Rob Paulsen: How Pinky, Yakko and Raphael Saved His Life

Emmy, Peabody and 3x Annie Award winning voice acting legend Rob Paulsen joins Jim Kerr to discuss his background, inspirations and professional journey in becoming the voice of some of the most beloved animated characters of all time: "Pinky" from 'Pinky and the Brain,' "Yakko" from 'Animaniacs,' and "Raphael" from the original 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' (as well as hundreds more).

Jim and Rob, both native Detroiters, quickly establish their shared love of local TV and radio stars who had a profound influence on their futures. Rob discusses how he came to chose voice acting over a promising career in front of the camera. He also gets into the experience of bringing the characters to life. He describes it as possibly one of the purest forms of acting: the character becomes famous, but the actor remains hidden.

Rob also discusses the profound connection people (both the very young and now not so young) have with the characters he and his peers like Mark Hamill, June Foray, Paul Welker, Jonathan Winters and Casey Kasem have brought to life. It's that connection, especially sick children, that helped him to overcome what could have been a worst-case scenario: throat cancer.

Rob's memoir about his career and his new outlook after recovery, 'Voice Lessons: How a Couple of Ninja Turtles, Pinky, and an Animaniac Saved My Life' is out now. He'll be signing copies, doing a Q&A and a special 'Animaniacs Live!' performance at The Strand tomorrow, Thurs. Oct 10th at 7pm.

Check out the great interview below on the Jim Kerr Anytime Podcast:


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