Paul Robert Soles (11 August 1930–26 May 2021) was a Canadian character actor, voice actor and television personality. Having had a career spanning over 60 years, Soles was considered one of the great titans of Canadian acting.
While his very first screen appearance traces all the way back to 1953 on the channel CFPL, Soles is most famous for voicing Hermey the elf on Rankin/Bass' beloved 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stop-motion animated Christmas special, as well as being the first actor to voice Marvel's iconic Spider-Man way back in the original 1967 animated series. He appeared in many other animated and live-action works, including several movies.
Outside of film and television, Paul Soles also acted in theatre, such as playing Shylock the Jew in the Stratford Festival of Canada production of The Merchant of Venice after Al Waxman, who was originally scheduled to play the part, died. He also hosted a late-night comedy talk show on CBC called Canada After Dark, co-hosted the public affairs show Take 30 (also on CBC) for 18 seasons, and was the host of CFPL's game show Take Your Choice. He also worked on a documentary series called The World Around Us for CFPL.
He passed away on May 26, 2021 at the age of 90.
Roles of Paul Soles include:
Live-Action Roles
- This is the Law (1971 game show): The Lawbreaker
- Ticket to Heaven (1981 film): Morley Kappel
- The Magic Show (1983 film): Manny
- Just the Way You Are: Arthur Berlanger
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985 remake): Moses Harper
- L.A. Law: Judge Robert Fellmeth
- Family Reunion (1988 film): Morris
- The Gunrunner (1989 film): Lochman
- Beethoven Lives Upstairs (1992 film): Mr. Schindler
- The Lotus Eaters (1993 film): Tobias Spittle
- Trial By Jury (1994 film): Mr. Kriegsberg
- Due South: Creeve
- Einstein: Light to the Power of 2 (1996 TV movie): Albert Einstein
- F/X: The Series: Mr. Merton
- Riverdale (1997 series): Costas Stavros
- Shadow Builder (1998 film): Mr. Butterman
- Teen Knight (1999 film): Mr. Percy
- Hidden Agenda (1999 film): Wilhelm Engelmann
- The Five Senses (1999 film): Mr. Bernstein
- The Score: Danny
- Siblings (2004 film): Grandpa
- Terminal City (2005 mini-series): Saul
- My First Wedding (2006 film): Harry
- The Incredible Hulk: Stanley the pizza shop owner
- Less Than Kind (2010 series): Artie Rosen
- Rookie Blue: Peterson
- Saving Hope: Roy Goldbach
- The Second Time Around (2016 film): Marvin
- My 90-Year-Old Roommate (2016 series): Joe
Voice Roles
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964): Hermey the Elf
- Willy McBean and His Magic Machine (1965 movie): Pablo the Monkey, King Ferdinand
- Spider-Man (1967): Peter Parker/Spider-Man
- Max the 2000-Year-Old Mouse: Max the Mouse
- The Smokey Bear Show (1969 series): Benny the rabbit, Floyd the fox
- The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show (1970 series): Tobias the Reluctant Dragon
- The Wonderful Stories of Professor Kitzel (1972 series): Professor Kitzel
- Spider-Woman: Peter Parker/Spider-Man
- Redwall: Ambrose Spike
- Heidi (2005 Animated Adaptation by Nelvana): Dr. Reboux
- Detentionaire: Maxwell Finnwich
- Scaredy Squirrel: Additional voices
- The Magic Hockey Skates (2012 animated short): Nick
- Mysticons: Barnabas Dinglelot
- Wishfart: Santa Claus
