Fred gives the orders. Scooby whines that he would rather not. It is the oldest exchange in the franchise, and for more than twenty years one man has recorded both halves of it, alone at a microphone, arguing with himself.

He Auditioned for the Dog

Frank Welker was a young stand-up comic and impressionist whose first voice job was a commercial for Friskies cat food. A producer's girlfriend pointed him toward Hanna-Barbera, which was casting a new cartoon about four teenagers and a Great Dane.

He went in for the title role. He did not get it.

Instead the studio handed him Fred Jones, the square-jawed one in the orange ascot, and put him on the air on 13 September 1969. Welker was 23.

The Part He Did Not Want

Don Messick had voiced Scooby from the first episode. Messick retired in 1996 after a stroke, and producers asked Welker to take the dog.

He was reluctant.

"I was very reluctant at the time," Welker later told Yahoo Entertainment. "Don was very ill, and I wanted him to have that role to look forward to and keep working at getting better."

Messick died in 1997. Scott Innes voiced Scooby for the next few years.

In 2002 the studio came back to Welker, and this time he said yes.

"I thought, 'Maybe this could be a tribute to Don and his legacy,'" he said. "When I saw it from the perspective of being respectful of Don and the audience, I went after it enthusiastically."

Frank Welker, the American voice actor, photographed at a fan convention or industry panel - an older white-haired man in a shirt, seated or standing at a microphone, clear head-and-shoulders framing, 2010s or later — Frank Welker, the voice of Fred since 1969 and of Scooby since 2002. Photo: Super Festivals, CC BY 2.0.

Two Voices, One Booth

The role that started with What's New, Scooby-Doo? means Welker now records both halves of the franchise's most familiar double act.

He has said he pictures Messick while he works, keeping the dog honest, lovable and funny, and letting his own version arrive slowly.

He has not played Fred in absolutely everything. A child actor voiced the boy in A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, and in the adult animated series Velma he was cast as Fred's father rather than Fred.

The 2020 film Scoob! cast Zac Efron as Fred and kept Welker as Scooby. He was the only original voice from the series in the movie.

Fifty-Seven Years In

Casey Kasem, the first Shaggy, died in 2014. Messick is gone. The original Daphne and Velma have long since moved on.

Welker is the only voice actor from the 1969 cast still working on Scooby-Doo, and he is now doing two of the jobs.

In May 2026 Warner Bros. Animation announced Yokoso Scooby-Doo!, the franchise's first original anime series, for Tubi. Welker is voicing the dog.

He turned 80 in March. He is still in the booth.

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