Neil Kaplan (born March 9, 1967) is an American voice actor, entertainer and comedian.
Biography[]
Kaplan grew up in San Jose, California. He got his start as a comedian doing impressions of presidents such as Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. He also impersonated a little known journalist at the time, Dan Rather. He then started work on video games, including many Star Wars titles. From there he went on to do such shows as Power Rangers, Digimon: Digital Monsters, and most recently, Transformers: Robots in Disguise.
One of his most famous voices is Hawkmon from Digimon. His favorite role was the "utility guy" on a show called The Mouse and the Monster, which aired on UPN in 1996–1997. He played stomachs, ghosts, and Sappy the Clown, among dozens of other characters on that show. Kaplan was also once a contestant on the popular comedy game show, Street Smarts. On that appearance he showed off some of his other impressions, including one of Gilbert Gottfried.
Kaplan was invited as a guest to the Power Morphicon (in Los Angeles) in June 2007 as well as August 2010, and to Armageddon (in Australia and New Zealand) in October 2007.
He created the TV show ,The Way it WASN'T!, as well as the graphic novel, I, of the Wolf.[1]
Filmography[]
Anime roles[]
- Bleach - Gesell
- Blue Dragon - Saber Tiger
- Digimon Adventure 02 - Halsemon, Hogan, Ilya, Hawkmon
- Digimon Data Squad - Pumpkinmon #1 (30-34), Ninjamon #3 (31), Piximon (32), Franz' Agent #1 (33), Desk Man #1 (33)
- Digimon Frontier - Eldest Mushroomon/Woodmon (4), Kokuwamon Elder (5), Baromon (40)
- Digimon Tamers - Indramon, Babel
- Naruto - Kiyoyasu
- Tokyo Pig: Principal
- Transformers: Robots in Disguise - Optimus Prime, Ro-Tor
- Zatch Bell!: Belgim E.O.
Non-anime[]
- The Mouse and the Monster - Utility Guy, additional voices
Video games[]
- Baten Kaitos Origins - Wiseman
- EverQuest II: Kingdom of Sky
- Final Fantasy XIII - Additional Voices
- Justice League Heroes - Gorilla Grodd
- Spider-Man: Battle for New York - Norman Osborn/Green Goblin
- Spider-Man 3: The Game - Kraven the Hunter
- Conan - Bone Cleaver
- Ninja Gaiden II - Genshin
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Long Haul
- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty - Tychus Findlay
- Jaws Unleashed - Cruz Ruddock
Live-action roles[]
- Beetleborgs Metallix - Witch Doctor (voice)
- Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy - Destruxo (voice), Mutantrum (2nd voice)
- Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue - Diabolico, Gold Beaked Monster (voices)
- Power Rangers: Time Force - Gluto (voice), Recap Narrator (voice, uncredited)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie - Oozemen (voice, uncredited)
External links[]
- Neil Kaplan - official website
- Template:Title without disambig at the Internet Movie Database
- Neil Kaplan at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
References[]
- ↑ The concept for I, O The Wolf was initially developed while Kaplan was in attendance at the Transformers convention Auto Assembly over a meal in a Chinese restaurant with some of the conventions other guests. Source: convention organiser
| Preceded by Peter Cullen 1984-1987 Original Series |
Voice of Optimus Prime 2001–2002 Robots in Disguise |
Succeeded by Gary Chalk 2002–2006 Unicron Trilogy |
fi:Neil Kaplan