Jeff Allen Bergman (born July 10, 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American voice actor, who provides the modern-day voices of various classic cartoon characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Tom and Jerry (as vocal effects). Bergman was the first to replace Mel Blanc as the voice of Bugs Bunny and several other Warner Bros. cartoon characters following Blanc's death in 1989. Along with Joe Alaskey, Bergman is known to be one of Blanc's successors.
Early life[]
Originally from Philadelphia, Bergman studied theater and communications at the University of Pittsburgh where he first did voice work when he got involved with a student-run radio station and interned at KQV and WDVE radio stations in Pittsburgh. While there, he made his first demo reel and was profiled in a story on KDKA-TV's Evening Magazine. The story was picked up on similar TV news magazines shows and helped land him his representation with William Morris Agency following his graduation from Pitt in 1983.
Career[]
Bergman's work with Warner Bros. began when he recorded a tape of himself as several of Mel Blanc's characters, including Bugs Bunny. He took the tape to the production company and used a switch to toggle back and forth between his work and the original Mel Blanc recording. The producers were unable to tell the difference between the voices, and Bergman became the first performer to provide the voice of Bugs Bunny after Mel Blanc died in 1989.
His first appearance in that role, as well as those of Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, was in the 1990 animated short Box Office Bunny, Bugs's first in over 25 years. In 1990, Bergman later voiced Bugs and Daffy again in TV specials Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, the opening and closing sequence of Gremlins 2: The New Batch (also voicing Porky Pig) and The Earth Day Special (also voicing Tweety Bird and Porky Pig in the latter). He voiced Bugs, Daffy, Elmer, and Yosemite Sam in the 1991 short (Blooper) Bunny, as well as several characters (including Sylvester the Cat and Foghorn Leghorn) in animated TV specials and newer animated series' such as Tiny Toon Adventures. Bergman promoted himself heavily as the new official voice for the Warner Bros. animated characters; Warner Bros. took exception to this, and to avoid repeating the stranglehold of Mel Blanc's exclusivity, began using other actors such as Greg Burson, Joe Alaskey and Billy West.
Bergman had a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live as the voice of Bugs Bunny in 2003. Eventually, after almost 20 years, he returned as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester the Cat, Pepé Le Pew, and Tweety in 2011's The Looney Tunes Show.
Bergman also voiced George Jetson and Mr. Spacely in Jetsons: The Movie when their previous voice actors George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc both died during production. Bergman is a recurring cast member of Family Guy, usually voicing Fred Flintstone and Sylvester the Cat, as well as The Cleveland Show. He voiced the Sneetches and the cat in Storybook Weaver and Storybook Weaver Deluxe. He also gave a voice sample for a character in the 2011 Spyro game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.
Bergman had a recurring role as a radio intern Gus Kahana on the AMC comedy-drama Remember WENN which aired in the late 1990s.
Bergman has appeared on New York-based channel Inscape Channel, mainly on late night slot Thrills and Spills hosted and written by Callum Rose and Joseph Dale. He earned worldwide acclaim when he was named the host of the 2013 Thrills and Spills Grand Final (hosted in Cheyenne, Wyoming), and also returned to host the 2014 Final in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.