Many of you know him as the voice of Bender, the smoking-drinking-gambling robot character from Futurama. Your children know him as Schnitzel, the rock creature who only says “Rada rada rada,” on Chowder. Despite all the voiceover work he has done for the last 15 years, John has had live roles on TV like Chicago Hope and Law & Order. These probably weren’t very memorable because you’re still thinking “who?” Other than Bender, I’ll always remember him as Steve Ballmer in Pirates of Silicon Valley which also starred Michael Anthony Hall as Bill Gates.
Landing the role of Bender appears to have been his big career boost. This character became the show’s Homer Simpson, Fonz and Alex P. Keaton, the breakout one who shifts the program’s focus. It’s debatable though. Bender was a major part of the pilot, ad campaign and Groening.
Before Futurama his imdb.com resume mainly shows bit roles and anime voices; those are still great, it’s more than I’ve ever done with my life. Now he’s one of the 40 most frequently used voice actors around in contemporary animation: the main antagonist in Catscratch, Brother Blood on Teen Titans Go, the Scotsman for Samurai Jack‚Ķthe list goes on. You can usually recognize the growl or twang I hear when his character is shouting or angry. It’s a big part of Bender who is actually based upon Slim Pickens from Blazing Saddles according to an interview.
What’s funny is that people know how to say his last name since it’s the same as the famous baseball player, Mr. Coffee pitchman Joe DiMaggio. They’re not related though. My surname is pronounced the same way, just remove the ‘Di’ [DEE] and the ‘o’ [oh]. The difference is simple. John’s last name is Italian for “of May,” while mine is just “May,” as in the month.
Meanwhile, to celebrate the guy’s birthday. I’ll try to watch something he’s done a voice for which won’t be hard if I turn on CN or Nick.