The day voice artist Billy West went to The Howard Stern Show, then on WXRK (K-Rock) in New York City, he thought it was just for a visit. Next thing you know, Stern had him on the air.

“I had no idea what was happening to me. I couldn’t talk,” recalls West. “I was tongue-tied.”

Not the greatest way to be for a voice artist. What West didn’t know was that station owner Mel Karmazin had played some of West’s voices for Stern ahead of time. Luckily, West was invited back. “The next time I came back there, I just blew everybody away. I was like lightning in a bottle, and [Stern] liked that,” says West.

West, who was then working at K-Rock and had previously been a producer at its sister station WBCN in Boston (where he began doing comedic impressions on Charles Laquidara’s Big Mattress morning show), started working for Stern on a part-time basis doing voices. He imitated anyone popular at the time: then-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Leona Helmsley, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott, people who “kept getting into trouble.” And his exposure grew.

While working for Stern, West was auditioning for other voice work, and soon he caught another big break—doing a voice for a little Nickelodeon show called Ren & Stimpy. West began as the voice of Stimpy and eventually did the voice of Ren as well. West landed a gig on the channel’s show Doug, as the main character and supporting ones.

West’s love for voices began during childhood. He remembers watching cartoons while growing up in Detroit, Michigan in the 1950s and reading the credits. He was surprised to see that only a few people were doing all the voices. “When you saw these people on TV, their voices weren’t like the characters,” says West. “I always thought that was the magic.”

During his 30-year career, West has gotten to voice some of the classic cartoon characters he grew up with like Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (originally done by his hero, Mel Blanc) in the movie Space Jam; Woody Woodpecker, Wally Walrus, and Smedley on The New Woody Woodpecker Show; and Shaggy in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.

Throughout the years, West has voiced everything from Buzz the Bee for Honey Nut Cheerios (1990-95) and Ralph the Roach in the movie Joe’s Apartment, to Babe Ruth, Phil Rizzutto, and Rocky Balboa’s trainer, Mickey, in the Lipton Brisk Tea Commercials, and even one of the milk chocolate M&M candies (he plays Red, by the way). But one of his favorite jobs ends on September 4, when the final episode of Futurama airs on Comedy Central.

Created by Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame, Futurama aired on Fox from 1999-2003. The show’s reruns created a cult following, which resulted in direct-to-DVD releases, which then aired on Comedy Central as new episodes. Because of its popularity, the show was picked up by Comedy Central, where it has run for the last four years. “If it wasn’t for Philip J. Fry, Billy West would be driving a truck,” jokes West. “Full time!”

Philip J. Fry from Futurama

When West went to the Futurama audition, he saw that actor/comedian/improv player Ryan Stiles was auditioning for the show, and he thought about leaving because he assumed Stiles would get the job. But West won the job, and has played Philip J. Fry, Zapp Brannigan, Dr. John Zoidberg, and Professor Farnsworth ever since.

Which character will he miss playing the most? “It’s hard to say because I love them all to pieces,” says West. “I never had a bad day at work—ever.”

Want to hear Billy West in action? Check out a sampling of his talents here.

Michele Wojciechowski is the award-winning author of the humor book Next Time I Move, They’ll Carry Me Out in a Box, writer of the award-winning humor column, Wojo’s World®, and a not-yet award-winning stand-up comic. She too, will miss Futurama, but admits that she loves the red M&M. And, um, not just eating them. Check out her website at www.wojosworld.com.