Townsend Coleman filmography and biography
Date of birth: 28 May 1954, New York City, New York, USA
Townsend Coleman biography
As a busy Hollywood voice-actor, Townsend Coleman is perhaps one of the
most recognizable voices on TV. Since 1993, he's been the voice of
NBC's "Must See TV" and "Comedy Night Done Right" promos and promos for
"The Tonight Show" starring Jay Leno, "Saturday Night Live", "Late
Night with Conan O'Brien" and "Last Call with Carson Daily". He also
voices the daily promos for the long-running "Live with Regis and
Kelly".
But the character behind the voice really came to life in 1985, when
Coleman, having just moved to Los Angeles from Cleveland, Ohio, won a
chance audition for the animated hit, "Inspector Gadget". As the voice
of Corporal Capeman, Gadget's bumbling assistant, he embarked on an
entirely new career, providing the voices for some of the most
memorable characters in cartoons and commercials. In addition to
thwarting evil as the voice of "The Tick", Fox Kids' hit animated
series, he has provided the voices for many popular cartoon characters,
including Michaelangelo on the original, long-running cartoon series,
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". He also played Waldo on "Where's
Waldo?", Gobo on NBC's animated "Fraggle Rock", Scott on "Teenwolf",
Scratch on "Spacecats", the voice of Wayne Gretzky on "Prostars", Riot
on "Jem", Dragonflyer on "Glofriends", Rewind on "Transformers" and
many others.
In addition to his active animation career, Coleman has also been the
voice behind numerous national TV ad campaigns for clients such as Home
Depot, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Mattel Hot Wheels, Sunny Delight,
Colgate, Jenny Craig, Blockbuster Video, Greyhound, AT&T, Eggo Waffles,
Taco Bell and "Spot", the precocious red 7-Up dot... even a few
"Keebler elves" and "Raid bugs".
Born in New York City in 1954, Coleman spent his childhood in Denver,
Colorado and Cleveland, Ohio. After studying architecture and theater
at the University of Colorado in Boulder, he returned home to Ohio to
pursue a radio career. Ten years as a disc jockey at various Cleveland
radio stations led to numerous commercial and voiceover jobs. He
appeared as host of the nationally syndicated TV series "The Dance
Show" prior to moving his family to LA in 1984 to take advantage of
career opportunities on the west coast. Coleman's primary career focus
was acting in TV and film, but soon changed as he foresaw a more
lucrative career specializing in the field of voiceovers.
Townsend Coleman trivia
- Proud sponsor of Camp Will-A-Way, a camp for the mentally and/or
physically disabled
- Appeared as a contestant on Super Password in the 1970's before his
voice acting career took off. He lost on his first appearance. His
nametag said "T.C." At the time he mentioned he had a 9-year-old
daughter, and a 7-year-old son.