• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Characters who were heard but never seen

B

bpatrick

Can anyone think of characters whose voices
were heard but whose faces were not seen?
I've come up with, from memory:

John Beresford Tipton (The Millionaire, voice of
Paul Frees) Arguably the most famous unseen character,
you did see a hand or the back of his head. Actually,
he did show his face once, when he had to bail out his
assistant, Michael Anthony, who had been arrested while
trying to deliver a million-dollar check.

Charlie Townsend (Charlie's Angels, voice of John Forsythe)

John Bracken (Bracken's World) The voice of actor Warren
Stevens was heard as the movie mogul on this show's first
season; the second year, he was seen, played by Leslie Nielsen.

Carlton Your Doorman (Rhoda, voice of Lorenzo Music)

Mr. Terhorst (Bob Newhart's failed '90s sitcom Bob)
He communicated with his staff at the comic-book company
where Bob was a cartoonist, only by telephone. Actor
Michael Cumpsty provided the voice.

Orson (Mork & Mindy) The voice of Mork's contact on Ork,
actor Ralph James, is said to bear an uncanny resemblance
to Orson Welles.

One that goes 'WAY back: an old DuMont show, The Plainclothesman.
You heard the voice of actor Ken Lynch, but everything was shown
from his point of view (he may have shown his face once). Lynch
made several appearances full-face on The Andy Griffith Show,
always playing a state cop who thought he could solve crimes
better than Andy.


And two characters from The Andy Griffith Show who were neither
heard nor seen: Sarah, the telephone operator; and Juanita,
Barney's girlfriend who worked at the diner (he often asked
her out instead of Thelma Lou).

Can anyone think of others?<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bpatrick on 07/24/05 11:00 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> Can anyone think of characters whose voices
> were heard but whose faces were not seen?

The voice on the self-destructing tape on Mission: Impossible comes to mind.

And, using "<u>faces</u> were not seen" as the definition of whether or not a character fits ...

Richard Diamond's secretary "Sam" (played at one point by Mary Tyler Moore), whose legs <u>were</u> seen.

Tim Taylor's neighbor "Wilson" on Home Improvement, who was never seen in character (only during the cast bows at the end of the very last episode).<P ID="signature">______________


</P>
 
> > Can anyone think of characters whose voices
> > were heard but whose faces were not seen?
>
> And, using "faces were not seen" as the definition of
> whether or not a character fits ...
>
> Richard Diamond's secretary "Sam" (played at one point by
> Mary Tyler Moore), whose legs were seen.
>
> Tim Taylor's neighbor "Wilson" on Home Improvement, who was
> never seen in character (only during the cast bows at the
> end of the very last episode).

Nanny (voice of Barbara Billingsley) on "Muppet Babies". She was only shown from the bottom of her dress/legs.
 
> > > Can anyone think of characters whose voices
> > > were heard but whose faces were not seen?
> >
> > And, using "faces were not seen" as the definition of
> > whether or not a character fits ...
> >
> > Richard Diamond's secretary "Sam" (played at one point by
> > Mary Tyler Moore), whose legs were seen.
> >
> > Tim Taylor's neighbor "Wilson" on Home Improvement, who
> was
> > never seen in character (only during the cast bows at the
> > end of the very last episode).
>
> Nanny (voice of Barbara Billingsley) on "Muppet Babies". She
> was only shown from the bottom of her dress/legs.
>

In cartoon characters whose faces weren't seen you could include Mammy Two Shoes from Tom & Jerry cartoons.

In characters who weren't heard or seen, you could count Sparky, who was the company clerk for another unit (8063rd?) that Radar would talk to over the radio on MASH.
 
How about any "adult" character on any Peanuts cartoon special? And they didnt even use real words...just WAAA WAAA WAAA WAAA WAAAA...understood only by animated cartoon children.
 
