Paul Frees

Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920 – November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during the Golden Age of Animation, and for providing the voice of Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Frees was sometimes known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices", an appellation more commonly bestowed on Mel Blanc.

Early life Solomon Hersh Frees was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, on June 22, 1920. He grew up in the Albany Park neighborhood and attended Von Steuben Junior High School.

Career In the 1930s, Frees first appeared in vaudeville as an impressionist, under the name Buddy Green. He began his career on radio in 1942 and remained active for more than 40 years. During that time, he was involved in more than 250 films, cartoons, and TV appearances; as was the case for many voice actors of the time, his appearances were often uncredited. He was wounded in action and was returned to the United States for a year of recuperation. He attended the Chouinard Art Institute under the G.I. Bill. When his first wife's health failed, he decided to drop out and return to radio work.

He appeared frequently on Hollywood radio series, including Escape, playing lead roles and alternating with William Conrad as the opening announcer. He announced the dramatic signature on Suspense in the late 1940s, and parts on Gunsmoke (filling in for Howard McNear as Doc Adams in the episode "The Cast"), and Crime Classics. One of his few starring roles in this medium was as Jethro Dumont/Green Lama in the 1949 series The Green Lama, as well as a syndicated anthology series The Player, in which Frees narrated and played all the parts. He starred as Larry Mitchell on Crime Correspondent on CBS Radio.

He did dubbing for live-action films including Midway, dubbing Toshiro Mifune's performances as Admiral Yamamoto; and Some Like It Hot, in which Frees provides much of the falsetto voice for Tony Curtis' female persona Josephine and the voice of funeral director Mozzarella. Frees dubbed the entire role of Eddie in the Disney film The Ugly Dachshund, replacing actor Dick Wessel, who had died of a sudden heart attack after completion of principal photography. Frees also dubbed some of Humphrey Bogart’s lines in his final film The Harder They Fall. Bogart was suffering at the time from what was later diagnosed as esophageal cancer, thus could barely be heard in some takes, hence the need for Frees to dub in his voice.

Frees worked extensively with at least nine of the major animation production companies of the 20th century: Walt Disney Productions, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Walter Lantz Productions, UPA, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Filmation, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Jay Ward Productions, Rankin/Bass, and Ruby-Spears.

Disney Some of Frees's most memorable voices were for various Disney projects. Frees voiced Disney's Professor Ludwig Von Drake in 18 episodes of the Disney anthology television series, beginning with the first episode of the newly renamed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on September 24, 1961. The character also appeared on many Disneyland Records. Von Drake's introductory cartoon, An Adventure in Color, featured "The Spectrum Song", sung by Frees as Von Drake. A different Frees recording of this song appeared on a children's record, and was later reissued on CD.

In addition to voicing characters, Frees narrated a number of Disney cartoons, including the Disney educational short film Donald in Mathmagic Land. This short originally aired in the same television episode as Von Drake's first appearance.

Frees also provided voices for numerous characters at Disney parks. He voiced the unseen "Ghost Host" at Haunted Mansion Attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. For the Pirates of the Caribbean, Frees recorded the ghost voice saying the iconic "dead men tell no tales" used in the ride, as well as lending his voice to several audio-animatronic characters, including the Auctioneer, Magistrate Carlos, and the "Pooped Pirate" in the ride. Disney eventually issued limited edition compact discs commemorating The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, featuring some outtakes and unused audio tracks by Frees and others. Frees also provided narration for the Tomorrowland attraction Adventure Thru Inner Space (1967–1985, later replaced by Star Tours) and the original Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Audio clips from the attractions in Frees's distinctive voice have been included in fireworks shows at Disneyland.

An animated singing bust in Frees's likeness appeared in the 2003 film The Haunted Mansion as a tribute. Similarly, audio recordings of Frees from the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction can be heard in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in an homage to the ride.

