10 beloved cartoon voice actors who popped up in 'Perry Mason'

You can find Fred Flintstone, Magilla Gorilla, Batman, Tigger and Prince Charming.

Over the course of its nine seasons, Perry Mason cast a whopping 1,903 actors in total. The legal whodunnit had plenty of shoes to fill — jurors, judges, suspects, victims, murderers, lawyers, caps, dames, lackeys, etc.

Dozens of famous faces appeared in these mystery-of-the-week guest roles — oh, and many famous voices turned up, too.

We gathered ten of our favorite cartoon character cameos from Perry Mason. You might recognize these actors from other shows. But it'll likely surprise you to see the human face behind the animated character.


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1. Henry Corden – Fred Flintstone

 

Alan Reed, the original voice of Fred Flintstone, passed away in 1977. Hanna-Barbera turned to its talented roster of voice actors to fill Fred's orange tunic. Corden had voiced several smaller roles on The Flintstones, as well as other toons like "Hillbilly Bear" Paw Rugg. He ended up performing Fred for three decades. In Perry, he can be found in "The Case of the Crooked Candle" as a shepherd.

2. John Stephenson – Mr. Slate

 

If you have Fred Flintstone, you might as well get his boss, too. Stephenson voiced Mr. Slate for decades. It was just one of his many cartoon credits. You can hear him in everything from Super Friends and Yogi's Gang to G.I. Joe and Transformers. In Perry Mason, he appears in three episodes, including "The Case of the Gallant Grafter," seen here.

3. Paul Winchell – Tigger

 

Winchell lived an unparalleled career. Who else can claim to be a pioneering ventriloquist and the inventor of the artificial heart? (No, really. He built and patented a mechanical heart for humans.) He came to fame working stages with his dummies, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. Later, he would voice Tigger in Winnie the Pooh cartoons for Disney. On Perry Mason, he meets a much darker fate in "The Case of the Nervous Neighbor."

4. John Fiedler – Piglet

 

Tigger's pal Piglet is here, too! John Fielder plays an associate director in Hollywood in the episode "The Case of the Tragic Trophy." His distinctive voice could be heard coming from Piglet up until 2005.

5. Allan Melvin – Magilla Gorilla

 

Melvin had a handful of notable sitcom credits to his name. Brady Bunch lovers know him best as Sam the Butcher. Military comedy junkies know him from regular roles on The Phil Silvers Show and Gomer Pyle. He was also Archie Bunker's pal on All in the Family. You might not know that he voiced Magilla Gorilla for Hanna-Barbera. Oh, and Drooper, one of the Banana Splits. Not to mention Bluto, Popeye's nemesis. He worked in a few Perry Mason episodes, including "The Case of the Sausalito Sunrise," seen here.

6. Olan Soule – Batman

 

Yep, that thin, bespectacled man is the Dark Knight. At least, he voiced Batman on Super Friends for years. In Perry Mason, you can spot him several times as the court clerk. He instructs the court to "All rise!" at the opening of "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" — you know, the one where Perry loses a case right off the bat!

7. Hal Smith – Goofy

 

Mayberry denizens knew Hal Smith better as Otis Campbell, the town drunk. The character actor also found plenty of work at Disney. Not only was he Goofy, he worked on DuckTales, too. You can also hear him in Scooby Doo, Where Are You!, The Fantastic Four, Captain Caveman… and so much more. Look for him in the Perry episode "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee."

8. William Phipps – Prince Charming

 

Here is Cinderella's man himself, Prince Charming. Phipps voiced the dashing prince in Disney's iconic 1950 animated masterpiece. In "The Case of the Fancy Figures," however, he's found himself in jail.

9. Marvin Miller – Robby the Robot

 

Robby the Robot might not be a cartoon character, but the big metal guy does have one of the most recognizable voices of the 1950s, thanks to Miller. Starting with Forbidden Planet in 1956, Robby turned up in other live-action sci-fi shows and movies. Miller did work in cartoons, too, notably The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo. Look for him in "The Case of the Lover's Leap" as a lawyer.

10. Mel Blanc – Bugs Bunny

 

Mel Blanc is so big, he didn't need to show his face. Arguably the most successful voice actor of all time, Blanc brought to life Bugs Bunny, Barney Rubble, Woody Woodpecker, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn…. We could go on all day. He was most of the Looney Tunes cast. Naturally, in "The Case of the Perjured Parrot" he is the parrot.

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64 Comments

Moverfan 8 months ago
My sister and I went to a Winnie-The-Pooh movie one evening (Piglet's Big Movie, I think). Settled in with the popcorn and the drinks...and she didn't notice because The Bob Newhart Show was off the air before she started paying attention to TV, but I did wonder "Why does Piglet sound like Mr. Peterman?"
DaisyDuke67 8 months ago
I never knew Sam the Butcher was Magilla Gorilla.
cperrynaples DaisyDuke67 8 months ago
I did! It's obvious if you saw the cartoon! "Take our advice/At any price/A gorilla like Magilla is mighty nice/Magilla Gorilla for sale!"
soonersjlg DaisyDuke67 8 months ago
I never realized that either.
prock 8 months ago
Uummm...Not much of a quiz🤨
soonersjlg prock 8 months ago
I didn't see anywhere thar said this was a quiz. 🤔
prock soonersjlg 8 months ago
Yeppers said would you like to take another one but I don't think this was a quiz🤗
KirwoodDerby 8 months ago
Certainly there was more than that.
Avie 8 months ago
Re "Henry Cordon – Fred Flintstone

"Alan Reed, the original voice of Fred Flintstone, passed away in 1977. Hanna-Barbera turned to its talented roster of voice actors to fill Fred's orange tunic. Cordon had voiced several smaller roles on The Flintstones, as well as other toons like 'Hillbilly Bear' Paw Rugg. He ended up performing Fred for three decades. In Perry, he can be found in 'The Case of the Crooked Candle' as a shepherd."

