Pitt alum Jeff Bergman to star in Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 5’

The prolific voice actor will step into the role of Mr. Potato Head

University of Pittsburgh student Jeff Bergman paced the halls of the Oaklander Hotel, desperately trying to summon the nerve to knock on his idol’s door. Two knocks, and a murmur emerged from the cracks.

“Oh, just a jiffy,” said a breathy voice.

It was 1981 and Bergman, a speech and rhetorical communication major, had just attended a lecture given by Mel Blanc at the Pitt Student Union. Best known for his work as Bugs Bunny, Blanc’s voice had defined his generation’s childhood.

For Bergman — a young performer with a penchant for imitation — Blanc’s career as a voice actor opened a world of possibilities.

“I knew I had the right room,” Bergman told the Chronicle. “Oh my God, that’s a famous voice — that’s him.”
The door sprung open, and there stood Blanc.

“Well, are you Jewish or Italian?” Blanc asked, quizzically.

“I said, ‘I’m Jewish,’ and he looks at me for a second, and he goes, ‘All right, come on in,’ Bergman recounted. “I didn’t know it at that moment, but maybe about a week or two later it dawned on me — ‘you just met your idol.’ I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.”

More than 40 years later, Bergman has followed in Blanc’s footsteps, voicing iconic roles such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Fred Flinstone. Now, he plans to take on the role of Mr. Potato Head in the upcoming Pixar movie “Toy Story 5.”

The role of Mr. Potato Head was voiced by American comedian Don Rickles until his death in 2017. To Bergman, assuming the role of Mr. Potato Head is about honoring a legacy that defined his upbringing.

“I remember taking my son to see the first ‘Toy Story’ 31 years ago,” he recalled. “We all loved the movie. It was the first computer generated film. We had never seen anything like it, so the impact was incredible. I immediately just connected with [Mr. Potato Head], because he was one of my favorite toys as a child … and then to hear Don Rickles’ voice come out of that — I was such a fan of his.”

When Pixar announced that “Toy Story 5” would be underway, Bergman was unsure whether the character would even make an appearance in the movie.

“I think it was my sense of wanting to preserve my childhood, and so I felt so compelled — not only for myself, but for all of the fans — to do everything I could to try to capture as much of the essence of Mr. Potato Head as possible,” he said. “It’s a big responsibility to honor the memories that everyone has of these characters, so I’m just grateful and honored to do it.”

“Toy Story 5” will premiere in theaters across the country on June 19.

While Bergman found his calling in the heart of Oakland, he was born and raised in a Jewish family in Philadelphia. As a child, he would mock relatives and mimic their voices. He attributes his knack for imitation to having inherited a “musical ear” from his parents.

“My mother had a terrific ear. She could play piano by ear, and my dad actually kind of tinkered around with imitating accents and things like that. I came from a really artistic family,” he said. “We all have the ability to imitate, because that’s how we learn, but with me, I just never stopped doing it.”

Beyond his work on “Toy Story 5,” Bergman, who lives in Los Angeles, recently collaborated with Six Flags Magic Mountain to bring its new attraction — Looney Tunes Land — to life. The space was unveiled on June 6.

Looking to the future, Bergman plans to collaborate with his wife and creative partner, Carla Delaney Bergman, to premiere a two-person stage show.

“It’s about a lot of experiences that I’ve had in the entertainment industry, weaved into some very funny, kind of incredible, moments that have happened along the way in my career,” Bergman said. “It’s a lifetime.” PJC

Octavia Liku can be reached at oliku@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.