Template:Realworld Alan Oppenheimer (born 23 April 1930; age 93) is an Emmy Award-nominated actor who has appeared on all three Star Trek spin-offs set in the 24th century (The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager). However, he is probably best recognized as a distinguished voice actor, having done voiceover work for dozens of animated shorts, television series and films.
Oppenheimer has lent his voice to a number of animated programs developed by Filmation, the studio responsible for Star Trek: The Animated Series. Perhaps his most notable work for Filmation was the voice of Skeletor (among several other characters) in the popular 1980s series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He also voiced the famous Mighty Mouse in Filmation's The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle in 1979, having previously voiced the character in several short films throughout the 1940s. Filmation's Mighty Mouse series also featured the voice of [[Frank Welker as Heckle and Jeckle and Filmation head Norm Prescott. Another Filmation series Oppenheimer worked on was The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, in which he voiced Ming the Merciless.
In addition to his Filmation work, Oppenheimer is recognized as the voice of Vanity Smurf in Hanna-Barbera's The Smurfs (1981-90), alongside the late Hamilton Camp (Leck), who voiced Greedy and Harmony Smurf. Oppenheimer and Camp had previously co-starred together on the short-lived series He & She (1967-68), which also starred Kenneth Mars (Colyus). Oppenheimer later voiced characters in the 1984 fantasy film The NeverEnding Story and lent his voice to the 1992 film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland. Rene Auberjonois and Michael Bell also had voiceover roles in the latter film.
Besides his voiceover credits, Oppenheimer has played a variety of notable live-action roles. In 1973, he originated the role Dr. Rudy Wells for the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man. He also played the role in the 1975 pilot for The Bionic Woman, co-starring Malachi Throne and Paul Carr. He later played Mayor Alvin Tutweiller in several episodes of Mama's Family, after which he had a recurring role as Eugene Kinsella on TV's Murphy Brown, for which he received an Emmy Award nomination in 1991.
Oppenheimer has also appeared in episodes of Bonanza, Hogan's Heroes, Get Smart, Bewitched, St. Elsewhere, Murder, She Wrote, and The Practice. He even guest-starred in an episode of Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Oppenheimer also had a role in the acclaimed 1976 TV movie Helter Skelter, which also featured fellow Trek alumni Marc Alaimo, David Clennon, Bruce French, Skip Homeier, and Robert Ito.
He has several popular feature films to his credit, as well. Among his earliest was a small, uncredited role in the acclaimed 1967 drama In the Heat of the Night (with William Schallert and Clegg Hoyt). The following year, he had a role in Star!, directed by Robert Wise, who would go on to direct Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Oppenheimer would later appear in Wise's The Hindenburg (1975), co-starring Rene Auberjonois and Rex Holman. Other films in which he has appeared include The Maltese Bippy (1969, with Julie Newmar, Fritz Weaver, Arthur Batanides, and Garry Walberg), Westworld (1973, with Majel Barrett, Davis Roberts, and Paul Sorenson), Freaky Friday (1976), and Private Benjamin (1980, with Richard Herd).
Oppenheimer continues to do voice work for television as well as for video games.
Appearances
External Links
- Alan Oppenheimer at Wikipedia
- Template:IMDb-link