Welcome, Foolish Mortals: The Life and Voices of Paul Frees

by Ben Ohmart

Paul Frees. The voice of your Ghost Host at Disneyland/world's Haunted Mansion. The dastardly Boris Badenov from Bullwinkle. Professor Ludwig von Drake via the Wonderful World of Disney. The Pillsbury Dougboy. The Ape in George of the Jungle. Half the Beatles in their cartoon series. Narrator of The Shaggy Dog, The War of the Worlds, and other classic films. And 1000s of radio shows (Suspense, Escape), commercials (Toucan Sam of Fruit Loops cereal) and voice overs (Spartacus, Patton and hundreds more). He even lent his voice to the original Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King, produced by Rankin/Bass. He was the greatest. The official biography is now available. 100+ RARE pictures and interviews make this book a keeper.

Genres: Biography

310 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2004

About the author

Owner of BearManor Media.

Reviews

[Ben Ohmart · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book that I wrote. :)

[Yourfiendmrjones · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like it more. Honestly I did. But it will take a better writer than the author to make that happen. The subject of master voice artist Paul Frees is one, like Hans Conreid, that’s fascinating to me. How did these uniquely talented men come to be?

I get that someone as private as Frees could be, would be a challenge to encompass in a biography. And certainly the last chapter of the book covering his decline and death is the most powerful in the whole book as Ben Ohlmart is able to talk one on one with those who knew Frees at that time. Which may be what differentiates the latter half of the book from the first half- access to those who were contemporaries. Many of his friends, peers and co-workers from the thirties and forties had passed by the time the book was being written.

Overall the book, no matter how Ben Ohmart works to transcend this, has a “and then this happened” pedestrian quality to it, giving the story of a vocal acting genius like Frees a more mundane tone.

You’ll get the highlights of his life and career. You don’t really get a sense of the man.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The voice of the Ghost Host at Disneyland/World's Haunted Mansion finally gets his voice heard. Having played the role of Boris Badenov in Rocky and Bullwinkle, narrator of The Shaggy Dog and the voice of the Pillsbury Doughboy, the man who was certainly more talented than Mel Blanc has his biography told on an official level and more than 100 photos and interviews add meat to this book. An enjoyable read for an extraordinary man.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most people, I'd heard Paul Frees's voices throughout my childhood, but didn't know there was a single man behind them all. Examples:
- "Dead Men Tell No Tales", and "Beware of hitchhiking ghosts!" at Disneyland
- Spike Jones's "My Old Flame" with its Peter Lorre spoof
- The Pillsbury Doughboy getting poked in the tummy
- The Orson Welles-esque narration in "Stan Freberg Presents The United States of America Vol. 1"
- Boris Badenov, whose plans are repeatedly thwarted by "moose and squirrel"
And way too many other examples to mention.
Book is a steady 3 star, but climbs up to a 4 by the end.

[Annelisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Review coming soon!

[Tom Stamper · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads more like a long filmography than a coherent biography.