Hal Smith (actor) - Voice Actor

Voice Actor

Beginning in the late 1950s with such shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show and Quick Draw McGraw, Smith became one of the most prolific voice actors in Hollywood, eventually working with most of the major studios and production companies, such as Hanna-Barbera, Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, The Mirisch Corporation, and Sid and Marty Krofft, with voice roles in such shows as The Flintstones in which he mostly did the voices of Texas millionaires such as Fred's rich uncle Tex, Pink Panther, Winnie The Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Yogi Bear, and Looney Tunes.

In 1962, he voiced Taurus, the Scots-accented mechanic of the spaceship Starduster for the series Space Angel. According to the book: Space Patrol, missions of daring in the name of early television "It's rumored that Gene Roddenberry was a huge fan of the show and patterned Star Trek's engineer, Mr Scott, after McCloud's Scottish sidekick, Taurus". He also did voices for the Hong Kong Phooey show. In 1977, he was the voice of Grandpa Josiah in the cartoon TV special, Halloween Is Grinch Night. He was also very active with doing voices in 1980s; he was Sludge in the Smurfs television series and Goofy in Mickey's Christmas Carol. For Disney's DuckTales he did the voices of Scrooge McDuck's rival Flintheart Glomgold and the absent-minded scientist Gyro Gearloose.

Smith also voiced the Disney cartoon character Goofy after Pinto Colvig died in 1967. Additionally, he provided the voice of Owl in the three original Winnie the Pooh featurettes (Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too) and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1977. In the 1960s, he was one of the most sought after voice actors in Hollywood. From 1959 till 1975, he provided the voices for Goliath, Davey's Dad and many other characters in Davey and Goliath. From 1960 to 1961, he was the voice of Elmer Fudd after Arthur Q. Bryan died. In 1963 he voiced Dr. Todd Goodheart, Belly Laguna and Dr. Von Upp in the Funny Company cartoon series. From 1964 to 1966, he was the voice of Yappee in the Hanna-Barbera cartoon shorts Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey. He was also the voice of Cosgoode Creeps, Asa Shanks, and Mr. Bluestone the Great/Phantom, in Scooby-Doo, Where are You!.

In 1981, he reprised his role as Owl and voiced Winnie-the-Pooh in the short Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, replacing Sterling Holloway, who had provided the voice of the character for many years. He then voiced the two characters in Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore in 1983, as well as Disney Channel's TV series Welcome to Pooh Corner. On the TV program The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1988, Jim Cummings took over as Pooh while Smith continued playing Owl. The two voice actors sometimes rotated the voice of Winnie the Pooh. In 1991, Smith provided the voice of Philippe the Horse in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast. In 1994, he played some additional voices for The Land Before Time II: The Great Valley Adventure.

Starting in 1987 he was the voice of the main character John Avery Whittaker on the Focus on the Family radio drama Adventures in Odyssey. He was responsible for much of the cast joining the show after he signed on, and he continued recording episodes until a few weeks before his death, even while his health deteriorated. Additionally, he voiced dozens of other characters during the over 260 episodes he participated in.

Smith was also very active working in television commercials as various characters. He provided on screen promoting for 3 Musketeers, United Van Lines, Hickory Farms, Toyota, Green Giant, General Mills, Mattel, Pizza Hut, Chicken of the Sea, Ivory soap, Doctor Ross dog food, Pioneer Chicken, Bell Telephone Company, and hundreds of other companies.