The Astonishing Tale of Paul Frees
Imagine, if you will, a man so versatile with his voice that he could squeak like a mouse, grumble like a grumpy professor, and whisper “dead men tell no tales” all in the same sentence. That man was Solomon Hersh “Paul” Frees (June 22, 1920–November 2, 1986), a veritable carnival of accents, impersonations, and vocal marvels. Born in Chicago’s Albany Park, young Solomon discovered early on that his vocal cords had more range than a roller-coaster.
Vaudeville Beginnings & Radio Shenanigans
In the late 1930s, under the cheeky stage name Buddy Green, he strutted through vaudeville as an impressionist—perhaps doing a spot-on goose or a disgruntled vacuum cleaner. By 1942 he was on radio, hopping from program to program like a rhyme-spewing kangaroo, landing roles in Escape, announcing on Suspense, dropping by Gunsmoke and Crime Classics, and even starring as both narrator and entire cast in a syndicated anthology called The Player. Not two, not three, but every character—take that, method acting.
War, Recovery, and a Pit Stop at Art School
Then the man went off to D-Day in Normandy, got wounded, recuperated for a year, and took his G.I. Bill to the Chouinard Art Institute. Alas, when his first wife fell ill, he abandoned paintbrushes for microphones and went back to radio. It was a solid career move, because people really appreciate voices more than paintings when they’re trying to relax.
Hollywood Loops: When Your Voice Becomes Someone Else’s
In the 1950s and ’60s, whenever an actor’s accent was too thick or their voice too soft—or heaven forbid, they were deceased—Frees would step in. He dubbed Toshiro Mifune’s Admiral Yamamoto in Midway, lent Tony Curtis’s Josephine in Some Like It Hot a falsetto flourish, and entirely voiced “Eddie” in Disney’s The Ugly Dachshund after the original actor tragically passed. Voice loops were his jam.
Disney Magic: Professor, Ghost, Pirate, Narrator
For Disney, Frees became indispensable. He was the voice of the erudite German-accented sage Professor Ludwig Von Drake in 18 episodes of the anthology series (beginning with the first episode of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color in 1961) and sang “The Spectrum Song.” He narrated the educational short Donald in Mathmagic Land. He is the unseen yet wonderfully ominous Ghost Host in the Haunted Mansion and the pirate voices—Auctioneer, Magistrate Carlos, “Pooped Pirate,” and more—for Pirates of the Caribbean. He narrated Tomorrowland’s Adventure Thru Inner Space and the pre-show for “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” at the 1964-65 World’s Fair. Some say you can still hear him whispering on fireworks nights.
Jay Ward & the Outer Animation Universe
Outside Disney, Frees was the vocal Swiss Army knife of animation. He was Boris Badenov in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Inspector Fenwick in Dudley Do-Right, narrators and oddball accents in George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, Super Chicken, Hoppity Hooper, and myriad others. His voice darted through studios like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, UPA, Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, DePatie-Freleng, Rankin/Bass, Walter Lantz—nine major studios, if you can count them (and you’d better).
Rankin/Bass and Holiday Hijinks
For Rankin/Bass holiday specials he didn’t just voice characters—he voiced jolly mayors and snowmen! In Frosty the Snowman he was the cop, the ticket-taker, Santa. In Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, he was Burgermeister Meisterburger (and grins today at the thought). Many other specials like The Little Drummer Boy, The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn—he plied his skills across folklore, fantasy, and yuletide cheer.
A Live-Action Here and There
He even emerged from behind the mic for a fugitive moment: as Dr. Galvin, a psychiatrist in Disney’s live-action romp The Shaggy Dog (1959). Came for the voices, stayed for the dog-based espionage.
Neverending Voice Credits & Personal Details
Over his four-plus-decade career he contributed to well over 250 (some estimate 300+) films, TV shows, and cartoons—many uncredited, most unforgettable. He married five times, fathered two children, and remained active until his sudden passing in Tiburon, California, on November 2, 1986. Though the agent blamed heart failure, it’s known he took an overdose of pain medications. He was 66, and the world felt noticeably quieter.
A Legendary Legacy, Whispering On
In 2006 Disney inducted him as a Legend—a posthumous nod to the voice behind the ghost and the professor alike. His influence echoes (literally) in theme-park homages, recordings, and the artists who mimic his timbres today—like Corey Burton continuing the Ghost Host’s “welcome, foolish mortals.”
And now, dear reader, if you happen to hear a snarky pirate or scholarly duck whispering in your ear, that’s Paul Frees, still at work.
