Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor and
comedian. He has voiced Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters and its
follow-up Extreme Ghostbusters, the Brain in Animaniacs and its
spin-off Pinky and the Brain, as Big Bob in Hey Arnold (1996-2004), as
well as a variety of characters in Futurama.LaMarche was born in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His family moved to Timmins, Ontario, soon
after he was born. LaMarche's childhood was filled with his "own
little world of cartoons and sixties television". It was in his second
year of high school that he learned of the popularity his talent for
mimicry could garner him. This realization came from a coincidental
performance in a high school "variety night" when a couple of friends
urged him to enter. The act he performed at the variety night was
"celebrities as waiters" which he used until the end of his stand-up
career.At the age of 19, LaMarche took his high school act to an open
mic night in New York City, performing to a reaction in which, as he
describes, "they just totally ignored me". This reaction was coupled
with the backlash LaMarche received from fellow Canadian comedians who
LaMarche describes as discouraging him from pursuing a career outside
of Canada. He returned to Canada, continued to do stand-up, and also
started a career in voice work (see below).Three years later, at the
age of 22, LaMarche moved to Los Angeles to further his stand-up
career. This move, LaMarche says, would always be something he
regretted doing instead of moving to New York: "... in retrospect, I
thought it was a mistake. I think that a couple of years in New York
would have made me a stronger comedian."
comedian. He has voiced Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters and its
follow-up Extreme Ghostbusters, the Brain in Animaniacs and its
spin-off Pinky and the Brain, as Big Bob in Hey Arnold (1996-2004), as
well as a variety of characters in Futurama.LaMarche was born in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His family moved to Timmins, Ontario, soon
after he was born. LaMarche's childhood was filled with his "own
little world of cartoons and sixties television". It was in his second
year of high school that he learned of the popularity his talent for
mimicry could garner him. This realization came from a coincidental
performance in a high school "variety night" when a couple of friends
urged him to enter. The act he performed at the variety night was
"celebrities as waiters" which he used until the end of his stand-up
career.At the age of 19, LaMarche took his high school act to an open
mic night in New York City, performing to a reaction in which, as he
describes, "they just totally ignored me". This reaction was coupled
with the backlash LaMarche received from fellow Canadian comedians who
LaMarche describes as discouraging him from pursuing a career outside
of Canada. He returned to Canada, continued to do stand-up, and also
started a career in voice work (see below).Three years later, at the
age of 22, LaMarche moved to Los Angeles to further his stand-up
career. This move, LaMarche says, would always be something he
regretted doing instead of moving to New York: "... in retrospect, I
thought it was a mistake. I think that a couple of years in New York
would have made me a stronger comedian."
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