Everything about Christopher Collins totally explained
Christopher Charles Collins, (born
Christopher Lawrence Latta, also known as
Chris Latta;
August 30,
1949 –
June 12,
1994), was an
American actor,
voice artist and
comedian, perhaps best known as the voice of
Cobra Commander on the animated series and as the voice of
Starscream in the first
Transformers animated series. He is also noted among
Star Trek fans for his guest roles on and, along with many other
TV shows and a number of
films. In addition, he'd a successful
stand-up comedy career.
Early life and career
Collins was born
Christopher Lawrence Latta in
Orange, New Jersey, and grew up in the
Morningside Heights section of
Manhattan,
New York City. His legal name became
Christopher Charles Collins when his stepfather adopted him. Collins' biological father, Robert Latta, was a New York stage actor. His mother, Jane Morin, worked as an advertising executive. In his stand-up routine, he claimed to have grown up in
Harlem and said his ultra-liberal parents had moved the family there "so he could meet some Negroes." (Morningside Heights is sometimes called "West Harlem.")
After a year at
New York University, he studied acting, dance, voice and mime. In the mid-
1970s, he acted on the New York and
Boston stage and did voice-over work for Boston radio station
WBCN. He made his animation voice acting debut as one of the English dubbers of the
1979 anime series
Space Battleship Yamato (also called
Star Blazers). He was most recognizable in that series as the voice of space marine Sgt. Knox during the Comet Empire installment.
Voice work
In
1983, Collins started voicing
Cobra Commander for a five-part
G. I. Joe animated mini-series. In
1984, he reprised the role for a second five-part animated mini-series, which became a regular series in
1985. Also in 1984, Collins voiced a new character, Starscream, for a three-part
Transformers animated mini-series. By 1985, he was voicing other G. I. Joe and Transformers characters in toy commercials, carrying on in those roles when the two television series made their debut. When he began doing regular voice work, he adopted the
stage name Chris Latta because another
Screen Actors Guild actor was performing as "Chris Collins."
Cobra Commander was the original leader of
COBRA, usually portrayed (in the cartoon version) alongside the steel-faced Destro.
Starscream was played as a megalomaniacal offsider to the chief antagonist (
Megatron performed by
Frank Welker), and was more concerned with usurping his superior than with following orders. After the
Serpentor character was created in
1986, drawing power away from Cobra Commander, that role became very similar to Starscream's role. Most striking, however, was the high-pitched, rasping voice Collins employed for both roles, which made the characters always seem duplicitous and conniving regardless of what they were saying, as well as adding an element of
comic relief when they inevitably threw a tantrum or when they were humiliated by their superiors (Starscream getting slapped around by
Megatron for his disobedience and Cobra Commander getting himself routinely countermanded by Serpentor). He also provided the voice for
Wheeljack, a heroic Autobot who was something of a mad scientist, the Autobot's human friend
Sparkplug Witwicky, and Gung Ho, a burly, rough and tumble G.I. Joe Marine characterized by his mustache and bald head. Gung Ho was very much the antithesis of Cobra Commander; while Cobra Commander was a cowardly
egomaniac and a weakling, Gung Ho was a brave, steadfast hero who was strong enough to withstand a punch in the jaw without flinching.
Collins' success led to work on many other animated programs, including
The Simpsons, where he originated the voices of
Moe the bartender and
Mr. Burns in the first season episodes "
Some Enchanted Evening", "
Homer's Odyssey", and "
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", although he was uncredited in the latter episode. Along with several other early
Simpsons voice actors, he left during the first season.
Hank Azaria took over the voice of Moe, while
Harry Shearer assumed the role of Mr. Burns.
Other film and television work
Later in the
1980s, Collins began working as Christopher Collins and acted in many live-action television series and motion pictures. He played
Klingon Captain Kargan and
Pakled Captain
Grebnedlog in, Collins went on to portray two different Markalians on
Deep Space Nine, the first,
Durg, and an unnamed assistant to
The Albino. In
Married... with Children, he played Roger, one of Al Bundy's bowling buddies and a member of
NO MA'AM (National Organization of Men Against Amazonian Masterhood). He also portrayed a mugger on an episode of
Seinfeld entitled "
The Subway." His character known only as "The Thug" demands of
Kramer "Gimme da money!" before being apprehended by an undercover NYPD officer. In this episode, he's credited as "Christopher Collins." He appears as "Mr. Forbes" in a first-season episode of
NYPD Blue titled "Abandando Abandoned".
Collins' first live-action feature film appearance was a bit part as the sharing husband in the
Patrick Swayze movie
Road House. He also appeared in
True Identity,
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot,
Blue Desert and
A Stranger Among Us.
Stand-up comedy career
Collins' stand-up career peaked in the late 1980s and early
1990s, when he performed in most of the major comedy venues in the
United States and
Canada. In
1990, he won the prestigious
San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition
.
At the beginning of his act, he'd enter in a black
trench coat and order the audience to applaud the person who introduced him. Afterwards, he'd pick out an audience member who failed to applaud and tell him he'd to "clap alone." Later, he told the audience he wasn't a comedian, but a "
psychotic who learned to market his problem." Collins' comic persona was a loud, angry, mentally unstable man who liked to intimidate the audience. This image suited him well in his many bit roles in films and television, where he often played mobsters and hit men. He was a frequent featured performer on
An Evening at the Improv and
Caroline's Comedy Hour.
Personal life
Collins married twice and had three children. Early in his career, he divided his time between New York, Boston, and
Los Angeles before settling in L.A. in
1983. In
1991, he moved to
Ventura, California.
Christopher Collins died on
June 12,
1994, his cause of death officially recorded as a
cerebral hemorrhage following a long illness. Although his contemporaries have spoken fondly of Latta, some have made cryptically suggestive comments on the nature of his death, including
Peter Cullen (who remarked that he was a victim of Hollywood's tendency to "devour its young"),
Susan Blu (who said that Latta was "a sweet guy who had his demons"), and
Flint Dille (who noted on the commentary track for the 20th anniversary DVD release of that he and other members of the production staff had to bail Latta out of jail on several occasions, and that they "never really found out" how he died).
Further Information
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