Billy West

Billy West (b. April 16, 1952) is a voice actor, best known for his roles on The Ren and Stimpy Show and Futurama.

West provided the voice of Stimpy in Nickelodeon's The Ren and Stimpy Show from 1991 until 1996, and he provided the voice of Ren from 1993-1996 (after Ren's original voice and series creator John Kricfalusi was fired by Nickelodeon).

West's roles in Futurama include Philip J. Fry, Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg and Zapp Brannigan.

The part of Zapp Brannigan was originally going to be voiced by Phil Hartman, however, Hartman's death occurred prior to production. So West assumed the role.

In an interview for the web site TVsquad.com, Billy West states that the voice itself of Zapp Brannigan was an imitation of Phil Hartman, but that the actual vocalizations of the character were based on old-time radio announcers.

West voiced Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in the 1996 feature Space Jam and had a full-time stint as a castmember on The Howard Stern Show. His work also includes voices on The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and the original (Nickelodeon) version of Doug He also voiced Zim in the pilot of Invader Zim (Fired because voice too similar to Fry.

Cancer

West revealed on the October 4, 2006 edition of The Adam Carolla Show that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He said it was the scariest moment of his life, especially since he considered himself a healthy person. West had surgery to eliminate the cancer, and the crew of the show commented on how good he looked, considering that the surgery had taken place only two weeks prior.

Complete list of major voices

• Philip J. Fry
• Professor Hubert Farnsworth
• Dr. Zoidberg
• Smitty
• President Richard Nixon's Head
• Zapp Brannigan
• Leo Wong
• Ken
• Igpee
• Judge Ron Whitey
• Humorbot 5.0
• Glurmo
• Lars Fillmore
• Billy Crystal's Head
• Stimpson "Stimpy" J. Cat