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|---|---|---|---|---|
 Michael Bell, shown here at Comic-Con in 2007, appeared twice in different guest roles on Three's Company. | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Gender: | Male | |||
| Height | 6'1" | |||
| Birth name: | Michael Patrick Bell | |||
| Also known as: | Mike Bell | |||
| Born: | 30 July 1938 | |||
| Birthplace: | Brooklyn, New York | |||
| Career/Family Information | ||||
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actor, voice actor | |||
| Years active: | 1957 to present | |||
| Spouse(s): | Victoria Carroll, 1968-present | |||
| Children: | Ashley Bell (actress, born 1986) | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | Guest appearances on Three's Company | |||
| Character played: | as Rama Mageesh in "Chrissy and the Guru" in Season 3 as dance instructor Michael in "Some of That Jazz" in Season 5 | |||
Michael Patrick Bell (born 30 July 1938) appeared twice on Three's Company, once as as Rama Mageesh in "Chrissy and the Guru" in Season Three, then as dance instructor Michael in "Some of That Jazz" in Season Five.
An equally gifted live action and voice actor. Michael's distinctive voice has appeared in video games and animated series, including The Transformers, Rugrats and The Smurfs and appeared on-screen in film and television, including in the TV programs Dallas and Star Trek. Bell was described as "one of the most prominent voice actors of the 1980s." Both Bell's wife, Victoria Carroll, to whom he has been married since 1968, and his daughter, Ashley Bell, are actresses.
Career[]
Early Voice Work[]
Michael had an important part in animated entertainment in the 1970s and 1980s. His first voice-over role was that of Stutz, the leader of The Houndcats. In 1973, he was Mark on the Hanna-Barbera series Speed Buggy. From 1973 to 1984, Michael Bell played two of his best-known roles, Zan and Gleek on all of the Super Friends incarnations with the exception of Challenge of the Super Friends and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians, where for some reason, The Wonder Twins were omitted from the series (even though, Bell voiced The Riddler on Challenge of the Super Friends).
He was also Doctor Ben Cooper in Jana of the Jungle and in 1979, he voiced the title character of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show and later made a guest appearance as Doctor Octopus in another super-hero show, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. He voiced Redbeard the Pirate's Ghost in the New Scooby Doo Movies episode "The Ghostly Creep from the Deep" as the second Redbeard themed monster in Scooby Doo.
Outside of animation, Bell performed on records and commercials, including the Young Man in A&M Records' Story of Halloween Horror album in 1977 and Parkay Margarine and Mug Root Beer. Bell provided the overdubbing of Peter Criss’ dialogue in the band KISS's NBC-TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. In 1980, Bell provided the voice of the title character in The B.B. Beegle Show, an unsold TV show pilot that featured puppets.
Throughout the 1980s, Michael Bell starred in four hit animated series; as Grouchy Smurf, Lazy Smurf, Handy Smurf and Johan the human in NBC-TV's The Smurfs, as Autobot Prowl, Scrapper, Sideswipe, Bombshell, First Aid, Swoop, Gort, Brainstorm and Doctor Fujiyama in The Transformers and The Transformers: The Movie, as Duke, Xamot, Blowtorch and numerous orhers in Marvel's G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Incredible Hulk. In the last one, The Hulk was voiced by Bob Holt, while his human side, Bruce Banner was Michael Bell. Bell joked about how Bob Holt would be annoyed that he was growling his throat out, while Bell got the easier stuff.
Later Voice Work[]
Bell continued to work in animation in the 1990s and into the 21st century in movies and television, including roles such as Quackerjack from Disney's Darkwing Duck and Ezekiel Rage in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. From 1991 to 2004, in the Rugrats and All Grown Up!, he voiced three of the main characters' parents; Drew Pickles, Charles Finster Sr., and Boris Kropotkin. Mr. Bell was also featured as Opus in the Bloom County television special "A Wish for Wings That Work."
Michael Bell did the voices of Drake on W.I.T.C.H., Max Hauser, Duke's Dad on G.I. Joe: Renegades and additional roles in Tangled.
Video Games[]
Bell is a prolific voice in video games. He performed in Raziel in three games in the Legacy of Kain series, among many others.
Live-Action Roles[]
Bell appeared in live-action exploitation shorts and PSAs - scare films made in California during the 1960s, ranging in content from venereal disease (Damaged Goods) to psychedelic drug abuse (Trip to Where).
He made guest appearances in multiple episodes of the Star Trek series. He also appeared in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint", as Bandi administrator Groppler Zorn, and in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "The Homecoming" as a Bajoran and in "The Maquis".
Bell appeared in episodes of Dallas as Les Crowley during the 1980-81 season and in the M*A*S*H episode "Souvenirs" as chopper pilot Lt. Willie Stratton. He played in two episodes of Three's Company as Rama Mageesh and Michael, a sleazy dance instructor. He also played Bill Duncan, Sabrina (Kate Jackson)'s ex-husband on Charlie's Angels, as well as appearing as King Edward Spencer on Kate Jackson's series Scarecrow and Mrs. King.
Voice Director[]
Bell worked as a voice director on Kidd Video and Peter Pan and the Pirates.
Union Activism[]
On 30 March 2012 the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) completed a merger of equals forming a new union SAG-AFTRA. As a result of this merger, a group of actors including Bell, fellow voice actor Wendy Schaal, Schaal's former stepmother Valerie Harper, actors such as Edward Asner, Martin Sheen and Ed Harris immediately sued against SAG President Ken Howard and several SAG Vice Presidents to overturn the merger and the two unions separated because of their claims that the election was improper.[1] The lawsuit is currently working its way through the court system.
Personal[]
Bell was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is married to actress Victoria Carroll and together they have a daughter, Ashley Bell. He is an animal rights activist. As of 2012 Bell served on the Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild, Hollywood Division.[2] Bell is the godfather of actor Steve Guttenberg.
References[]
External Links[]
Michael Bell at the Internet Movie Database- Michael Bell article at Memory Alpha, (a Star Trek wiki)
- Michael Bell at the Transformers Wiki
- Michael Bell at http://www.voicechasers.com
