TVSquad

Tom Kenny... Ever seen him? Maybe not. Ever heard him? Probably. This guy isn't really a familiar face, but he's definitely a familiar voice, most notably as Spongebob Squarepants, the little sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. Some of you that were born before 1990 and lean more toward the less-animated comedies might know him as a guy from Mr. Show with Bob and David (Tom was neither Bob nor David).

Okay, I must confess, I've only seen him on Mr. Show once and that's because, well, I've only seen the show once. I know, I know... Shame on me. However, I grew up with a lot of the cartoon characters that Tom voiced so I still consider myself a fan. For example, I can remember waking up on Saturday mornings to watch Rocko's Modern Life, one of my favorite Nickelodeon shows ever (I still break into a fit of giggles whenever I hear "Naaaked")? Tom was Heffer! And he was the mayor from The Powerpuff Girls! And, more recently, Eduardo from Foster's Home of Imaginary Friends! Check out that range. From a steer (er... I meant to say "wolf"), to a monocle-wearing old man infatuated with his headless secretary, to a purple imaginary friend with a crazy Spanish accent, to bright yellow, porous, invertebrate living at the bottom of the ocean. Bravo, good sir.

I didn't even bother looking him up until a few years ago when Spongebob Squarepants was at the peak of its popularity. I saw him do an interview with Conan O'Brien and I couldn't help but immediately love him. I distinctly remember him sitting there, looking lovably dorky, saying that he was extremely defensive of Spongebob, and explaining how he would fight off small children that bothered the Spongebobs at the Universal theme parks. He seemed to have this good guy, "aww, shucks" demeanor. I mean, he usually looks like he's the human version of Spongebob... They even have the same glasses!

Well, the next time you watch a cartoon on Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network, see if you can catch "Tom Kenny" in the credits. You probably will.