Life and Career
Originally from Philadelphia, Bergman studied theater and communications at the University of Pittsburgh where he first did voice work when he got involved with a student-run radio station and interned at KQV and WDVE radio stations in Pittsburgh. While there, he made his first demo reel and was profiled in a story on KDKA-TV's Evening Magazine. The story was picked up on similar TV news magazines shows and helped land him his representation with William Morris Agency following his graduation from Pitt in 1983.
Bergman's work with Warner Bros. began when he recorded a tape of himself as several of Mel Blanc's characters, including Bugs Bunny. He took the tape to the production company and used a switch to toggle back and forth between his work and the original Mel Blanc recording. The producers were unable to tell the difference between the voices, and Bergman became the first performer to provide the voice of Bugs Bunny after Mel Blanc died in 1989. His first appearance in that role, as well as those of Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, was in the short "Box Office Bunny". He later voiced Bugs and Daffy again in the 1990 TV special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, and Bugs, Daffy, Elmer, and Yosemite Sam in the 1991 cartoon short (Blooper) Bunny. For a long period after this, the characters were voiced by other actors. He also voiced George Jetson and Mr. Spacely in Jetsons: The Movie when their previous voice actors George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc both died during production.
He voiced the Sneetches and the cat in Storybook Weaver and Storybook Weaver Deluxe.
Bergman also had a recurring role as a radio intern Gus Kahana on the AMC comedy-drama Remember WENN which aired in the late 1990s. Recently Bergman has become a recurring cast member of Family Guy, usually voicing Fred Flintstone. Bergman also has done several voices on The Cleveland Show.
Bergman had a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live as the voice of Bugs Bunny in 2003, which is what launched his career as modern voice of Looney Tunes. After nearly 20 years, he returned as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester the Cat, and Tweety Bird in the The Looney Tunes Show. He also gave a voice sample for a character in the 2011 Spyro game, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure.
Read more about this topic: Jeff Bergman
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