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Bill Farmer
Farmer at the 2014 Annie Awards
Born	William Farmer (1952-11-14) November 14, 1952 (age 72) Pratt, Kansas, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Kansas
Occupation(s)	Voice actor, comedian
Years active	1986–present
Agent	AVO Talent
Known for	Voice of Goofy and Pluto
Spouse	Jennifer Farmer ​(m. 1985)​
Children	1
Awards	Disney Legend Award (2009) Annie Award (2014)
Website	www.billfarmer.net

William Farmer (born November 14, 1952) is an American voice actor and comedian. He has performed the voice of the Disney character Goofy since 1987, and is also the current voice of Pluto and Horace Horsecollar.

Early life

This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Bill Farmer" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Farmer was born on November 14, 1952 in Pratt, Kansas, as the second child in his family. His parents were of English and Welsh descent.

Farmer's first job, at the age of 15, involved doing voices, especially those of Western stars like John Wayne or Walter Brennan. He and his friends would sometimes go through fast food drive-thrus and order foods in his character voices. Bill graduated from the University of Kansas in 1975 and is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. In college, he found work in radio and TV and then moved on to stand-up comedy as an impressionist until he moved out to Hollywood, where he began voicing Goofy in January 1987. In 1982, while he was still doing stand-up comedy, Farmer worked at a comedy club called the Comedy Corner in Dallas, Texas. He continued to work there until his move to Hollywood in 1986.

His decision to move to California came from a Dallas commercial agent who suggested that, given his talent for voices, he should try his luck in California. He was recently married, but he and his wife talked it over and came to an arrangement. She stayed back in Dallas while he commuted for a year after he got an apartment. Then four months after his moving out to Hollywood, his agent asked him if he could do any Disney characters.

He asserts that voice acting is not about funny voices, but about acting. His mentor was the versatile voice actor Daws Butler, the man behind many of Hanna-Barbera's characters. He taught Farmer that when doing cartoon voices, you're not merely doing a funny voice, you're an actor and the acting is premier and you have to think like the character you're doing.

Career

This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Bill Farmer" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In 1987, he had a small part as reporter Justin Ballard-Watkins in the film RoboCop.

Farmer's very first voice over audition was for Goofy. When he auditioned for the voice, he studied the way the original actor Pinto Colvig performed as Goofy in the classic cartoons. He studied the hilarious laugh and the distinctive "gawrsh". He inherited the voice of Goofy (and also Pluto) around the same time Tony Anselmo inherited Donald Duck and Russi Taylor inherited Minnie Mouse.

He originated the voice of Horace Horsecollar in Disney's version of The Prince and the Pauper and has played him ever since as well. Farmer also performed additional voices on The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse (1987) and Astro Boy (2004).

Other significant characters he has played include Yosemite Sam, Sylvester and Foghorn Leghorn in the movie Space Jam (1996). He has also done several guest voices, both on TV, including The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and in video games, including the Destroy All Humans! series, Namco's Tales of Symphonia, where he voiced Governor-General Dorr, in Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series reprising the role of Goofy, Detective Date in the SEGA game Yakuza, Captain Wedgewood and Frill Lizard in Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, many voices on EverQuest II, Cletus Samson, Floyd Sanders, Jeff Meyers and Ryan LaRosa in the video game Dead Rising and Sam and others in the cult classic adventure game Sam & Max Hit the Road.

Farmer has also played Secret Squirrel on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law in both the animated series and its spin-off video game, Stinkie in Casper: A Spirited Beginning and Casper Meets Wendy, Willie Bear in Horton Hears a Who!, and Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in Robot Chicken.

As of 2014, he plays Doc, the leader of the title characters in Disney's animated television series The 7D.

He also voiced Blackhoof Boar Clan Leader in the 2008 video game Kung Fu Panda.

Bill Farmer still regularly performs comedy routines at the Laugh Factory.

Recognition

In September 2009, Farmer was named a Disney Legend. In 2011, the International Family Film Festival awarded Bill Farmer the 'Friz Award' for Animation.

He won the Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production for his work as Goofy and Grandma Goofy in Mickey Mouse.

Personal life

Farmer has been married to his wife Jennifer Farmer since 1985; together they have a son.

Filmography

This section about a living person includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Please help to improve this section by introducing more precise citations. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Film

Television

Video games

Theme park attractions

Production credits

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ "About Toonhouse". Toonhouse Inc. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
2. ^ Stahl, Scarlett (February 24, 2012). "A Visit with a Goofy Guy Named Bill Farmer". LaughingPlace.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
3. "Disney Legends - Bill Farmer". D23. Archived from the original on August 30, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
4. ^ McTavish, Brian (May 4, 1995). "Bill Farmer is 'Goofy' for fun and profit". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
5. Armstrong, John (September 7, 1995). "It's Goofy, but it's a job". Vancouver Sun. p. C3. Retrieved August 26, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
6. ^ "042 – Bill Farmer on Talkin Toons with Rob Paulsen – Weekly Voice Acting and Voice Over Tips - Tech Jives Network".
7. ^ "Disney Legend, Bill Farmer talks about voicing Goofy and new Disney Junior series "The 7D"". mediamikes.com. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
8. "Bill Farmer". Voice Chasers. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
9. Erik Pedersen. "Annie Award Winners 2015: Full List Of Animation Award Winners - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
10. "RoboCop (1987) - Paul Verhoeven - Cast and Crew". AllMovie. All Media Guide. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-06-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. "2011 Disneyana Fan Club Convention Highlight: Voice Panel" (Video). YouTube. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
13. "The Voices of Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald (1998, Live-Action/Animated Series (Direct-to-Video)) - Voice Cast Listing at Voice Chasers". Voice Chasers. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
14. "Bring Home this Fast Paced Fun of Mickey and the Roadster Racers on Disney DVD". Chip and Co. 2016-12-17. Retrieved 2017-01-06.
15. "Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor (2008) Nintendo DS credits". MobyGames.

External links

• Official website
• Bill Farmer at IMDb

• 1952 births
• American male comedians
• American male video game actors
• American male voice actors
• American people of English descent
• American people of Welsh descent
• Annie Award winners
• Comedians from Kansas
• Disney voice actors
• Living people
• Male actors from Kansas
• People from Pratt, Kansas
• University of Kansas alumni