Mel Blanc
Long before aspiring voice actors could find new casting calls daily, the opportunities to find employment as vocal performers were very limited. After all, movies with sound dialogue, as well as the first working version of a TV, only first appeared only in 1927.
Curiously enough, that same year of 1927 also marked the first time 19-year-old Mel Blanc made his voice acting debut at the radio station’s KGW broadcast program, The Hoot Owls. Growing up in San Francisco, California, and later in Portland, Oregon, he enjoyed mimicking various accents and dialects, which later helped him to begin successfully working as a radio actor. Following a stint in Los Angeles, California, in 1933, he started to produce and co-host his own show, Cobweb & Nuts, on another Portland-based radio station, KEX, which lasted for two years.
Blanc returned to Los Angeles, where he worked as voice actor in various radio stations, including being a regular at the NBC Red Network’s legendary show The Jack Benny Program, where appeared until the end of the radio series in 1955. During that time, he also earned his own radio series - The Met Blanc Show - which ran for a little bit less under a year, as well as made appearances in other major radio shows.
Despite continuing working as a radio voice actor, Mel Blanc already started his foray to the big screen vocal performances. In 1937, he made his first voiceover for the cartoon Picador Porky, where he portrayed the titular character’s drunken friend who was dressing up as a bull. That same year, Blanc also got his first starring role, when he got the role of now-iconic Looney Tunes character Porky Pig in the cartoon Porky's Duck Hunt, where he also portrayed another now-beloved character, Daffy Duck. This marked the beginning of a prominent relationship with Warner Bros. studios, during which Blanc continued to voice even more Looney Tunes characters, including Bugs Bunny’s very first appearance in 1940 cartoon A Wild Hare.
In an era where voice actors did not get a formal recognition for their work, Blanc and his estate especially had required in his contract with Warner Bros. for him to appear in the screen credits.
In 1960, his contract for working exclusively with Warner Bros. expired, so he was free to work with other studios, while continuing to reprise Looney Tunes characters as well. This marked the start of a prominent work relationship with Hanna-Barbera, with Blanc voicing many iconic characters from The Flintstones and The Jetsons, as well their other cartoons.
Amongst his final roles were the reprisal of his many Looney Tunes characters in the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was one of the very few Disney projects he had lended his voice acting talents. Blanc’s final appearance was in the 1990 animated film The Jetsons: The Movie. His legacy on and off the screen has made Blanc be regarded as the most prolific voice actor in entertainment history.
Seth MacFarlane
Growing up in Kent, Connecticut, MacFarlane expressed interest in illustration and cartoons, trying to draw his favorite animation characters at an age as early as two. At the age of five, he already was drawing flip books of animations, which culminated when then-9-year-old Seth began to draw weekly comic strips for the local The Kent Good Times Dispatch newspaper. His exploration of the world of animation continued into his high school years as well.
It was not just a prolonged phase, as MacFarlane majored in animation at the Rhode Island School of Design and was heavily inspired by seeing The Simpsons in terms of what he hoped to accomplish in the field. At the time as a college student, he also started voice acting in the films of his peers. MacFarlane also made his own short films, which following graduation ended up getting him a writer job at the Hanna Barbera studio, where he did work for Cartoon Network’s popular series Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, and Johnny Bravo.
Later on, MacFarlane twice pitched Fox Broadcasting Company his own series, now well-known as Family Guy, ultimately receiving a limited budget to produce the pilot episode, which could later lead to being picked up for a full season. Following half a year of development, MacFarlane had created the episode, which the Fox executives loved and ordered its first full-season. The animated series has been a success, with its Season 24 set to premiere in Spring 2026.
But what about MacFarlane’s voice acting career? Following the initial deal with Fox, he decided to voice the majority of male characters in the series, including Peter Griffin, his youngest son Stewie Griffin, and family dog Brian Griffin. In 2005, MacFarlane created another animated series, American Dad, voicing the protagonist Stan Smith, and space alien Roger, who lives with the Smith family.
Besides his own creations, Seth MacFarlane has also provided voiceover to characters in full-length live-action movies, including Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, as well as Ted, its sequel, and the prequel television series. His other voice acting credits include an appearance as Marge Simpson’s online friend Ben in The Simpsons, which earlier inspired him in the first place.
