Gregg Berger, voice of Cornfed the Pig on the popular Duckman series, is a veteran of several animated series.Duckman is different than most, however, in that the series is aiming for an adult audience. Duckman is a cartoon about the adventures of Duckman, private dick and family man. Duckman is based on the underground comic by Everett Peck, who launched the character with a one-shot comic published by Dark Horse in 1989. Berger portrays Cornfed, Duckman's hardboiled, fiercely loyal sidekick who bears a vocal resemblance to Jack Webb. Berger said that working in voice-over is "getting paid to play," and when Duckman's entire cast is able to record its pieces at the same time, "the playing is contagious and so is the humor." Duckman's cast is filled with well-known entertainment types. Seinfeld's Jason Alexander is the voice of Duckman. Nancy Travis, from Almost Perfect, is the voice of Bernice, the twin sister of Duckman's deceased wife who willed the house and kids to her. Dweezil Zappa provides the voice of Ajax, Duckman's dopey teenager. Berger said because of the schedules of Alexander, Zappa, Travis and himself, the vocal tracks for Duckman often have to be recorded in "splits," where the various actors have to record their lines separately. Berger said that the producers of the show have such a good sense of the overall picture, and they are able to put together a "densely packed" show despite the split schedule. Berger got his start in animation on The Littles after an animation casting director saw him in a Los Angeles play. The director who directed him in The Littles was also working on G.I. Joe. Berger worked on G.I. Joe as Spirit, an American-Indian Joe, and Firefly, a wacky saboteur. Berger also worked on The Transformers as Grimlock, the Dinobot leader. Another voice Berger did early in his voice-over career was "Curly Quasar" on The New Jetsons. "They seated me next to Mel Blanc," he said. "I just wanted to tell him Thank-you for all the stuff I loved as a kid.""I was a huge cartoon fan as a kid," Berger said. "But I never dreamed it would be such a big part of my life."Berger also created the voice characterizations for Odie the Dog and Oson Pig in Garfield and Friends, and recurs as Spider-Man's adversaries Kraven the Hunter and Mysterio on Fox Television's Spider-Man.Berger said there are lots of resources available when determining what a new animated character should sound like."Sometimes there's a pencil-drawn sketch, and you try to figure out by how someone's drawn how that voice might sound."Additionally, Berger said that for regular roles in an animated series, there are complex histories relating the character's biographies."Even when it's a frivolous slapstick show, you have a sense of who the characters are. Sometimes more so than on-camera stuff."Berger has quite a background in on-camera acting as well. He portrayed the recurring character Dr. Werner on St. Elsewhere.On Wings, he played Nantucket Tourism Bureau Director Mr. Douglas.He also guest-starred on episodes of L.A. Law, Night Court, Quantum Leap, Perfect Strangers and BOB. He was featured in the HBO movie Running Mates with Ed Harris and Diane Keaton and spent time in Russia shotting Police Academy: Misson to Moscow, in as Lt. Uri Talinsky.Berger said the voice-over community is a small, hard-working bunch. "There's always an open door for talent. It's never going to be based on how you look or how old you are."Berger said some of the acion shows can require endurance."Some of the shows, like the real epic battle shows, are just four hours of screaming. It can be a little debilitating. Nothing like driving a jackhammer, but ... "Berger said that after the action-adventure shows, it's good to do a more laid-back character.Berger said he is "particularly proud" of his work on Duckman because of its mainly adult audience."There's a real good buzz (on the show)," Berger said. Guest stars such as Crispin Glover, John Astin, David Duchovney and Roddy McDowall have recorded spots for the show."It taps into the same kind of mentality that Monty Python used."It gets stranger every week," Berger said. After a long pause, he adds, "In a good way."
