Joey Camen (born January 16, 1957) 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 ...

, comedian and writer who has performed voice over work in various movies, TV shows and video games.

Early life

Camen is of Russian and Romanian Jewish ancestry. His father, Hyman Camen was an upholstery furniture salesman and carpet salesman. His mother, Dorothy (née Aronovitz) Camen, a part-time bindery worker. Joey was going to be named Jack, however, his grandfather Joseph on his father’s side, died on the morning of his birth. His parents quickly changed his name to that of his dearly departed grandpa.

Biography

In 1974, after graduating from Henry Ford High School in Detroit, Camen went to Hollywood, California. He auditioned at the

Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy S ...

on the Sunset Strip, and within a few weeks, he was a regular performer and master of ceremonies, making him one of the youngest professional standup comedians at the time. His standup act featured various dialects along with characters he created based on the people he grew up with in multi-ethnic Detroit. He was then discovered and mentored by voiceover artist

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry H ...

, who voiced the characters of

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

Huckleberry Hound Huckleberry "Huck" Hound is a fictional cartoon character, a blue anthropomorphic coonhound that speaks with a North Carolina Southern drawl. He first appeared in the series ''The Huckleberry Hound Show''. The cartoon was one of six TV shows to ...

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasion ...

and others. On Dinah Show

Camen got his first break at 20 performing his standup comedy routines on national TV shows

Don Kirshner Donald Kirshner (April 17, 1934 – January 17, 2011) was an American music publisher, music consultant, rock music producer, talent manager, and songwriter. Dubbed "the Man with the Golden Ear" by ''Time'' magazine, he was best known fo ...

’s Rock Concert and later on Dinah, the daytime talk show starring

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

. He was also the opening act for such performers as

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ...

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, bl ...

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

, Marvin Gaye, and others. In addition to being a regular performer at

the Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy S ...

for more than 25 years, Camen has headlined at comedy venues in Las Vegas and comedy clubs and colleges across the United States. As a voice-over actor, Camen has worked on multiple projects over the years, including video games ''

Devil May Cry 5 is a 2019 action-adventure game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sixth installment overall and the fifth mainline installment in the ''Devil May Cry'' series. Capcom released it for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 8 March 201 ...

'', '' Skylanders: Giants'', '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' and ''

Mafia II ''Mafia II'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K Games. It was released in August 24 2010 for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360. The game is a standalone sequel to 2002's ''Mafia'', and the second insta ...

''; the online series '' Sam & Max'', where he voiced two seasons as Bosco and the entire Jimmy 2 Teeth family. He has voiced multiple characters on animated family films such as '' The Queen's Corgi'', The Son of Bigfoot, '' Thunder and the House of Magic'', and

Space Jam ''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel ...

as ''Bang the Monstar''. Joey has also voiced spots for various TV and radio commercials and was the voice of Natural Smurf in the Hanna-Barbera TV series, The Smurfs. In addition, Camen is the designated voice of

McGruff the Crime Dog McGruff the Crime Dog is an anthropomorphic animated bloodhound created by Dancer Fitzgerald Sample advertising executive Jack Keil (who also voiced the character) through the Ad Council and later the National Crime Prevention Council to increas ...

for a series of videos shown in public schools throughout the United States and PSA commercials. As an actor, Camen’s first job was as a sketch player on the short-lived NBC variety series, ''

The Richard Pryor Show ''The Richard Pryor Show'' is an American comedy variety show starring and created by Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977, at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's ''Laverne & Shirley'' and ''Happy Days''. The show was produced ...

'', where he performed sketches alongside Richard Pryor and other cast members. Then as a pledge in Floyd Mutrux’s ''

The Hollywood Knights ''The Hollywood Knights'' is a 1980 American teen comedy film written and directed by Floyd Mutrux depicting the crass and mischievous antics and practical jokes of the remaining members of a 1950s-era car club turned social fraternity in and aro ...

'', and next co-starring in the PBS television series, The Righteous Apples, for 2 seasons as Samuel 'DC' Rosencrantz. This led to working with Ralph Bakshi on his films, American Pop and Cool World, as well as guest roles in sitcoms and other feature films. In 1994 Joey wrote and performed a serio-comic one-person, two-act play, ''In the Hood with Mrs. Aronovitz''. The premise was simple: An ungrateful son tricks his elderly mother out of the deed to her apartment building in order to tear it down and put up a parking lot. Mrs. Aronovitz and her tenants rally together to get the building back. Camen portrayed 9 diverse characters. The play had a successful run in theatres in Los Angeles and New York City. Camen's filmmaking credits include the

Houston International Film Festival The WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, founded in 1968, is an annual film festival held annually in April in Houston, Texas. Notable festival alumni include John Lee Hancock, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film '' The Blind ...

Bronze Award-Winning comedy short ''Bernie - A Love Story'' about a man and his mattress, in which he worn multiple hats as writer-director-producer and actor. Joey has also directed various YouTube videos for his comedy channel CamenTV.

