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Neil Ross

British actor

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
6 min read
Source updated September 12, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Neil Ross is a British actor. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably G.I. Joe, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Voltron, and Transformers, as well as video games. Ross has also provided voice roles (such as radio announcers) for many movies, including Back to the Future Part II, Babe, and Quiz Show. He served as announcer for ABC's prime time revival of the classic game show Press Your Luck from 2019 to 2023, as well as the voice of its villainous character The Whammy.

Ross was the co-announcer for the 75th Annual Academy Awards Telecast in 2003, and the announcer for the 56th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards Telecast in 2004. He has also narrated numerous episodes of A&E's Biography, and many editions of NOVA on PBS (including Mars, Dead or Alive, which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2004).

01Early life

Ross was born in London, England. He was subsequently raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His family relocated to California when he was 12 years old, eventually settling in San Diego.

02Career

Radio

Ross started working in radio when he finished school. His first station was KMUR in Salt Lake City, Utah. Following this, he moved on to KORL, KGMB and KKUA in Honolulu, Hawaii, before moving to KCBQ in San Diego in 1969. He stayed in California, working on KYA San Francisco and KMPC Los Angeles. He made his last broadcast in 1985.

Voice acting

He began his voice-over work in 1978 when he moved to Los Angeles. His first role was as a salesman in an episode of Richie Rich for Hanna-Barbera. Ross has voiced radio and television commercials for companies including Wal-Mart, AT&T, Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, Mattel, Goodyear, Disney, Hoover, Anheuser-Busch, Southwest Airlines, and Kellogg's, and has done promo work for CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS and Fox Kids, using an American accent in all of his performances. For five years he was the promotional announcer for Game Show Network.

Ross voiced the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Shipwreck, Buzzer, Monkeywrench, Dusty, Thunder, and Heavy Metal in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, and Commander Keith and Pidge in Voltron: Defender of the Universe. In The Transformers, he voiced Springer, Hook, Slag, and Bonecrusher, reprising these roles in The Transformers: The Movie (1986).

Announcing and narration

Ross served as co-announcer on the 75th Annual Academy Awards telecast in March 2003 and as announcer on the 56th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards telecast in September 2004. He narrated numerous episodes of A&E's Biography and many editions of NOVA for PBS.

In 2019, Ross became the announcer and voice of the Whammy character for the ABC primetime revival of Press Your Luck, hosted by Elizabeth Banks. He served in this role for four seasons until 2023.

03Filmography

Animation

YearTitleRoleNotesReferences
1982-84Pac-ManClyde19 Episodes
1983-86G.I. Joe"Buzzer", "Dusty", "Heavy Metal", "Monkeywrench", "Shipwreck", "Thunder"Unknown episodes
1984-85VoltronKeith / Jeff / Pidge / Chip / Prince Bandor
1984-87The TransformersBonecrusher, Hook, Springer, Slag, Sixshot, Pointblank, Fracas
1985-92Cap'n O. G. ReadmoreCap'n O. G. ReadmoreAnimated specials only
1985-86JemHoward Sands, Hector RamirezUnknown episodes
Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' WrestlingMean Gene Okerlund26 episodes
1985-88KissyfurDuane the Pig
1985-95RobotixJerrok / Flexor / Gaxon / SteggorUnknown episodes
1986Galaxy HighRotten Roland13 episodes
InhumanoidsHerc Armstrong, Tank, Ssslither, Sabre Jet, Ronald Reagan, Hector RamirezUnknown episodes
Rambo: The Force of FreedomJohn J. Rambo65 episodes
The CenturionsAce McCloudUnknown episodes
1987Bionic SixF.L.U.F.F.I.
The Little Troll PrincePrag No. 1Television special
Visionaries: Knights of the Magical LightLeoricUnknown episodes
Spiral ZoneOverlord, Wolfgang 'Tank' Schmidt
1988-94Garfield and FriendsJon's cousin, Paco, announcer
1989X-Men: Pryde of the X-MenNightcrawlerTelevision pilot
1990-91Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: The Animated SeriesWhitley WhiteUnknown episodes
Zazoo ULogan Chomper
1991-93The Legend of Prince ValiantDuncan Draconarius
1991-99Little DraculaMaggot
1991Yo Yogi!Baba Looey
1991-2004RugratsProfessor, Western Union Man, Scientist, Santa Claus, Announcer, Clerk, Clown, Mr. Namby, Reporter, President, Dr. Ventnor, The Changeling, F. Lee Barnum, Judge, Press, Various TV Announcers, Fisherman, Policeman, Prince11 episodes
1992-93Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo MesaBat BlastagunUnknown episodes
1992-94Batman: The Animated SeriesDealer, Ratso, JakeThe Cat and the Claw: Part I, The Cat and the Claw: Part II, Pretty Poison, Harley and Ivy, Birds of a Feather, Read My Lips, Harlequinade
1993Secret SquirrelMorocco MoleUnknown episodes
1993-94SWAT Kats: The Radical SquadronMac Mange5 episodes
1994Fantastic FourPuppet Master, Super-Skrull (Season 1)Unknown episodes
1994-96Iron ManFin Fang Foom, Wellington Yinsen, BlizzardUnknown episodes
1995-97The Mask: The Animated SeriesLt. Kellaway, Sly EasteneggerUnknown episodes
1995Freakazoid!Board MemberEpisode: "The Chip: Part 1"
1995-98Spider-Man: The Animated SeriesNorman Osborn/Green GoblinUnknown episodes
Pinky and the BrainMarvin the Martian
1995-96The Adventures of HypermanNarrator13 episodes
1996Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the RealmShang Tsung
2000Oh Yeah! CartoonsAl, PirateEp. Sick 'n' Tired in Bug Bite!
2000-07Harvey Birdman, Attorney at LawVulturoUnknown episodes
2003-09My Life as a Teenage RobotDr. Phineas Mogg, Redneck, Barber, Monitor Voice, Special Agent #1Unknown episodes
2003-05Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley WinksMr. McGandry, Mr. O'HopperUnknown episodes
2004The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy GeniusAnnouncerEpisode: "The Junkman Cometh"
2007Ben 10Wainwright, Guard #2, Radio Chatter #1Ep. "Ben 4 Good Buddy"
2010-13Planet SheenHelmb
2012The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest HeroesWilliam Cross / Crossfire, Thug 1, Security GuardEp. "To Steal an Ant-Man"
2012-13Kung Fu Panda: Legends of AwesomenessConstable Hu7 episodes
2017Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!Scrooge, Symposium HeadEp. "Scroogey Doo"

Live action

Movies

Video games

Watch videos about Neil RossExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Neil Ross”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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