Tom Kenny hangs out with his alter-ego. Photo courtesy of Nickelodeon.

When you see actor Tom Kenny, the voice of many cartoon characters — including that of SpongeBob — for the first time, you get images of cartoons in your head. With his slender build, he reminds me of those Bing Crosby-look-a-likes that popped up in Looney Tunes shorts from time to time. His thick, black horn-rimmed Buddy Holly glasses catch your attention right away. Personable and energetic would be how I’d describe his personality. At a recording session, he chats with anyone he can. He’s curious about what everyone does. When it comes to the work, he’s enthusiastic from the first to the last take and works hard to give the director what he or she wants and more. “I have the best job in the world,” Kenny says, and you can tell just from the tone in his voice that he really believes that.

Kenny grew up in East Syracuse, New York, and became obsessed with comic books and cartoons at a young age. He searched out information on animation wherever he could find it. When he discovered a new tidbit, he said it was like discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls. Once, animation legend Bob Clampett came to Syracuse University to speak and Kenny was the only non-college student to attend. He says he never tried to imitate characters as a kid, but loved creating voices of his own. When he read books to his younger siblings, he often created different voices for each character.

Looks like Bob Clampett was a big influence on a young Tom Kenny.

He started his career in entertainment as a stand-up comedian first, in Boston and then in San Francisco. He said, “Tex Avery was a bigger influence on my comedy than Johnny Carson.” In addition, Kenny cites Chuck Jones and Jay Ward as major influences. If you see his stand-up act you’ll see it clearly. His performance is very visually based. For instance, he has one bit where he sets up hilarious visual gags in the audience’s heads based on the silly look of the Popemobile.

From his stand-up work he landed live-action gigs in film. His first big role was as Binky the Clown in the 1992 cult flick, Shakes the Clown. Throughout the 1990s, Kenny made the rounds on various sketch shows including Fox’s The Edge and HBO’s Mr. Show, as well as late night talk shows like The Dennis Miller Show, Pat Sajak, Conan O’Brien and Late Night With David Letterman. He even spent a year as the host of NBC's Friday Night Videos.