Frees also had a small on-camera role for Disney in the 1959 film The Shaggy Dog, playing Dr. Galvin, a police psychiatrist who attempts to understand why Mr. Daniels believes a shaggy dog can uncover a spy ring. He also speaks the film's opening narration.

His other Disney credits, most of them narration for segments of the Disney anthology television series, include:

The "Man in Space" series of shows (TV, 1954) From Aesop to Hans Christian Andersen (TV, 1955) Mars and Beyond (film, 1957) The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca (TV miniseries, 1958) Tales of Texas John Slaughter (TV miniseries, 1958) The Absent-Minded Professor (film, 1961) Moochie of Pop Warner Football (TV, 1960) The Monkey's Uncle (film, 1965)

For his contributions to the Disney legacy, Frees was honored posthumously as a Disney Legend on October 9, 2006.

Jay Ward Productions Frees was a regular presence in Jay Ward cartoons, providing the voices of Boris Badenov (from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show), Inspector Fenwick (from Dudley Do-Right, impersonating Eric Blore), Ape (impersonating Ronald Colman), District Commissioner Alistair and Weevil Plumtree in George of the Jungle, Baron Otto Matic in Tom Slick, Fred in Super Chicken, and the Hoppity Hooper narrator, among numerous others.

Rankin/Bass Frees is well-remembered for providing the voices for many characters in Rankin/Bass cartoons and stop-motion animated TV specials, most notably for a number of holiday-themed specials. In 1968, he appeared as Captain Jones in the Thanksgiving special The Mouse on the Mayflower, and that Christmas he appeared as the father of the Drummer Boy, Ali, and as the three Wise Men in The Little Drummer Boy. He was also Hocus Pocus, the traffic cop, the ticket-taker, and Santa Claus in Frosty the Snowman in 1969 and played the central villain, Burgermeister Meisterburger, and his assistant Grimsley in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town in 1970. He provided several voices, including Aeon the Terrible, for Rudolph's Shiny New Year in 1976.

Frees also voiced King Haggard's wizard Mabruk and the Cat in The Last Unicorn and provided several voices for the Jackson Five cartoon series between 1971 and 1973. He provided the voices for several J. R. R. Tolkien characters (most notably the dwarf Bombur) in Rankin/Bass animated versions of The Hobbit and The Return of the King.

Rankin/Bass TV specials or films featuring Paul Frees:

Cricket on the Hearth (TV special) (1967) Voice of the Sea Captain and others The Mouse on the Mayflower (1968) Voice of Captain Jones The Little Drummer Boy (1968) Voices of Ali, Aaron's Father, Three Wise Men Frosty the Snowman (1969) Voices of Hocus Pocus, Traffic Cop, Ticket Taker, Santa Claus The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970) Voices of Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, and W.C Fields (uncredited) Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) Voices of Burgermeister Meisterburger, Grimsley, Topper, Kringle brothers, Sombertown Civilian, Burgermeister's soldiers, Physician Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971) Voices of Colonel Bunny's assistant, Fireman, Man at Thanksgiving Table, Santa Claus The First Easter Rabbit (1976) Voices of Santa, Zero, and Spats Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976) Voices of Jack Frost and Traffic Cop Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) Voices of Santa Claus, General Ticker, Aeon the Terrible, Humpty Dumpty, 1776 (aka Sev) The Hobbit (1977) Voices of Bombur and Troll #1 Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) Voices of Santa Claus, Olaf and Donkey Dealer The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) voices of the Ghost of Christmas Past and the Ghost of Christmas present Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979) Voices of Jack Frost, Policeman, Winterbolt Jack Frost (1979) Voices of Father Winter, Kubla Kraus The Return of the King (1980) Voices of Orc, Uruk-hai, Elrond (replacing the deceased Cyril Ritchard who voiced Elrond in The Hobbit) The Last Unicorn (1982) Voices of Mabruk and the Cat The Flight of Dragons (1982) Voice of Antiquity The Legend of Frosty the Snowman (2005) Voice of Hocus Pocus (Archive Recordings)

George Pal Frees portrayed the Orson Welles sound-alike radio reporter in George Pal's film The War of the Worlds (1953), where he is seen dictating into a tape recorder as the military prepares the atomic bomb for use against the invading Martians. Memorably, his character says the recording is being made "for future history... if any". Frees also provided the film's dramatic opening narration, prior to Cedric Hardwicke's voice-over tour of the Solar System.

Frees subsequently provided the apocalyptic voice for the "talking rings" in Pal's later film The Time Machine (1960), in which he explains the ultimate fate of humanity from which the time traveler realizes the origin of the Morlocks and Eloi.

Producer Pal later put Frees to work again in his fantasy film Atlantis, the Lost Continent (also 1960) and doing the opening voice-over narration for Pal's Doc Savage (1975) film.

Frees did the narration for the George Pal documentary The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985), written, produced, and directed by Arnold Leibovit. Two years later, Frees provided the voice for Arnie the Dinosaur and the Pillsbury Doughboy in The Puppetoon Movie (1987), also produced and directed by Leibovit.

Other voice work The versatile actor voiced several characters, including three of the main characters in the US versions of Belvision's Hergé's Adventures of Tintin cartoons, based on the books by Hergé.

At the MGM Animation studio, he did work for Hanna-Barbera in their Tom and Jerry shorts. In the 1956 Cinemascope Tom and Jerry cartoon, Blue Cat Blues, he was Jerry's voice who narrated the short; he voiced Jerry's cousin Muscles in Jerry's Cousin five years earlier and the cannibals in His Mouse Friday where he said the lines "Mmmmm, barbecued cat!" and "Mmmmm, barbecued mouse!"

He did multiple voice roles for Tex Avery's short films, notably playing every role in the Butch cartoon Cellbound in 1955. He also voiced Barney Bear in ten cartoons directed by Dick Lundy while Avery was on a sabbatical.

Frees worked with Spike Jones on his 1960 album Omnibust, heard as announcer "Billy Playtex" and several other characters on "The Late Late Late Late Movies, Part I and II".

From October 1961 through September 1962, Paul Frees provided the voice for the shady lawyer named Judge Oliver Wendell Clutch, a weasel on the animated program Calvin and the Colonel starring the voices of Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. The series was an animated television remake of their radio series Amos 'n Andy.

For the 1962 Christmas special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, produced by UPA, Paul Frees voiced several characters, including Fezziwig, the Charity Man, and two of the opportunists who steal from the dead Scrooge (Eyepatch Man and Tall Tophat Man) and Mister Magoo's Broadway theatre director. He subsequently provided numerous voices for the follow up series The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo.

Frees provided the voices of both John Lennon and George Harrison in the 1965 The Beatles cartoon series, the narrator, Big D and Fluid Man in the 1966 cartoon series, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, and The Thing in the 1967 series Fantastic Four, as well as President James Norcross in the 1967 cartoon series Super President. He played several rolesnarrator, Chef of State, the judges and the bailiffin the George Lucas / John Korty animated film, Twice Upon a Time.

Frees provided the voice-over for the trailer to the 1971 Clint Eastwood thriller, Play Misty for Me.