It's Henry CORDEN, not "Cordon."

Can't anybody on these pages get their facts straight?
firemandk 8 months ago
No one mentioned Allan Melvin was Sam The Butcher on The Brady Bunch...
He was number 5 on the list.
Tresix 8 months ago
If you wanted to, you could include Adam West. He voiced Batman in a cartoon series that aired on CBS in the Seventies and on the last two seasons of “Superfriends”.
djw1120 Tresix 8 months ago
So now you have a case of "Batman" in cartoons voicing "Batman" in real life for three seasons.
cperrynaples Tresix 8 months ago
He also voiced Batman in 2 direct-to-video movies in the 2010's, the second featuring William Shatner as 2 Face!
JohnBates 8 months ago
Marvin Miller did the narration in the Gerald McBoing Boing cartoons for UPA, and he was the narrator on the Pink Panther TV shows in the 1970's, during the bumper segments. He also did voices in some of The Inspector cartoons as well.
opera 8 months ago
Thanks for showing them..love Perry mason what his show every night and a big thanks for those great articles....I learned something new today....
Fior 8 months ago
What a great idea for an article! Interesting tidbits to know. Thanks.
57Tbird 8 months ago
Don't forget Perry Mason was on the Flintstones as Perry Masonry. Barney's lawsuit to adopt Bam Bam.
cperrynaples 57Tbird 8 months ago
Yep, but they couldn't get Raymond Burr!
George58 8 months ago
Watching Perry Mason marathons on Justice Central channel every Saturday. Not taking anything away from MeTv, just letting other Perry Mason fans (who can't get enough) know they can catch their favorite attorney on Saturdays all day!!
57Tbird George58 8 months ago
I watch Metv+ and Justice Central alot. I am burned out on MASH.
cinamac George58 8 months ago
I have just recently started watching the old Perry Mason series, after seeing the HBO prequel. I am obsessed with it and can’t get enough…if I’m not watching it on MeTV, FeTV and Justice Central, I’m on the 24/7 Perry Mason channel on Pluto!
Arkansasboy42 George58 8 months ago
Perry Mason has a 24 hour channel on Pluto Tv
MichaelGreene 8 months ago
Henry Corden(please note the spelling). appeared as a bad guy in the first season of The Adventures of Superman, as well as a number of times on both versions of Dragnet.
BrittReid MichaelGreene 8 months ago
He was also in five episodes of 'Hogans Heroes'. He was the Blue Baron.
JohnBates BrittReid 8 months ago
And he was The Monkees' landlord Mr. Babbit during the first season, and played a hotel manager in the second season. He also played Marcia's boss at the ice cream parlor during the last season of The Brady Bunch.
kkvegas MichaelGreene 8 months ago
Olan Soule (#6 above) was also in multiple episodes of both versions of Dragnet.
tootsieg 8 months ago
Wow! Great article seeing the behind the scenes folks.
Runeshaper 8 months ago
This is so AWESOME! Thanks for sharing, MeTV (-:
WordsmithWorks 8 months ago
That picture of Paul Winchell looks nothing like I remember him from my childhood.
Well, that's how I remember him! You proably saw him with the mustatche!
cperrynaples 8 months ago
interesting that Alan Reed isn't listed! Based on performances such as Breakfast At Tiffany's, he would have been a great victim or suspect! Never as a client...LOL!
cperrynaples cperrynaples 8 months ago
Reed was also a blackmailing cop in The Postman Always Rings Twice!
Tresix cperrynaples 8 months ago
And John Garfield beat the everlovin’ crap out of him!
AgingDisgracefully 8 months ago
Whenever I see the words Olan Soule, I hear WC Fields speaking.
Not even close! Just like John Fiedler, he played nerdish characters!
The NAME Olan Soule, NOT the guy himself. Work WITH me C-Nape.
(Egbert Sou`se anyone?)
Yep, that was The Bank Dick! "Tomorrow I'll be sober but you'll still be ugly!"...LOL!
CoreyC AgingDisgracefully 8 months ago
Olan Soule was in The Andy Griffith Show as the Singing Choir leader and a semi regular on Dragnet.
MichaelGreene CoreyC 8 months ago
Soule was on both the color and the black-and-white versions of Dragnet,as well as being in the movie version(1954) and the pilot for the color version of Dragnet(1966).
MichaelGreene CoreyC 8 months ago
One more thing: John Stephenson's voice was heard on the first 3 seasons of the color version of Dragnet as the person who noted the fates of the bad guys who got arrested. (In the 4th season, George Fenneman, who did the opening "the story, etc" throughout both versions of Dragnet, also disclosed the fates of those arrested.)
JohnBates MichaelGreene 8 months ago
He also played an IRS agent on The Beverly Hillbillies, near the end of the first season.
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