hauser, Duke's Dad on G.I. Joe: Renegades, Willy Wachowski on Handy Manny and additional roles in Tangled (2010).
In 2018, Bell reprised his role as Quackerjack on the reboot of DuckTales.
Video game voice work He is also a prolific voice in video games, which include Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Age of Empires III, Baldur's Gate, Ratchet & Clank, the character Dark Fact in the game Ys I & II, and the character Raziel in four games in the Legacy of Kain series, among many others. He also plays the Fear in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Documentary narration He narrated the documentary programs Earth's Fury (also known as Anatomy of Disaster internationally), Expeditions to the Edge, Bullet Catchers and Mysteries of Asia, while he narrated some episodes of E! True Hollywood Story.
Stage roles In 1983, he and his future wife Victoria Carroll opened The West End Playhouse in Van Nuys. The two of them organized, wrote, directed, and acted in dozens of productions.
One of the most notable was The Ladies of the Camillias in which Bell played the villain Ivan and Victoria starred as Madame Sarah Bernhardt. The play won multiple Drama Logue Awards.
He served as the theater's director until 1988, when by mutual agreement to devote more time to their child, Bell and Carroll sold the theater to Edmund Gaynes and Pamela Hall.
Voice director Bell was the voice director for Kidd Video, Peter Pan and the Pirates, as well as the web series The LeBrons.
Union activism On March 30, 2012, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) completed a merger of equals forming a new union SAG-AFTRA. As a result of this merger, a group of actors including Bell, fellow voice actors Wendy Schaal, Clancy Brown, Schaal's former stepmother Valerie Harper, and other actors including former SAG President Edward Asner, Martin Sheen, Ed Harris, and Nancy Sinatra immediately sued against the current SAG President Ken Howard and several SAG Vice Presidents to overturn the merger and separate the (now merged) two unions because of their claims that the election was improper. The plaintiffs dropped their lawsuit several months later.
Inventor In 1991, Bell and his colleague Melanie Chartoff conceived the Grayway Rotating Drain, a graywater recycling device for reuse of shower and sink water in the home. The following year, they finished and patented the product with the help of Ronald K. Ford.*, "Gray water recycling system" (January 4, 1994)
Personal life Bell has been married to actress Victoria Carroll since 1984. Together they have a daughter, Ashley Bell, who is also an actress. He is an animal rights activist. He is the godfather of actor Steve Guttenberg, who cites Bell as his inspiration to become an actor.
Bell served on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Local of SAG-AFTRA in 2016 until 2019.
Filmography Film Live-action Year Title Role Notes References 1967 Thunder Alley Leroy Johnson Point Blank 2nd Penthouse Lobby Guard 1968 Blue Jim Benton 1971 Brother John Cleve 1977 Rollercoaster Chuck Demerest Star Wars General Vanden Willard Voice 1979 Fast Company Chuck Randall 1980 How to Beat the High Cost of Living Tom 1989 C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. Mr. Williams Uncredited 2010 Furry Vengeance Background voices Voice
Animation Year Title Role Notes References 1961 Damaged Goods Monk 1968 Trip to Where Joe Hennessey 1976 Davy Crockett on the Mississippi Honeysuckle, Settler, Pete Television film 1982 Heidi's Song Willie A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. 1983 The Wind in the Willows Ratty 1985 Star Fairies Freddy Flawless, Frump, Spectre 1986 GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords Granite, Narligator, Slimestone My Little Pony: The Movie Grundle The Transformers: The Movie Scrapper, Swoop, Junkions 1987 G.I. Joe: The Movie Duke, Lift Ticket, Xamot The Brave Little Toaster Television Announcer The Little Troll Prince Krill, Kristi and Sonja's Father, Ribo Television film 1988 Rockin' with Judy Jetson Quasar The Good, the Bad, and Huckleberry Hound Bailiff, Laughing Donkey, Longhorn Steer, Station Announcer, Stinky Dalton 1989 Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland Oompy 1990 Jetsons: The Movie Board Member #1 1991 A Wish for Wings That Work Opus the Penguin 1992 Tom and Jerry: The Movie Ferdinand, Straycatcher #1 1993 Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby Mr. Pyrite Television film I Yabba-Dabba Do! 1996 Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco Stokey 1997 Cats Don't Dance Lil' Ark Angels Announcer The Ugly Duckling Fox 1998 The Rugrats Movie Chaz Finster, Drew Pickles, Boris Kropotkin 1999 Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein Victor Frankenstein 2000 Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Chaz Finster, Drew Pickles 2003 Rugrats Go Wild 2004 Home on the Range Horse Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster Duncan MacGubbin, McIntyre 2006 Cars Additional voices 2007 Ratatouille Damaged Rat 2010 Tangled Guard 2015 The Prophet Old Olive Man, Male Villagers 2021 Luca Additional voices
Television Live-action