In television commercials, he was the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, the 7-Up bird Fresh-Up Freddie, Froot Loops spokesbird Toucan Sam (previously voiced by Mel Blanc, later voiced by Maurice LaMarche), Boo-Berry in the series of monster cereal commercials, and The Farmer who helps The Little Green Sprout, (voiced by Ike Eisenmann), by demonstrating the Jolly Green Giant's sweet and tender vegetables. He also played a British detective in a 1971 non-animated television commercial for Taster's Choice coffee. When the character segués into a manic rant for a few lines, the voice anticipates the Ludwig Von Drake characterization. Frees appeared on several other Spike Jones recordings including "Pop Corn Sack" also from 1947 in which he provided the voices of Charles Boyer, Edward G. Robinson, Katharine Hepburn and Al Jolson. Dialog looping for French actor Jacques Roux, among other uncredited voice work, in the 1963 film The List of Adrian Messenger The Orson Welles sound-alike narrator in Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America Vol. 1: The Early Years. When Vol. 2 came out after his death, he was replaced by Corey Burton. The voice of Peter Tishman who purchases Manhattan from the Indians on Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America Volume One: The Early Years (sounding very much like Ludwig Von Drake) Another Orson Welles sound-alike as the voice of the aliens in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers Yet another Orson Welles sound-alike opening the film Burn, Witch, Burn!, the American release of Night of the Eagle (1962), where for over two minutes he talks about witchcraft and invokes a banishing spell over the audience Yet again, as an Orson Welles sound-alike narrator in the 1967 film The St. Valentine's Day Massacre And another Orson Welles sound-alike narrator in the opening narration for the American release of the 1959 British film Jack the Ripper Uncredited voice of a reporter trying to get a quote from General George S. Patton in the 1970 film Patton Screen credit for multiple voices in the 1971 animated television film The Point! Uncredited voice of the sentient supercomputer Colossus in the film Colossus: The Forbin Project Narration for the spoof short film Hardware Wars (1977), which was styled as a mock film trailer specifically parodying Malachi Throne's narration of the original Star Wars trailer Second Voice of KARR in "K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R."a 3rd-season episode of Knight Rider Voice of "Josephine" (the female persona of Tony Curtis's character Joe) in the Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot The voice of Dr. Hu in the English-language version of King Kong Escapes The voices of "Antoine" and "Alecto" in the English-language version of Atoll K (aka Utopia) The voice of the hermit crab Crusty in The Incredible Mr. Limpet, a Warner Bros. feature that mixed live action with animation Intro voice for the 1967 sitcom Mister Terrific Intro voice for Bradbury 13, a series of thirteen radio dramas featuring Ray Bradbury short stories, originally produced for National Public Radio by Michael McDonough at Brigham Young University, 1984 Credited with singing "Darktown Strutters' Ball" in the 1971 film The Abominable Dr. Phibes (as heard on the film's soundtrack album, along with several other songs performed in character but not used in the film) Voice of the title character in the 1957 film The Cyclops Narrator of extended recap title sequence in early first-season episodes of I Dream of Jeannie in 1965 (and the show's sponsor I.D. announcer during season one) Featured on the 1959 Spike Jones album Spike Jones in Hi-Fi, A Spooktacular in Screaming Sound in recordings "Poisen to Poisen", "My Old Flame", "Everything Happens to Me" and "This is your Death", doing the vocal and voices. "Tammy": vocal by Paul Frees, "Two Heads are Better than One": vocal by George Rock and Paul Frees. The uncredited voice of the radio news announcer in the 1964 musical film Robin and the 7 Hoods The uncredited voice of Levi Calhoun (played by Robert Tessier) in the 1975 Western Breakheart Pass The uncredited English voice of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto in the 1976 film Midway Narrator and Voice of Satan (visualized in the film as a snake) in the 1962 film The World's Greatest Sinner

Other credits Although Frees was primarily known for his voice work (like Mel Blanc, he was known in the industry as "The Man of a Thousand Voices"), he was also a songwriter and screenwriter. His most notable screenwriting work was the little-seen 1959 film The Beatniks, a screed against the then-rising Beat counterculture in the vein of Reefer Madness. In 1992, the film was mocked on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

On rare occasions, Frees appeared on-camera, usually in minor roles. In 1954, he appeared in the film noir classic Suddenly starring Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden. He played a scientist in The Thing from Another World, a death-row priest in A Place in the Sun, and French fur trader McMasters in The Big Sky. In 1955, he appeared as an irate husband suing his wife (played by Ann Doran) for alimony in an episode of CBS's sitcom The Ray Milland Show; and, in 1957, in an uncredited role as a helicopter pilot in the 1957 science-fiction movie, Beginning of the End.

