Harry S. Robins or Harry Scifres Robins (born November 28, 1950), known as "Hal", is an American

voice actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, and cartoonist. Robins is best known for his vocal work in the ''Half-Life'' series of

computer games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...

and as the voice of Tinker in ''

Dota 2 ''Dota 2'' is a 2013 multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game by Valve. The game is a sequel to ''Defense of the Ancients'' (''DotA''), a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos.'' ''Dota 2' ...

''. He is also a prominent member of the

Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubG ...

, and has written and drawn comic book art/stories for them. In the persona of Dr. Howland Owll, he has voiced the

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...

in ''Arise! The SubGenius Video'' and made brief appearances in ''

Grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

''. His official title within the church is "Master of Church Secrets".

Radio

He can be heard on KPFA on a show called 'Puzzling Evidence' that started back in 1982. His description of the radio show: :"Deranged “edits” segue into a cascade of echoing glossolaliac madness, the voicing of lyric ruminations from the free-falling brains of disintegrating personalities. And some people, demented individuals, obsessively record every word and squealing sound effect. Of course, you may just hate it."

Film and television

Robins co-wrote the film '' Kamillions'' with

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Mike B. Anderson Mike B. Anderson, sometimes credited as Mikel B. Anderson, is an American television director who works on ''The Simpsons'' and has directed numerous episodes of the show, and was animated in "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" as cadet Anderson. W ...

, in addition to playing Nathan, the Wingate family patriarch and benevolent

mad scientist The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly amb ...

. He appeared on a television show, ''

The Conspiracy Zone ''The Conspiracy Zone'' is an American discussion television series, program about conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories with a group of panelists, a mix of experts and celebrities. It was a half hour in length and ran for 26 episodes, though ther ...

,'' for two seasons in 2002, on now-defunct TNN, in which he was the announcer and made several on-camera appearances. He also appeared as one of several underground comic experts in the documentary film, ''God's Cartoonist: The Comic Crusade of

Jack Chick Jack Thomas Chick (April 13, 1924 – October 23, 2016) was an American cartoonist and publisher, best known for his fundamentalist Christian "Chick tracts". He expressed his perspective on a variety of issues through sequential-art morali ...

.''

Literature and comic books

Robins has been a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, appearing in

R. Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

's '' Weirdo'' magazine and various comic books, including ''Legal Action Comics II'' and ''Alien Apocalypse 2006''. Many of his horror comics were

anthologized In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

in ''Grave Yarns''. He also wrote and illustrated '' The Meaning of Lost and Mismatched Socks'' published by Frog, Ltd. (a division of

North Atlantic Books North Atlantic Books is a non-profit, independent publisher based in Berkeley, California, United States. Distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services, North Atlantic Books is a mission-driven social justice-oriented publisher. Founded ...

), which also published his book ''Dinosaur Alphabet.'' His work also appears in popular trading card sets, including ''Dinosaurs Attack'' by Topps, and ''Tune In For Terror'' from Monsterwax Trading Cards.

The Church of the SubGenius

As Dr. Howland Owll, Robins contributed to ''

The Book of the SubGenius ''The Book of the SubGenius: Being the Divine Wisdom, Guidance, and Prophecy of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, High Epopt of the Church of the SubGenius, Here Inscribed for the Salvation of Future Generations and in the Hope that Slack May Someday Reign on Thi ...

'' and ''Revelation X: the "Bob" Apocryphon.'' His short story "The Smoker from the Shadows" appears in the anthology ''Three-Fisted Tales of "Bob".'' He also contributed to the SubGenius comic book, ''"Bob's" Favorite Comics'' (a rarity, of which most copies were burned in a warehouse fire). In addition, Robins' work appears in the 2006 SubGenius book, ''Psychlopaedia of Slack: The Bobliographon''.

References

External links

*
Ask Dr. Hal

Elect Harry S. Robins for Congress 2010

Laughingsquid.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robins, Harry S. Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American SubGenii American male voice actors American male screenwriters American male film actors American comics artists American cartoonists American male video game actors 1950 births