This is an entry to Mark Evanier's list of the twenty top voice actors in American animated cartoons between 1928 and 1968. For more on this list, read this. To see all the listings posted to date, click here.
Most Famous Role: Mr. Magoo.
Other Notable Roles: Almost none unless you count the genie in the Bugs Bunny cartoon, A-Lad-In His Lamp.
What He Did Besides Cartoon Voices: Dozens of character roles in radio, movies and television, including several regular series like Gilligan's Island, I Married Joan and even The Jim Backus Show. The dozens of films in which he appeared included Rebel Without a Cause and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. He also appeared in hundreds of commercials and probably made as much money dubbing the voice of "The Little Old Winemaker" for Italian Swiss Colony Wine as he did playing Quincy Magoo.
Why He's On This List: Few theatrical cartoons got so much of their charm and humor from a voice as did the Magoos. Backus was allowed to ad-lib during recordings and his muttered asides made sure the cartoon was funny even if the visuals and gags sometimes were not. Tex Avery once called Backus as Magoo the single greatest bit of casting in the history of animation.
Fun Fact: The U.P.A. cartoon studio, where Backus most often recorded his Magoo dialogue, was next door to the Smoke House, a still-extant Burbank restaurant where animation folks were known to gather. Before a recording session, voice director (and occasional co-actor) Jerry Hausner would take Backus over there to the bar for a few drinks. Hausner would ask him after each one, "Is Magoo here yet?" and Backus might answer, "I think he might arrive after one more gin and tonic." When Backus was sufficiently Magooed, they'd go over to the studio and record, and would sometimes return to the bar area of the Smoke House afterwards for what Backus called "the wrap party."