In Jet Pilot, Frees plays a menacing Soviet officer whose job is to watchdog pilot Janet Leigh, but instead manages to eject himself from a parked jet, enabling Leigh to rescue John Wayne and fly back to the West. He is also credited with narrating the opening of the 1958-1959 series Rescue 8 starring Jim Davis and Lang Jefferies. In the 1970 film Patton, Frees provided the voices of a war correspondent interviewing Patton while Patton rides his horse, and of a member of Patton's staff, as well as voice-overs for several other actors, including the Moroccan official hosting a troop review for Patton. Frees is also heard in Tora! Tora! Tora! as the English-language voice of the Japanese ambassador to the United States. He also does the final narration in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the first sequel to Planet of the Apes.

Legacy Since Frees's death, voice actor Corey Burton has often re-recorded dialogue for some Disneyland attractions originally recorded by Frees. In some cases, Frees's original, pre-digital recordings had simply deteriorated over time, and in others the dialogue had been rewritten to reflect plot changes or introduce new characters, such as the "Stuffed Pirate" replacing Frees's "Pooped Pirate" in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in 1997. Dialogue that was slightly rewritten to reflect newer safety standards is performed by actors Joe Leahy (English) and Fabio Rodriguez (Spanish). In 2001, Burton provided a Paul Frees impression for the new "Ghost Host" of Haunted Mansion Holiday, a seasonal, holiday-themed overlay for the Haunted Mansion attraction. Burton also recorded Frees's Ghost Host lines for Walt Disney Pictures' 2003 film adaptation of the ride.

Personal life Frees was married five times. His first marriage was to Anelle McCloud, from 1943 until her death in 1945. He then married Kleda June Hansen in 1947, and they divorced in 1950. His third wife was voice actress Joyce Schultz. They married in 1951 and had two children before divorcing. His fourth marriage was to Jeri J. Cole in 1967; they divorced in 1969. Beverly T. Marlow was Frees's fifth wife. They married in 1971 and were estranged at the time of his death fifteen years later.

Death For the last two years of his life Frees suffered from multiple ailments, including arthritis, diabetes, and loss of vision, and had mentioned to friends that he was in near constant pain. Frees died at his home in Tiburon, California, on November 2, 1986, at the age of 66, from a self-administered overdose of pain medication. His death was considered a suicide; his agent issued a press release stating that he died from heart failure. Uncredited 1952 Cruise Cat Ship's Captain 1952 Busybody Bear Barney Bear 1953 Life with Tom Radio Announcer 1953 The Missing Mouse Radio Announcer 1953 Wee Willy Wildcat Barney Bear 1953 T.V. of Tomorrow Narrator 1954 Homesteader Droopy Narrator 1954 The Farm of Tomorrow Narrator 1955 Cellbound Prisoner / Warden / Little Wife 1956 Down Beat Bear First Radio Announcer 1956 Blue Cat Blues Jerry Mouse 1957 The Snow Queen Ol Dreamy / the Raven English VoiceUncredited 1959 Donald in Mathmagic Land The True Spirit of Adventure / Pi creature 1959 Noah's Ark Noah / God 1960 Loopy De Loop Watchdog "Tale of a Wolf" 1960 Goliath II Goliath I / Mouse 1961 One Hundred and One Dalmatians Dirty Dawson Uncredited 1961 Clash and Carry Wally Walrus Chilly Willy Short 1962–1972 The Beary Family Charlie Beary / Junior Beary 1962 Gay Purr-ee Meowrice / The Unnamed Cat from the Railway Station 1962 A Symposium on Popular Songs Ludwig Von Drake / Al Jolson 1963 Stowaway Woody Captain Woody Woodpecker Short 1965 Goofy's Freeway Troubles Narrator UncreditedGoofy Short 1965 Sink Pink Texan Hunter / Native Bearer Pink Panther Short 1965 Pinkfinger Narrator Pink Panther Short 1965 Pink Panzer Neighbor Harry / The Devil Pink Panther Short 1966–1967 The Inspector The Commissioner / Weft / Wong / Captain Clamity / Crab Louie / Captain DuMont, aka "X" / Chicken Butler / Sailor / Spider Pierre / Hassan the Assassin Fifteen shorts 1966 The Man Called Flintstone Green Goose / Agent Triple X / Mario / Rock Slag / Ali / Bobo 1968 Escalation Lyndon B. Johnson Uncredited 1982 The Flight of Dragons Antiquity Uncredited 1982 The Last Unicorn Mabruk / Cat / Tree 1983 Twice Upon a Time Narrator / Chef of State / Judges in The Pantry of Pomp / Bailiff 1987 The Puppetoon Movie Arnie the Dinosaur / Pillsbury Doughboy Released seven months after Frees's death, the movie itself dedicated to him

