Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman during the 1970s and 1980s. He was a native of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and a former professional athlete.

Career

He was the voice of Big Boss, Sundown and Mace on ''

C.O.P.S. ''COPS'' (''Central Organization of Police Specialists'') is a 1988 animated television series released by DIC Animation City, and distributed by Claster Television. The series focuses on a team of highly trained police officers tasked with pro ...

'',

Senator Robert Kelly Robert Edward Kelly is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He most often appears in Marvel's ''X-Men'' related comic books. He is a prominent United States Senator who began his career on an anti-muta ...

(and the

Supreme Intelligence The Supreme Intelligence is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Supreme Intelligence is an artificial intelligence that rules the alien race known as the Kree. The Supreme Intel ...

) on ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

'' (1992), Bert Raccoon and Pigs Two and Three in ''

The Raccoons ''The Raccoons'' is a Canadian animated television series that ran on CBC from November 11, 1985 to March 19, 1991 in Canada and on Disney Channel from July 4, 1985 to August 28, 1992 in the U.S., with three preceding television specials from ...

'' (and a voice director for the show from 1990 onwards), Putter from ''

Popples Popples is a toy and television franchise created by Those Characters From Cleveland (TCFC), a subsidiary of American Greetings. Popples resemble brightly colored marsupial teddy bears with long tails ending in a pom-pom. Each Popple character ...

'', Mr. Frumble, Mr. Gronkle, and Mayor Fox in ''

The Busy World of Richard Scarry ''The Busy World of Richard Scarry'' is an animated children's television series, produced by CINAR Animation and France Animation in association with Paramount Television, which aired from 1994 to 1997, first on Showtime (TV network), Showtime ...

'', Professor Coldheart in ''

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televisi ...

'' (1985), and ''

Rocket Robin Hood ''Rocket Robin Hood'' is a Canadian animated television series, placing the characters and conflicts of the classic Robin Hood legend in a futuristic, outer space setting. It was produced by Krantz Films, Inc. and aired on CBC Television from 1966 ...

'' in some of the third-season episodes. He was also the voice of Allo and Quackpot on the TV series, ''

Dinosaucers ''Dinosaucers'' is a 1987 animated television series co-produced in the United States and Canada, produced by DIC Animation City and distributed in syndication in the US by Coca-Cola Telecommunications. The show was created by producer Michael ...

'' and he was the original voice of the

Green Goblin The Green Goblin is the alias of several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first and best-known incarnation Norman Osborn, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, is generally regarded as one of the a ...

in '' Spider-Man the original series'' (1967) and the voice of Buzz in the show ''

Cyberchase ''Cyberchase'' is an educational animated sci-fi children's television series that airs on PBS Kids. The series centers around three children from Earth: Jackie, Matt, and Inez, who are brought into Cyberspace, a digital universe, in order to p ...

'' (2002). Also, he was the voice of Sterling Überbucks, his brother Carling, his great grandfather Sterling Überrucks and his nephew Stewie on ''

Roboroach ''RoboRoach'' is a Canadian animated television series which ran on Teletoon in Canada, Animania HD in the United States, and Fox Kids internationally. The title song was sung by Big Rude Jake. It follows the story of a cockroach named Ruben and h ...

'' (2002) and the title character in the short-lived ''

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...

'' (1991) animated series. He also voiced all the male characters in two animated 1970s series (''

The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo ''The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo'' is a Canadian animated television series of five-minute cartoons produced in 1975 by Rainbow Animation in Toronto, Ontario. The series follows the underwater adventures of Captain Mark Nemo and his two ...

'' and ''

The Toothbrush Family ''The Toothbrush Family'' is an Australian children's animated television series featuring a group of anthropomorphic personal-care supplies. The series was first aired in 1977 until the final episode's airing in 1999. Concept and productio ...

''), was the voice of Ace the Seagull and Sharkey Shark in the children's TV series ''The Waterville Gang'' and did voices for movies including ''

The Nutcracker Prince ''The Nutcracker Prince'' is a 1990 Canadian animated romance fantasy film directed by Paul Schibli based on the screenplay by Patricia Watson. It is a retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" and ...

'', '' Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot'', '' The Great Defender of Fun'', and reindeer voices in the live-action feature ''

Blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling b ...

''. In his last years, Carlson was a regular on

Nelvana Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...

-produced shows such as ''

Rolie Polie Olie ''Rolie Polie Olie'' is a computer-animated children's television series produced by Nelvana and created by William Joyce. The show focuses on a little robot who is composed of several spheres and other three-dimensional geometric shapes. The sh ...

'', ''

Pecola ''Pecola'' ( ja, ペコラ, ) is a 3D animated children's television series which stars cube-shaped anthropomorphic animals in a place called Cube Town. It is based on a series of children's picture books by Naomi Iwata. It was first aired on T ...

'', ''

Donkey Kong Country ''Donkey Kong Country'' is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' franchise and follows the gorilla Donkey Kong and h ...

'', ''

Medabots ''Medabots'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese role-playing video game franchise created by Rin Horuma (Horumarin) and currently owned by Imagineer. The main series of RPGs focus on collecting and battling with the titular robots. The bulk of ...

'', ''

Beetlejuice ''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, and Warren Skaaren, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros., and starring Alec Baldwin, ...

'', and ''

Beyblade is a line of spinning-top toys originally developed by Takara, first released in Japan in July 1999, along with its debut series. Following Takara's merger with Tomy in 2006, Beyblades are now developed by Takara Tomy. Various toy companies ar ...

'' as the main antagonist Gideon (season two). Most recently, he appeared in the French-Canadian co-production ''

Atomic Betty ''Atomic Betty'' (retitled ''Atomic Betty: Mission Earth'' for its third and final season) is a Canadian-French Flash animated television series produced by Atomic Cartoons, Breakthrough Entertainment and Tele Images Kids, along with the Marat ...

'', voiced the characters Hugo and Q in the

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

'' Street Fighter III 3rd Strike'' and narrated the animated bible TV series ''

Friends and Heroes ''Friends and Heroes'' is a Canadian Christian children's program that airs on TBN, Smile of a Child TV, and was also shown on BBC TV. The show is both traditionally animated (for the adventure story) and computer animated (for the Bible stori ...

''. He also voiced Herc Stormsailor in the 1980s show ''

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors ''Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors'' (French: ''Jayce et les Conquérants de la Lumière'') is an animated TV show which was first broadcast on TF1 on September 9, 1985 on the block ''Salut les p'tits loups !'', and eventually on September 16 in ...

''.

Death

Carlson died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

Keswick, Ontario Keswick (/ˈkɛzˌwɪk/) is a community located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Situated in Cook's Bay on Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto. Keswick is part of the Town of Georgina, the northernmost municipality in the Regional Municipality ...

, at the age of 68 on January 26, 2006. The season two finale of ''

'', "Takes One To Know One", the ''

'' episode "Ecohaven Ooze", and the '' Bigfoot Presents: Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks'' episode "Space Rangers!" were all dedicated to his memory.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Eulogy by Kevin Gillis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, Len 1937 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian male voice actors Male actors from Edmonton Canadian voice directors