June 20, 2011

Voice Actor - Seth MacFarlane

He is primarily known for being the creator of Family Guy and American Dad, but first and foremost he's an animation writer and voice-over talent.

MacFarlane began his career studying animation and design at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he created the animated short film, "The Life of Larry". Impressed with his ideas, executives at Hanna-Barbera encouraged MacFarlane to move to Los Angeles in 1995 to create and direct a short film for them. After moving to L.A., he went on to work on numerous animated series, including Ace Ventura, Jungle Cubs, and Johnny Bravo.

Executives at Fox recognized his talent and offered him a chance to create a primetime animated series of his own. Over the next six months, MacFarlane created, animated, wrote, directed, and provided all the main male characters' voices for what became the hit animated TV series Family Guy. MacFarlane went on to receive an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his role as 'Stewie Griffin,' and Family Guy has garnered two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Animated Series. In 2002, he also received an Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for the show. In 2009, Family Guy was only the second animated show since The Flinstones in 1961 to be nominated for a primetime Emmy in the Outstanding Comedy category.

The show's producer, Spike Jones, Jr., once said "...of all MacFarlane's talents, Everyone knows his extraordinary voiceover skills, but we’re only beginning to see him as a versatile live performer. He can sing, dance, spin plates…and we’re going to put him to work."

No matter what you think of the man and what your opinions are of the work he's created, you can't deny the fact that he's distinctive animated character voices have left a mark on television.
See his full credit list here.

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