Television + List of voice performances in television shows Television Year Title Role Notes 1956 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Radio Announcer (uncredited) Season 1 Episode 39: "Momentum" 1956 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mary's Father (uncredited) Season 2 Episode 2: "Fog Closing In" 1956 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Swanson (uncredited) Season 2 Episode 3: "De Mortuis" 1957 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Train Station Announcer (uncredited) Season 2 Episode 18: "The Manacled" 1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Off-Screen Announcer (uncredited) Season 4 Episode 4: "The Crooked Road" 1957–1968, 1976 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Ludwig Von Drake / Narrator / Donald Duck (1episode) / Moby Duck 18 episodes 1957–1961 The Woody Woodpecker Show Wally Walrus / Charlie / Doc / Various 1958–1959 Steve Canyon Narrator 34 episodes 1959–1964 The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show Boris Badenov / Inspector Fenwick / Captain Peter "Wrong Way" Peachfuzz / Additional Voices 163 episodes / 326 Segments 1960 Mister Magoo Various 13 episodes 1960–1962 The Flintstones Mr. Granite / Rockenschpeel / TV Announcer / Ed Bedrock Episodes: "The Babysitters", "The Happy Household" 1961 Top Cat Tony / Additional voices Episodes: "The Maharajah of Pookajee", "All That Jazz", "The $1,000,000 Derby", "The Con Men", "Dibble's Double" 1961 The Dick Tracy Show Go-Go Gomez Uncredited 1961–1962 Calvin and the Colonel Judge Oliver Wendell Clutch 1961–1962 The Alvin Show Additional voices 1962 Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol Stage Director / Charity Man / Fezziwig / Old Joe / Undertaker TV special 1963 Krazy Kat Ignatz Mouse 1964–1965 The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo Sherlock Holmes / Various 5 episodes 1961, 1963–1967 Hoppity Hooper Narrator / Additional voices 52 episodes / 104 Segments 1965 The New Three Stooges Sarge / Von Vonce / Bomb Maker Episode: "That Little Old Bomb Maker" 1965 I Dream of Jeannie Narrator Episodes: "My Hero?", "Guess What Happened on the Way to the Moon?" 1965–1966 The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show Squiddly Diddly / Morocco Mole / Double-Q / Yellow Pinkie / Claude Hopper 26 episodes 1965–1967 The Beatles John Lennon / George Harrison / Brian Epstein / Additional voices 1966 The Impossibles Fluid-Man / Professor Stretch / Captain Kid / Puzzler / Infamous Mr. Instant / Artful Archer / Dr. Futuro 26 episodes 1966 Laurel and Hardy Additional voices 1966–1967 The Super 6 Dispatcher "Super Chief" / Brother Matzoriley #1 and #3 / Captain Whammo 1966–1968 Space Ghost Brago / Zeron 20 episodes 1967 Cricket on the Hearth Sea Captain / Caw / Others TV special 1967–1970 George of the Jungle Ape / Weevil / Baron Otto Matic / Various 17 episodes 1967 Shazzan Various 6 episodes 1967 The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure Kobarah / Evil Star Episodes: "Hawkman: Peril from Pluto", "Green Lantern: Evil Is as Evil Does" 1967–1968 Super President James Norcross / Narrator 1967–1968 The Fantastic 4 Ben Grimm / The Thing 20 