William Richard Werstine[1][3] (born 1952),[2] known professionally asBilly West, is an American voice actor and musician. His voice roles includeBugs Bunny in the 1996 filmSpace Jam, the title characters ofDoug andThe Ren & Stimpy Show, and several subsequent projects. He also voiced Disney characters, including Ellyvan the Elephant inJungle Junction, Bashful inThe 7D, as well as theFuturama charactersPhilip J. Fry,Professor Farnsworth, Dr.Zoidberg,Zapp Brannigan, and many more. In commercials, he voices the RedM&M and formerly voiced Buzz forHoney Nut Cheerios. West also voices other established characters such asElmer Fudd,Popeye,Shaggy Rogers,Rocket Raccoon,Muttley, andWoody Woodpecker. Billy West was a regular performer on WBCN 104.1 FM in Boston, MA. during the mid-to-late 1980s, primarily appearing on Charles Laquidara's "The Big Mattress" morning show. He worked at the station until approximately 1988, when he moved to New York City to work at K-Rock (WXRK) and eventually joined The Howard Stern Show. He was a cast member onThe Howard Stern Show, during which time he was noted for his impressions ofLarry Fine,Marge Schott,George Takei, andJackie Martling.
West has stated that during theVietnam War, he was subject to thedraft lottery under theNixon administration, receiving a low draft number which would have resulted in his conscription in 1970. West was ultimately classified "4-F" and excluded from enlistment on medical grounds as he hadhypertension andflat feet.[11] West described his later recurring role asRichard Nixon onFuturama as his "revenge" against Nixon. In a 2019 video post, West opined that the "biggest joke"[12] about his experience was theRichard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum subsequently including images and footage of theFuturama Nixon character as part of its "Nixon in Popular Culture" exhibit.[13]
He left the radio station in 1988 to work on the short-lived revival ofBeany and Cecil, which was his first voice role in television. West's first major roles were onDoug andThe Ren & Stimpy Show, which were two of the first threeNicktoons onNickelodeon (the other beingRugrats). Over his career, West has been the voice talent for close to 120 different characters including some of the most iconic animated figures in television history. He has become one of the few voice actors who can impersonateMel Blanc in his prime, including characterizations ofBugs Bunny andDaffy Duck, the voiceArthur Q. Bryan used forElmer Fudd, as well as other characters fromWarner Bros. cartoons. In 1998,Entertainment Weekly described West as "the new Mel Blanc" and noted his ability to mimic well-known voices,[16] though he would rather develop original voices.[16] West's favorite characters arePhilip J. Fry andStimpy, both of which he originated.[17] West has been very outspoken over his displeasure about the influx of star actors providingvoice-over for films and major shows.[18][19] West has stated that he did not like the Disney version ofDoug and that he "couldn't watch" the show.[20] West was the voice of the show's namesake, Geeker, throughoutProject Geeker's 13-episode run. West was the voice of Zim in the original pilot forInvader Zim. However, according to creatorJhonen Vasquez, he was replaced byRichard Steven Horvitz due to his voice being too recognizable. West was the voice of "Red" in numerous M&M commercials, as well as the 3D filmI Lost My M in Vegas, currently playing at M&M's World inLas Vegas,Nevada. He also voices a number of minor characters in the seriesRick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World. He voiced the character Moobeard inMoobeard the Cow Pirate, a short animation featured onRandom! Cartoons and reprises his role asElmer Fudd inCartoon Network's seriesThe Looney Tunes Show. In 1999, he also had a cameo in the Emmy Award-winning cartoonDilbert.
West provided the voice ofStimpson J. Cat inNickelodeon'sThe Ren & Stimpy Show from 1991 until 1996, and he later provided the voice ofRen Höek from 1993 to 1996 when Ren's original voice and series creatorJohn Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon (then a division of the originalViacom) for delivering late and objectionable episodes. He performed other characters on the series, such as Mr. Horse (another role he took over after Kricfalusi's departure) and the announcer for the "Log" ads (a voice West would use years later as the narrator forThe Weird Al Show).
According to West, he was originally supposed to do the voice of both Ren and Stimpy (and performed both characters on the tape that was used to sell the show to Nickelodeon), but then Kricfalusi decided to do the voice of Ren himself once the show was sold and he had West on board as part of the selling point.[21] However, West provided Ren's laughter with Kricfalusi as Ren's speaking voice.
West's roles inFuturama includePhilip J. Fry,Professor Farnsworth,Zapp Brannigan, andDr. Zoidberg, among others. As he and otherFuturama cast and crew point out in DVD commentaries, he voiced so many characters throughout the series that conversations are often held entirely between characters he is voicing. West went into theFuturama auditions and was asked to try out for, as he says, "just about every part".[21] He eventually landed the roles of Farnsworth, Zoidberg, and Brannigan. He later got the main role of Fry, which originally had gone toCharlie Schlatter.[22] While West is known for his original voices, the voice he uses for Fry is often considered to be closer to his natural voice than any other character he has played; in an audio commentary, he states Fry is "just [himself] at age 25".[23] This similarity, West acknowledges, was done purposefully in order to make it harder to replace him in the part along with placing more of himself personally into the role.[21]
The role of Zapp Brannigan was written for the latePhil Hartman, who died before the show started; West was given the role. West has described his interpretation of Zapp Brannigan's voice as an imitation of Hartman, but described the actual vocalizations of the character as being based on "a couple of big dumb announcers I knew."[21]Futurama was renewed byComedy Central as fourdirect-to-DVD films broken into 16 television episodes.[24] West reprised his roles for these films and was signed on for two new 26-episode production seasons (four 13-episode air seasons) ofFuturama which aired summers of 2010 to 2013.[25]
In 2022, it was announced thatFuturama would be returning in 2023 with the original cast, including West.[26]
West was the announcer of the programScreen Gems Network which ran from 1999 to 2001. He was the promotional announcer forThe Comedy Channel before it merged with HA! to become Comedy Central. Over his career, Billy West has voiced multiple characters in television commercials.These include (but are not limited to):
West voiced theSpeed Racer character in a late 1990s advertisement forVolkswagen,[16] because the commercial's producers could not locatePeter Fernandez, the original voice of Speed. However, the producers did locateCorinne Orr, the original voice for the characters Trixie and Spritle.
West voiced Graham and Julius F. inEric Kaplan's web cartoonZombie College and two characters inTofu the Vegan Zombie.[27] He appeared onKen Reid'sTV Guidance Counselor Podcast on January 30, 2015. The episode was recorded live at The Smell in Downtown Los Angeles during the third annual Riot LA Comedy Festival.
West began his own podcast show in July 2015. It features him doing numerous characters per episode, recurring segments such as "Song Demolition", "Billy Bastard – Amateur Human Being" and special guest Jim Gomez.[28]
West is a guitarist and singer-songwriter with a band called Billy West and The Grief Counselors. They have released their first album,Me-Pod.[29] West has toured as a guitarist forRoy Orbison andBrian Wilson.[16]
In 1982, West sang lead, doing an impersonation ofMike Love, on aBeach Boys-inspired tune, "Another Cape Cod Summer This Year", by studio band ROUTE 28, written and produced byErik Lindgren on his Arf! Arf! Records label.
TheFuturama episode "Proposition Infinity" features the track "Shut up and Love Me" which was written and played by Billy West and Greg Leon, under the nameWailing Fungus.[31]