Author

Joey has written two non-fiction books. The 2013 pet memoir, ''My Life with Snoopy: How One Shelter Dog's Love Changed a Man's Life and Other Tails of Adventure'', which tells the story of his 13-year relationship with his Burbank Animal Shelter dog, Snoopy. And his 2017 autobiography, ''Laughing Through the Pain: Stories from the Trenches of Hollywood Standup Comedy and Beyond''.

Filmography

Animation

* ''

American Pop ''American Pop'' is a 1981 American adult animated jukebox musical drama film starring Ron Thompson and produced and directed by Ralph Bakshi. It was the fourth animated feature film to be presented in Dolby sound. The film tells the story of f ...

'' - Freddie * '' Becca's Bunch'' - Buck, MJ * ''

Cool World ''Cool World'' is a 1992 American live-action/animated black comedy fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi and written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne and Brad Pitt, it tells the story of a cartoonist w ...

'' - Interrogator #1, Slash, Holli's door * ''

Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker, also called Creepy Crawlers, is an activity toy made by Mattel, beginning in 1964. The toy consists of a series of die-cast metal Molding (process), moulds resembling various bug-like creatures, into which is poured a liquid chemical ...

'' - Chris Carter * ''

Darkwing Duck ''Darkwing Duck'' is an American animated superhero comedy television series produced by Disney Television Animation (formerly Walt Disney Television Animation) that first ran from 1991 to 1992 on both the syndicated programming block ''The Disn ...

'' - Stegmutt * ''

Dink, the Little Dinosaur ''Dink, the Little Dinosaur'' is an American animated series created by Karen Willson and Chris Weber, produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises. The series originally aired as part of CBS's Saturday morning line-up from 1989 to 1990. Plot The series ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

Iznogoud ''Iznogoud'' (pronounced "he's/is no good" with a French accent) is a French comics series featuring an eponymous character, created by the comics writer René Goscinny and comics artist Jean Tabary. The comic series chronicles the life and tim ...

'' - Additional voices * '' Jason and the Heroes of Mount Olympus'' - Additional voices * ''

Last Days of Coney Island ''Last Days of Coney Island'' is a 2015 American Adult animation, adult animated short film written, produced, directed and animated by Ralph Bakshi. The story concerns a NYPD detective, the sex worker he alternately loves and arrests, and the seed ...

'' - * ''

Little Dracula ''Little Dracula'' is a British series of children's books and an American animated television series that originally aired on Fox. ''Little Dracula'' revolves around a green-skinned child vampire who aspires to be like his father, Big Dracula, ...

'' - Werebunny * '' Little Wizards'' - Various voices * '' Monster Island'' - Shiro, Fergus, Mayor's Assistant * '' My Little Pony'' - Baby Eagle * ''

Phantom Boy ''Phantom Boy'' is a 2015 animated fantasy film directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol and written by Alain Gagnol. The film stars Édouard Baer, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Audrey Tautou, Jackie Berroyer, Gaspard Gagnol and Noa Bernaoui-Savre ...

'' - Le géant * '' Problem Child'' - Additional voices * ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'' - Scrubby * ''

Shirt Tales ''Shirt Tales'' are characters that were created in 1980 by greeting card designer Janet Elizabeth Manco and were featured on Hallmark Cards greeting cards. The characters were adapted into a 1982-1985 animated series for television, by Hanna-Bar ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

'' - Monstar Bang * ''

Spicy City ''Spicy City'' is an adult animated erotic cyberpunk television series which was created by Ralph Bakshi for HBO. It is an anthology series in a similar format as television programs such as ''The Twilight Zone'' and '' Tales from the Crypt''. ...

'' - Max * '' Strange Frame: Love & Sax'' - Police Officer (uncredited) * '' Superman'' - Short Henchman * ''

The Glo Friends ''The Glo Friends'' is an American television series that originally aired in 1986 as a segment of ''My Little Pony 'n Friends''. Produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions in collaboration with Toei Animation, the 26 segments of ''Glo ...

'' - Unknown voice/s * '' The House of Magic'' - Chihuahua * '' The Queen's Corgi'' - Tyson, Al * ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and int ...

'' - Natural Smurf (Adult), Additional voices * '' The Son of Bigfoot'' - Principal Jones * '' The Swan Princess II: Escape from Castle Mountain'' - Knuckles * '' What-a-Mess'' - Additional voices

Video games

* ''3-D Dinosaur Adventure'' - Additional voices * ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'' - Additional voices * ''

Asura's Wrath is an action video game developed by CyberConnect2 and published by Capcom. It was first announced at the Tokyo Game Show in 2010, and was released worldwide in February 2012. The game was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game follo ...

'' - Taison * '' Champions Online'' - Armadillo, Mechaniste * '' Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3'' - Imperial Tsunami Tank & Allied Javelin Soldier (uncredited) * '' Drakensang: The Dark Eye'' - Merwin Goodbeet, Merchants, Soldiers, Guards * ''

EverQuest II ''EverQuest II'' is a 3D fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) originally developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment for Microsoft Windows PCs and released in November 2004. It is the sequel to the original ...

