Richard Steven Horvitz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
Question book-new.svg
 This biographical article relies on references to primary sources. Please add references to secondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)
Text document with red question mark.svg
 This article's listed sources may not meet Wikipedia's guidelines for reliable sources. Please help by checking whether the references meet the criteria for reliable sources. (March 2012)
Richard Steven Horvitz
Richard Horvitz JACON 2009 Orlando Florida.png
Horvitz with autographed Invader Zim picture at JACON 2009 in Orlando, Florida
Born Richard Steven Horvitz
(1966-07-29) July 29, 1966 (age 46)
Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Other names Richard S. Horvitz, Richard Horvitz, Richard Wood
Occupation On-camera, stage and voice actor
Years active 1976–present
Spouse(s) Kristen Lazarian
Children 3 young sons
Website
http://www.richardhorvitz.com/

Richard Steven Horvitz, also known as Richard S. Horvitz, Richard Horvitz, or Richard Wood, (born July 29, 1966) is an American actor and voice actor best known for his work as the voice of the original Alpha 5 in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, and Power Rangers Turbo, as Raz in Psychonauts, Billy and his dad Harold in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Grey Matter in Ben 10. Daggett in The Angry Beavers, the title character Zim in Invader Zim, Mouth in Kick Buttowski, and Orthopox in the Destroy All Humans! series.

Contents

Career [edit]

Horvitz's film career began in 1976 with a Freshen Up Gum commercial, which led to other commercial appearances and several hand modeling jobs. After a brief stint in an off-Broadway production of Oliver!, he went on to make appearances on TV shows such as Kids Incorporated and Safe at Home and movies such as Summer School, How I Got Into College and Deadly Weapon. He also starred as Howie for two seasons on the 1988 syndicated television sitcom The Munsters Today which lasted three years until 1991. Howie was best friend of Marilyn Munster (played by actress Hilary Van Dyke). Starting in 1993, he changed the focus of his career to voice acting, starting with voice of Alpha 5 on the live-action series Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. This is one of Richard's often-forgotten roles that he has performed. From here, he expanded into several other particular voice roles on such animated shows as The Angry Beavers (Daggett), Invader Zim (Zim), Kim Possible, Dave the Barbarian (Ned Frischman), Zatch Bell! (Kanchomé), The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Billy, Billy's dad), Ben 10 (Grey Matter), Squirrel Boy (Rodney), and Shorty McShorts' Shorts as Dudley. After his stunt as Alpha 5 ended, Horvitz went on to voice a few monsters in other Power Rangers series, and was also the voice of Alpha 7 in the Power Rangers: Wild Force episode, "Forever Red". He also played the main character Razputin in Psychonauts and Orthopox in Destroy All Humans!, Destroy All Humans! 2, and Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon, (not Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed) in a voice that closely resembles that of Zim (rather, what would happen if Zim adopted an English accent). He has voiced various NPCs in Everquest 2. He also does the voice of the Berserker Darklings in The Darkness, Bumble in Kinectimals, and Kaos in Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure. Richard also plays the character "Green Grapes" in the Fruit of the Loom commercials. In a behind-the-scenes style interview on the first Invader Zim DVD collection, when questioned about how hard it was to do Zim's voice (meaning all the screaming he did), he simply stated "Did I find doing the voice of Zim hard on my voice? How do I put this?...yes." He also claims his favorite line from the entire series is "You! Obey the fist!"[citation needed] from Career Day but his favorite exchange was in Rise of the Zitboy, where Zim angrily yells out "Why was there BACON IN THE SOAP?!".

Personal life [edit]

Horvitz was born, grew up, resides, and currently works in Los Angeles. On the side he also taught voice acting and theater at the California State University, Northridge. He is a friend of Fred Willard, Rob Paulsen, Barry Dennen and Billy West, who voiced Zim in the pilot episode. He lives with his wife, playwright and screenwriter Kristen Lazarian, and their three sons; Cole, Jake, and Wyatt. The couple's oldest of their three sons, Jake Elliot Horvitz, was born April 11, 1997, an event proudly mentioned in one of his shows, The Angry Beavers. He and his wife also wrote "Keeper of the Reaper", an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Filmography [edit]

Anime [edit]

Cartoon [edit]

Live action [edit]

Movies [edit]

Video games [edit]

Awards and Nominations [edit]

  • Nominated - Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production for Invader Zim - 2001

External links [edit]

Authority control
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Steven_Horvitz&oldid=553144104"