episodes 1968 The Mouse on the Mayflower Captain Christopher Jones TV special 1968 Arabian Knights Vangore 18 episodes 1968 The Little Drummer Boy Ali / Aaron's Father / The Three Wise Men / Meshaw / Jamilie / Various other Male roles TV special 1969–1970 The Pink Panther Show Man Talking to the Pink Panther / Texan Hunter / The Pink Panther / The Commissioner (1Episode) 1969 The Banana Splits Adventure Hour Evil Vangore / Sazoom 8 episodes 1969 Frosty the Snowman Santa Claus / Traffic Cop TV special 1969–1970 The Dudley Do-Right Show Inspector Fenwick / Narrator / Additional Voices 26 episodes 1970 The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians W. C. Fields / Zeppo Marx / Harpo Marx / Traffic Cop TV special 1970 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town Burgermeister Meisterburger / Newsreel Announcer / Grimsley / Topper / Additional Voices / Ebenezer Scrooge / Ringle, Dingle, Zingle, Tingle, & Wingle / Kringle TV special 1971 Here Comes Peter Cottontail Santa Claus / Man at Thanksgiving Table / Colonel Bunny's assistant / Fireman / Ben the Rooster TV special 1971 The Point! Oblio's Father / Pointed Man's Right Head / King / Leaf Man / Villagers TV Animated feature; based on the Harry Nilsson album 1971–1972 The Jackson 5ive The J5's Producer / Additional voices 1972 The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie Iguana "Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid" 1972–1973 The Osmonds Additional voices 1974–1976 Run, Joe, Run Narrator 26 episodes 1976 The First Easter Rabbit Santa Claus / Zero / Spats TV special 1976 Frosty's Winter Wonderland Jack Frost / Traffic Cop TV special 1976 Rudolph's Shiny New Year Aeon the Terrible / Santa Claus / General Ticker / Humpty Dumpty TV special 1976 The Pink Panther Laugh-and-a-Half Hour-and-a-Half Show Additional voices 1977 The Hobbit Bombur / Troll #1 TV movie 1977 Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey Olaf / Donkey Dealer TV special 1977 Fantastic Animation Festival Opening Narrator TV specialUncredited 1978 The Stingiest Man in Town Ghost of Christmas Past / Ghost of Christmas Present TV special 1979 Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July Jack Frost / Officer Kelly / Winterbolt / Genie of the Ice Scepter / Keeper of the Cave of Lost Rejections TV movie 1979 Jack Frost Father Winter / Kubla Kraus TV special 1980 The Return of the King Elrond / Orc / Uruk-hai / Goblin TV movie 1986 DTV Valentine Ludwig Von Drake / Announcer TV movie 1987 The Wind in the Willows Wayfarer Released eight months after Frees's death, although the film was completed in 1983, 3 years before his death.

Disney theme parks + List of voice performances in theme parks Theme parks Year Title Role 1964 Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln Narrator 1967 Adventure Thru Inner Space Narrator 1965–1986 The Pillsbury Company Pillsbury Doughboy 1970–1986 Froot Loops Toucan Sam 1972–1978 Green Giant Farmer 1973-1986Monster cerealsBoo-Berry

Crew work Year Title Position Notes 1955 The Donald O'Connor Show Writer Writer (1 episode)Special material (4 episodes) 1960 The Beatniks Director, executive producer, screenwriter Uncredited