RIP Fred Young

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It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Fred Young on January 24th, 2024. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Fred was a cherished friend and a wonderful person to everyone he encountered. Fred was featured on trading card number 4566 this past October at the Pinball Expo. I was forunate enough to chat with him and laugh at his timely jokes this past October.

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Fred was the iconic voice behind a generation of pinball machines from Data East Pinball, Sega Pinball, and Stern Pinball. His voice became synonymous with the pinball industry.

Fred’s voice work began at the age of seven when he first started mimicking voices. Over time, he became the go-to voice actor for numerous projects, known not only for his ability to imitate celebrities but also for his powerful and distinctive voice.

His journey into the world of pinball began in 1989 while he was recording voiceovers for an All State Insurance commercial. Fred would often leave cassette tapes showcasing his vocal talents at various recording studios, hoping to land more work. One of these tapes reached Joe Kaminkow and Brian Schmidt, who were then developing games for Data East Pinball.

They asked Fred to lend his voice to characters for their upcoming Star Trek pinball machine. Although Fred had never worked on a pinball project before, he was eager to try.

At the time, multiple games were recorded in a single session, and Fred’s first recording included callouts for Star Trek, Checkpoint, Batman, and King Kong. This opened the door to more voice work, including for Back to the Future and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Data East.

It was at Pinball Expo 2024 where Fred’s outstanding contribution to pinball was finally recognised through his induction into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame. His induction was read by Gary Stern.

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His work lives on, of course, in the many, many games in which you can still hear his voice, and also in all the Pinball News video and audio recordings, where he voices the introductory “This is a Pinball News production” wording.

 

© Copyright 2020 Walter Day