Joey Camen (born January 16, 1957) is an American voice actor, comedian and writer who has performed voice over work in various movies, TV shows and video games.
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Biography
In 1974, after graduating from Henry Ford High School in Detroit, Camen went to Hollywood, California. He auditioned at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip, and within a few weeks, he was a regular performer and master of ceremonies, making him one of the youngest professional standup comedians at the time. His standup act featured various dialects along with characters he created based on the people he grew up with in multi-ethnic Detroit. He was then discovered and mentored by voiceover artist Daws Butler, who voiced the characters of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw and others.
Camen got his first break at 20 performing his standup comedy routines on national TV shows Don Kirshner's Rock Concert and later on Dinah, the daytime talk show starring Dinah Shore. He was also the opening act for such performers as Oingo Boingo, The Pointer Sisters, Richard Pryor, Marvin Gaye and others. In addition to being a regular performer at the Comedy Store for more than 25 years, Camen has headlined at comedy venues in Las Vegas and comedy clubs and colleges across the United States.
As a voice-over actor, Camen has worked on multiple projects over the years, including video games Devil May Cry 5, Skylanders: Giants, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Mafia II; the online series Sam & Max, where he voiced two seasons as Bosco and the entire Jimmy 2 Teeth family.
He has voiced multiple characters on animated family films such as The Queen's Corgi, The Son of Bigfoot, Thunder and the House of Magic, and Space Jam. Camen has also voiced spots for various TV and radio commercials and was the voice of Natural Smurf in the Hanna-Barbera TV series, The Smurfs. In addition, Camen is the designated voice of McGruff the Crime Dog for a series of videos shown in public schools throughout the United States and PSA commercials.
As an actor, Camen's first job was as a sketch player on the short-lived NBC variety series, The Richard Pryor Show, where he performed sketches alongside Richard Pryor and other cast members. Then as a pledge in Floyd Mutrux's The Hollywood Knights, and next co-starring in the PBS television series, The Righteous Apples, for 2 seasons as Samuel 'DC' Rosencrantz. This led to working with Ralph Bakshi on the films American Pop and Cool World, as well as guest roles in sitcoms and other feature films.
In 1994, Camen wrote and performed a serio-comic one-person, two-act play, In the Hood with Mrs. Aronovitz, portraying nine characters. In the play, an ungrateful son tricks his elderly mother out of the deed to her apartment building to tear it down and put up a parking lot. Mrs. Aronovitz and her tenants rally together to get the building back. The play had a successful run in theatres in Los Angeles and New York City.
Camen's filmmaking credits include the Houston International Film Festival Bronze Award-Winning comedy short Bernie - A Love Story about a man and his mattress, in which he worn multiple hats as writer-director-producer and actor. Camen has also directed various YouTube videos for his comedy channel CamenTV.
Joey Camen was criticized by video game fans who viewed his YouTube channel Camen TV in where he played various stereotypes. The videos, posted between 2015 and 2017, were taken down by Camen in 2019.
Author
Camen has written two non-fiction books. The 2013 pet memoir, My Life with Snoopy: How One Shelter Dog's Love Changed a Man's Life and Other Tails of Adventure, tells the story of his 13-year relationship with his Burbank Animal Shelter dog, Snoopy. In 2017, Camen's autobiography, Laughing Through the Pain: Stories from the Trenches of Hollywood Standup Comedy and Beyond, was released.
Filmography
Animation
American Pop - Freddie
Becca's Bunch - Buck, MJ
Cool World - Interrogator #1, Slash, Holli's door
Creepy Crawlers - Chris Carter
Darkwing Duck - Stegmutt
Dink, the Little Dinosaur - Additional voices
Iznogoud - Additional voices
Jason and the Heroes of Mount Olympus - Additional voices
Last Days of Coney Island -
Little Dracula - Werebunny
Little Wizards - Various voices
Monster Island - Shiro, Fergus, Mayor's Assistant
My Little Pony - Weston the Baby Eagle
Phantom Boy - Le géant
Problem Child - Additional voices
Robinson Crusoe - Scrubby
Shirt Tales - Additional voices
Space Jam - Monstar Bang
Spicy City - Max
Strange Frame: Love & Sax - Police Officer (uncredited)
Superman - Short Henchman
The Glo Friends - Unknown voice/s
Video games
3-D Dinosaur Adventure - Additional voices
America's Next Top Model - Additional voices
Asura's Wrath - Taison
Champions Online - Armadillo, Mechaniste
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Imperial Tsunami Tank & Allied Javelin Soldier (uncredited)
Drakensang: The Dark Eye - Merwin Goodbeet, Merchants, Soldiers, Guards
EverQuest II - Additional voices
EverQuest II: Desert of Flames - Additional voices
Gothic 3 - Additional voices
Guardians of Middle-earth - Additional voices (as Joseph Camen)
Guild Wars - additional voices
Hitman: Absolution - Chester the Bum, Landlord (uncredited)
Jade Empire - Additional voices
Men of Valor - White Marine 2, Pilot
Saints Row - Stilwater's Resident
Shattered Steel - Additional voices
Skylanders: Giants - Terrafin, additional voices
Skylanders: Imaginators - Terrafin, Free Ranger, additional voices
Skylanders: SuperChargers - Terrafin, Free Ranger, additional voices
Live-action
Adventures in Voice Acting - Himself
Auditions - Black - White Man
Can I Do It 'Till I Need Glasses? - Himself
Fairy Tales - Little Dutch Boy
Growing Pains - Slash
King of the Mountain - Suds
Project A - Additional voices
Rock Concert - Himself
The Hollywood Knights - Pledge
The Richard Pryor Show - Various, White Guy Who Wants to Be Black
The Righteous Apples - Samuel 'DC' Rosencrantz
The Steve Harvey Show - Himself
Anime
Black Jack - GNN Newscaster
Black Jack: The Movie - GNN Newscaster
Dinozaurs - Dino Tricera
El Hazard: The Magnificent World - Walla
Eureka Seven - Dr. Greg Egan
Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG - Additional voices
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Watanabe
Phantom Boy - The Big Guy
Samurai Champloo - Kuroihara, Kogoro
Shorts
Last Days of Coney Island - Men
My Secret Friend: A Guardian Angel Story - Additional voices (as Reed Waxman)
