Peter Fernandez (January 29, 1927 – July 15, 2010) was an American actor, voice director, and writer. Despite a career extending from the 1930s, he is probably best known for his roles in the 1967 anime Speed Racer. Fernandez co-wrote the scripts, was the voice director, and translated the English-language version of the theme song. He was instrumental in introducing many Japanese anime series to English-speaking audiences.[1][2][3] He is also the narrator in the audio version of It Looked Like Spilt Milk.
Life and career
Born in Manhattan, New York, one of three children to Pedro and Edna Fernandez. His two siblings were Edward and Jacqueline. He was of Cuban, Irish, and French descent. Fernandez was a child model for the John Robert Power Agency to support his family during the Great Depression. He then appeared on both radio and Broadway, appearing in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine in 1941.[4] He was drafted into the United States Army at age 18, late in World War II. His radio appearances included roles on Mr. District Attorney, Let's Pretend, Gang Busters, My Best Girls, Superman, and Suspense, as well as soap operas. After his discharge from the Army in 1946, he became a prolific writer for both radio and pulp fiction. He also authored the children's book Bedtime Stories from the Bible.[citation needed]
Fernandez is known for his voice work and has been heard in English adaptions of many foreign films. Fernandez is best known as the American voice of the title character—and his brother Racer X—in the 1967 anime series Speed Racer. Besides acting in Speed Racer, he was the lyricist and performer of the English version of that show's theme song. He returned in the 2008 animated series Speed Racer: The Next Generation to play a middle-aged Headmaster Spritle. In the live-action 2008 film Speed Racer, Fernandez had a small part as a racing announcer. The rapid-fire delivery of dialogue made famous by Speed Racer was devised by Fernandez and his American voice co-stars in order to make the dialogue sync with the original Japanese mouth movements.[5]
