
Lou Scheimer
Louis Scheimer (October 19, 1928 - October 17, 2013) is one of the founders of the animation company Filmation, which produced the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series.
He was co-credited with the series theme song as "Erika Lane". This pseudonym came from his two children, Erika Lane and had also been used as a character name on the 1967 Filmation series Journey to the Center of the Earth.
As "Erik Gunden", Scheimer did the voice acting for such characters as Orko, King Randor, Stratos, Trap Jaw, and many others. The last name was taken from his father's original surname: "Gundenscheimer" (which was later shortened to Sheimer). The first name was Lou's middle name, which he was not given by his parents, but instead by his wife Jay, who felt that he should have one.
While most of the voice actors recorded their lines together as an ensemble, Lou felt he wasn't good enough to perform together with trained actors, so he always recorded his lines by himself, after hours. The pitch of his voice was often changed by using a "harmonizer" which could control the pitch without altering the speed of the sound.
The reason producer Lou Scheimer performed the voices for so many supporting characters on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power was that the "official" voice actors were contracted to perform no more than three different voices per episode. And since there were usually only three regular cast members working on each show, Lou would fill in the rest of the male cast. This is also why his wife Jay and daughter Erika did various small parts in the first season of He-Man. During the second season of He-Man and all of She-Ra, Erika Scheimer received an on screen credit as an actor and also directed the voice actors, and she and her father would record the remaining voices on their own later.
Recurring Characters[]
- Attak Trak
- Bard
- Broom
- Bright Wing
- Clawful
- Falcon
- Fisto
- Gargon Warrior
- Garv the Innkeeper (with George DiCenzo)
- General Tataran
- Horde Prime
- Horde Troopers
- Kando
- King Miro
- King Randor
- Kobra Khan
- Kowl
- Leech
- Light Hope
- Lizard Man
- Mallek
- Man-E-Faces
- Mantenna
- Mayor Guppi
- Montork
- Moss Man
- Multi-Bot
- Orko
- Professor Tempus (with George DiCenzo)
- Rattlor
- Rokkon
- Snout Spout
- Sorrowful
- Spikor
- Spirit
- Sprag
- Sprocker
- Stratos (with Norm Prescott)
- Swift Wind
- Trap Jaw
- Tri-Klops
- Zodac
One-Off Roles[]
- Abram
- Aran
- Barris
- Batros
- Big Uggo
- Biro
- Braylok
- Bright Moon Chefs
- Bright Moon Fishermen
- Bylon
- Centaur
- Colonel Blast
- Colossor
- Darkspur's Guard
- Darkspy
- Daimar (with John Erwin)
- David of Abra (Grown up version)
- Doctor Blankfort
- Duke Dreer
- Elmas
- Fang Man
- Farmer Petro
- Garn
- Grox (with George DiCenzo)
- Jitsu (Chopper)
- Keeper of the Serenity Stone
- King Duplis
- King Gruff
- King Liz
- King Paw
- King of the Realm
- King Sprite
- King Thales
- King Varn
- King Von
- Kristan
- Loden
- Magic Knights
- Minister Cloudfoot
- Old Greenfield Villager
- Old Zak
- Overseer
- Orn
- Peck
- Pop-Pee
- Phlax Villagers
- Prince Dal
- Prince Hazar
- Prince Norb
- Prince Orwall
- Ranger
- Red-Eye
- Robo-Friend
- Scorpia's Servant
- Sea Elves (with Erika Scheimer)
- Shadow Wing
- Skylander
- Spirit of Mount Zelite (with Linda Gary)
- Storekeeper
- Stridor
- Targon
- Togar
- Vesser
- Viewscreen-operator
- Warden Umpty
- Wokrapanwooki (aka Prankster)
- Yarrow
- Zantar
- Zem