'' - Additional voices * '' EverQuest II: Desert of Flames'' - Additional voices * '' Gothic 3'' - Additional voices * ''

Guardians of Middle-earth ''Guardians of Middle-earth'' is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The setting of the game is Middle-earth, derived from ''The Lord of the Rings' ...

'' - Additional voices (as Joseph Camen) * ''

Guild Wars ''Guild Wars'' is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplaye ...

'' - additional voices * '' Hitman: Absolution'' - Chester the Bum, Landlord (uncredited) * ''

Jade Empire ''Jade Empire'' is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare, originally published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2005 as an Xbox exclusive. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows personal computers (PC) and published by 2K Games in 200 ...

'' - Additional voices * '' Men of Valor'' - White Marine 2, Pilot * ''

Saints Row ''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...

'' - Stilwater's Resident * ''

Shattered Steel ''Shattered Steel'' is a Mecha, mech Vehicle simulation game, simulation game released in 1996 by BioWare for MS-DOS, and later ported to Mac OS by now-defunct Logicware. It is notable for the deformable terrain effects, and for being BioWare's ...

'' - Additional voices * '' Skylanders: Giants'' - Terrafin, additional voices * '' Skylanders: Imaginators'' - Terrafin, Free Ranger, additional voices * '' Skylanders: SuperChargers'' - Terrafin, Free Ranger, additional voices * '' Skylanders: Swap Force'' - Terrafin, Free Ranger, additional voices * '' Skylanders: Trap Team'' - Terrafin, Free Ranger, additional voices * ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is the sixth and fina ...

'' - Additional voices * '' The Sopranos: Road to Respect'' - Additional voices * ''

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland ''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the seventh entry in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series and was released initially for the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in ...

'' - Additional voices * '' Tournament of Legends'' - Additional voices * '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'' - Additional voices * ''

Ultimate Spider-Man ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' is a superhero comic book series that was published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2011. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Spider-Man comic book franchise as part of the company's Ultimate ...

'' - Additional voices

Live-action

* '' Adventures in Voice Acting'' - Himself * ''

Auditions An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece g ...

'' - Black - White Man * '' Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses?'' - Himself * '' Fairy Tales'' - Little Dutch Boy * ''

Growing Pains ''Growing Pains'' is an American television sitcom created by Neal Marlens that aired on ABC from September 24, 1985, to April 25, 1992. The show ran for seven seasons, consisting of 166 episodes. The series followed the misadventures of the ...

'' - Slash * '' King of the Mountain'' - Suds * '' Project A'' - Additional voices * ''

Rock Concert A rock concert is a performance of rock music. During the 1950s, several American musical groups experimented with new musical forms that fused country music, blues, and swing genre to produce the earliest examples of "rock and roll." The coin ...

'' - Himself * ''

'' - Pledge * ''

'' - Various, White Guy Who Wants to Be Black * ''The Righteous Apples'' - Samuel 'DC' Rosencrantz * ''

The Steve Harvey Show ''The Steve Harvey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB from August 25, 1996, to February 17, 2002. It was created by Winifred Hervey and directed by Stan Lathan. Synopsis Steve Hightower ( Steve Harvey) is a 1970s funk ...

'' - Himself

Anime

* '' Black Jack'' - GNN Newscaster * ''Black Jack: The Movie'' - GNN Newscaster * ''

Dinozaurs (also known as ) is a Japanese toyline created by toy company Bandai in 1998. Alongside the toys, two media adaptations were created by Sunrise: a 5-episode 3D CGI OVA series that ran from November 27, 1998 to January 2000 and a 26-episode a ...

'' - Dino Tricera * '' El Hazard: The Magnificent World'' - Walla * ''

Eureka Seven ''Eureka Seven'', known in Japan as , is a 2005 Japanese anime series created by Bones. The series was directed by Tomoki Kyoda, with series composition by Dai Satō, character designs by Kenichi Yoshida and music by Naoki Satō. ...

'' - Dr. Greg Egan * '' Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG'' - Additional voices * '' Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'' - Watanabe * ''

'' - The Big Guy * ''

Samurai Champloo is a 2004 Japanese historical adventure anime television series. The debut television production of studio Manglobe, the 26-episode series aired from May 2004 to March 2005. It was first partially broadcast on Fuji TV, then had a complete a ...

'' - Kuroihara, Kogoro

Shorts

* ''

'' - Men * ''My Secret Friend: A Guardian Angel Story'' - Additional voices (as Reed Waxman)

Controversy

Joey Camen was criticized by video game fans who had discovered his ''

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

'' channel ''Camen TV'' in where he played various offensive stereotypes. The videos were posted between 2015 and 2017. The videos were later taken down by Camen in 2019.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Camen, Joey American male writers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American male film actors American male television actors American stand-up comedians American male voice actors 1957 births