Oh, lordy. What to say about Dan Castellaneta. Well, first of all, if you don't know who he is, you've been living on Mars with your fingers in your ears and your eyes shut tight, honey. I think I probably made it pretty darned clear that I have a huge amount of respect for Jim Cummings on the other pages I've got for him; well, Dan Castellaneta is the other male voice actor for whom I have an absolutely enormous amount of respect.
Basically, if you haven't put the main voice to the name yet, Dan is the vocal talent behind Homer Simpson (as well as about a million billion others on the same show, but I digress). Of course, it's this role that has made him famous, but Mr. C. is pretty much a vocal chameleon, diverse and interesting enough to pop up pretty much anywhere. When Robin Williams was not available for the "Aladdin" TV series, who did they get to fill in for him as the Genie? Why, Dan Castellaneta, of course - and to be honest, he did a pretty danged good job of keeping up with Robin William's all-over-the-place acting.
Dan (which, might I add, is for various reasons my favourite male name, heh) was born on September 10th, 1958 and is a native of Chicago. He's married - sorry, ladies ;) - and a few years ago he put out an album which I really, really, really wanted to get. *g* Dan Castellaneta is an interesting case, because I was actually aware of him as an actor before the Simpsons came out. Unlike some voice actors, Dan has a background of doing visual roles; the first place I ever saw him was on "The Tracy Ullman Show" in the mid-80s, which the Simpsons got its start on. He was a cast member; I was addicted.
What I find so amusing about this man is that he's so non-descript looking. He's on the small side, kind of short, not a lot of hair; if you watch "The War of the Roses", he actually has a non-speaking part in that, and he looks so dour! *giggles* Yet, a non-speaking part for him is almost a waste, because this man has got to be one of the most talented voice artists in the business. According to IMDB, his salary for the Simpsons in 2002 was set at $100,000 per episode. He is something of a rarity in the VA business, in that he is pursued for roles - he never actually has to audition (though I hear he does, anyway *G*).
Other little informational tidbits about Dan Castellaneta which I have picked off of IMDB, and found to be of interest: From the sound of things, he's something along the "hippie" type, in a way. *g* I mean that in a good way, I just find it interesting: he's into tai chi, he doesn't drink, he's a vegetarian. Very Southern California. ^_~
Now, of course, this is for a DW page so I'm not going to spend any more time hyping his Simpsons roles. Basically, after getting his main start off of Tracy Ullman's show in '87, Dan went on to be in the Simpsons in '89, and from there he got more prominently into voice work, as well. The first Disney shows I'm aware of him showing up in were two episodes of "TaleSpin"; he popped up in a few episodes of "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "Animaniacs" as well. It can be hard to spot him if you don't know it's him. By the time Darkwing came on, I didn't actually recognize him. It wasn't until I watched "Just Us Justice Ducks" and recognized his name in the credits that I was able to listen to who was who and figure out that he was, in fact, Megavolt. I was blown away - to me, Dan was (and sort of still is) a celebrity.
Of course, since his episodes of DW - and as the most-often recurring villain, one could almost call him a regular *g* - Dan has gone on to great heights. You'll hear him pretty much everywhere, from afternoon cartoons to prime-time cartoons to Christmas specials (I didn't much care for "Olive, the Other Reindeer", but he did do a durn fine job as the evil Postman guy). Megavolt remains one of his best voices, though, in my opinion; not just because I'm prejudiced in favour of DW, either. ^_~ That nutty, electric, frenetic quality he gave the character could not be easily conveyed by other people. And the kind of squeak to his voice, which could often turn into a more-dangerous yelling, was just... awesome.
Plus, what a way he had of delivering jokes. *g*
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention one of the things I love most about Dan Castellaneta: he links two of my favourite shows, Darkwing Duck and the Simpsons, together. Woohoo! Let's hear it for "Six Degrees of Separation" links! ^_~
Dan caught on film
Dan and one particular alter ego
(These pics were taken off the 'net, can't remember where)
And now, the obligatory partial resume of voice works:
Also, just look for him in various sitcoms over the years: "Married With Children", "Friends", "Wings", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Grace Under Fire", "Cybill", "Murphy Brown", and Homer Simpson makes guest appearances in various series, too. *G*