A few more:

In one episode of Happy Days,Marion's mother came to visit and she was calling from upstairs and I could swear that Tom Bosley's voice was used in that one.

One character that comes to mind is the Adam-12 police caller when Pete and Jim got their calls. Her face was seen only once in a 1972 episode but very briefly.

The Emergency fire station caller was heard but wasn't seen.

About Wilson on Home Improvement,his face was indeed seen at certain intervals,one he is wearing a mustache,the next you can see the back of his head.
 
On "Seinfeld," we never see Mr. Steinbrenner's (Larry David) face.

> A few more:
>
> In one episode of Happy Days,Marion's mother came to visit
> and she was calling from upstairs and I could swear that Tom
> Bosley's voice was used in that one.
>
> One character that comes to mind is the Adam-12 police
> caller when Pete and Jim got their calls. Her face was seen
> only once in a 1972 episode but very briefly.
>
> The Emergency fire station caller was heard but wasn't seen.
>
>
> About Wilson on Home Improvement,his face was indeed seen at
> certain intervals,one he is wearing a mustache,the next you
> can see the back of his head.
>
 
> The Emergency fire station caller was heard but wasn't seen.

Actually you did see Sam Lanier's face at least a few times, and he did really work for the LACoFD.<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>
 
Norm's wife, Vera, on Cheers. Always talked about, never seen, and I recall hearing her voice calling down from the restaurant above the bar in one episode.
 
Sara the operator greenacres/petticoat junction. Although they did show her once i think in an episode of green acres when mr douglas buys the phone company.
 
> Norm's wife, Vera, on Cheers. Always talked about, never
> seen, and I recall hearing her voice calling down from the
> restaurant above the bar in one episode.
>
You could throw in Columbo's wife; he talked about her but
she was never seen. However, she got her own show in the
late '70s, known variously as Mrs. Columbo, Kate Columbo,
and Kate Loves A Mystery (the last suggested that it might
be someone else named Kate). (Coincidentally, the wife on
Peter Falk's earlier show, Trials Of O'Brien, was named Katie.
You saw her, however, played by Joanna Barnes, who may be better
remembered as a frequent panelist on What's My Line? in the '70s.)

The dispatcher on Adam-12, BTW, was a real-life LAPD dispatcher
named Shaaron Claridge (the extra "a" in her first name was
something her parents threw in to be different). TV Guide once
ran a story about her, with her picture, and they should have
put her on camera more often.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by bpatrick on 07/25/05 02:16 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> What about Marist on "Frazier", was she ever seen?
>
Good point. "Maris" was Niles' wife and she was also never seen. It was probably an inside joke brought over from 12 years of Cheers.
 
For a good chunk of the Happy Days series, the character of Joanie's friend "Jenny Piccalo" was never seen or heard but mentioned quite often by Joanie. Much later on towards the end of the series run, her character was added to the series and was portrayed by Cathy Silver, daughter of actor Phil Silver who played Sgt Bilko.
 
> Norm's wife, Vera, on Cheers. Always talked about, never
> seen, and I recall hearing her voice calling down from the
> restaurant above the bar in one episode.
>
Actually Vera was seen once on the Thanksgiving food fight episode, but she had a pie in her face that was thrown by Diane at Sam but it hit her instead.
 
Too Big for TV

Big Al in Police Squad! and The Naked Gun (he is so tall his face is always cut off by the top of the screen:)
 
> How about any "adult" character on any Peanuts cartoon
> special? And they didnt even use real words...just WAAA
> WAAA WAAA WAAA WAAAA...understood only by animated cartoon
> children.
>

Actually, I learned after recognizing that "waa-wa-wa-waaaa-waa-waa-waa" effect. Later in life, it turned out to be someone with a trombone that actually "played" the less-understandable Miss Othmar. Man, that was something else!<P ID="signature">______________
Note to MRS Ventures: GET THE HELL OUT OF RADIO!!! 94 BAD-FM jamz!!!!</P>
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom