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You never realized these 11 notable actors voiced Justice League superheroes in cartoons
Which game show host was Superman? Which 'Mary Tyler Moore Show' star played a bad guy?
Image: The Everett Collection
Wonder Twins powers, activate! Shape of… a famous actor! Form of… a cartoon classic!
Was there a better Saturday morning cartoon than Super Friends? We don't think so. For half a century, DC Comics superheroes have been entertaining cereal-chomping children, dating back to animated series like The New Adventures of Superman and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure in the mid-1960s.
The Justice League heroes teamed up for Super Friends beginning in 1973, and the cartoon ran in various iterations through 1986. For many of us, this was our glimpse of Wonder Woman and Aquaman in action on-screen.
You undoubtedly watched some of these toons as kids. You perhaps did not realize that some famous sitcom actors were voicing characters like Atom and Krypto the Superdog. With the Justice League back in the pop culture eye, let's take a look at some notable performers behind the cartoons.
1. Ted Knight as Black Manta
We begin with our favorite example of a celebrity voice behind vintage DC Comics characters. Some might know that Ted Knight, Emmy-winning star of Mary Tyler Moore and Too Close for Comfort, was the voice of the narrator in Super Friends. Did you know he was doing DC toons well before that? Back in '67, he brought to life Aquaman's archenemy Black Manta in the first episode of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.
Image: The Everett Collection / Warner Bros.
2. Marvin Miller as Aquaman
As for the hero in that early take on Aquaman? The orange-and-green icon was played by Marvin Miller — who also voiced Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet. He was a baddie in the Bogart noir Dead Reckoning, pictured here, and also turned up in an episode of Perry Mason, "The Case of the Lover's Leap."
Image: The Everett Collection
3. Bud Collyer as Superman
Best known as a game show host, Collyer emceed the popular series Beat the Clock and To Tell the Truth. He was bringing Superman to life long before that. He voiced the character on radio dating back to The Adventures of Superman in 1940. The early Superman cartoons utililized much of the radio cast, and Collyer made the leap to animation, voicing both Clark Kent and the big blue guy in the 1960s.
Image: The Everett Collection
4. Pat Harrington Jr. as the Atom
Harrington took home an Emmy and a Golden Globe for playing building superintendent Dwayne Schneider on One Day at a Time. He was the man behind shrinking scientist Ray Palmer and his alter-ego the Atom on The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure.
Image: The Everett Collection / Warner Bros.
5. Gerald Mohr as Green Lantern
Mohr is one of those familiar faces that can be seen all over classic TV. He has guest starring roles in Perry Mason, 77 Sunset Strip, Lost in Space, The Lucy Show, Maverick, The Rifleman, Bonanza, Wanted: Dead or Alive… we could go on. And, yes, he was also Green Lantern in those 1960s Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure cartoons.
Image: The Everett Collection / Warner Bros.
6. Norman Alden as Aquaman and Green Arrow
Alden popped up in a Perry Mason, as well as a couple episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. He had a regular role in the Tin Conway Western sitcom Rango in 1967. He would go on to voice Aquaman in early episodes of Super Friends, and also pulled double duty as Green Arrow.
Image: The Everett Collection / Warner Bros.
7. Shannon Farnon as Wonder Woman
While Farnon was the first actress to voice Wonder Woman in a Hanna-Barbera production, she was not the first to voice the superhero overall. That honor goes to Jane Webb in The Brady Kids of all places. Yes, the first appearance of Wonder Woman on television was a Brady Bunch cartoon. Anyway… Farnon was primarily known for her work voicing Wonder Woman, but she did appear in front of the camero, too. You can spot her in two episodes of Dragnet (1967), as seen here. Earlier, she appeared in an episode of My Favorite Martian — where she appeared alongside Yvonne Craig, a.k.a. Batgirl!
Image: The Everett Collection
8. Olan Soule as Batman
Thin and typically bespectacled, Olan Soule might not strike you as a Bruce Wayne type. But he gave voice to the Dark Knight in dozens of Super Friends adventures. You can spot the former radio performer in a handful of episodes of My Three Sons, Petticoat Junction, The Big Valley and Gunsmoke. Some might remember him as choir master John Masters on The Andy Griffith Show, as well.
Image: The Everett Collection
9. Bob Hastings as Superboy
Hasting was a regular on McHale's Navy, appearing in more than 100 episodes as the boot-licking Lieutenant Elroy Carpenter. Additionally, he was everything from Dennis the Menace's basketball coach to a bartender on All in the Family. Thanks to the wonders of animation, he might be the only man to play both the precocious Superboy and Batman ally Jim Gordon!
Image: The Everett Collection / Warner Bros.
10. Casey Kasem as Robin
Familiar radio host of American Top 40, Kasem made for one great sidekick, whether he was Shaggy or Robin.
Image: The Everett Collection / Warner Bros.
11. Danny Dark as Superman
Danny Dark, who has the most comic-book-y name on this list (his given name was Daniel Melville Croskery), is also the most obscure actor here. However, he might have the most familiar voice. His TV commercial work is ingrained in your brain. He was the one who said, "This Bud's for you," and "Raid… kills bugs dead," and "Sorry, Charlie." He was the voice in the intermissions of Bonanza. He was the voice in commercials for Parkay and Keebler. And, yes, he was Superman/Clark Kent for a dozen years on Super Friends.
Image: The Everett Collection / laradio.com
SEE ALSO: MEET THE VOICES BEHIND 'THE FLINTSTONES' WHO APPEARED ALL OVER 1960S TV
You yabba-dabba-didn't know these folks appeared on so many sitcoms. READ MORE
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8 Comments
Then of course he popped up everywhere on TV in the 1960's.
