Francisco Humberto Vélez Montiel (born March 30, 1955 in Orizaba, Mexico), better known as Humberto "Beto" Vélez, is a Mexican voice actor. He's one of the most recognized in the media, in part thanks to his distinctive baritone voice, and for being the voice for Homer Simpson for the Latin American dub of The Simpsons (until he was dismissed for forming part of a strike against the studio, though he returned to voicing Homer in 2021 starting with Season 32). With almost 40 years in the trade, he currently dedicates himself to teaching the art of dubbing to younger actors interested on pursuing this career and assisting to conventions.
Besides his work on The Simpsons, he's the official Latin American Spanish voice for Winnie the Pooh (yes, he noticed the irony), the official Latin American Spanish voice for Nathan Lane and Danny Devito, and has dubbed Steve Buscemi and James Gandolfini a couple of times. If your character is a loud and bombastic baritone, a wisecracking Jaded Washout, an arrogant jerk, or a fat, obnoxious Bumbling Dad, there is a big chance Vélez will voice them.
Vélez was once married to fellow voice actress Cony Madera, who with they had two children (Humberto, Jr. and Alicia, both of whom are also voice actors). As of 2006, they are divorced.
Humberto Vélez's notable roles include:
Anime
- Attack on Titan: Pastor Nick
- Bleach: Love Aikawa
- Cyborg 009: Isaac Gilmore
- Dragon Ball Z Kai: Dr. Brief (first 98 episodes)
- Fire Force: Gustav Honda
- Kengan Ashura: Kirimi Takakaze
- Lost Universe: Alfred Stargazer
- Megalobox: Gansaku Nanbu
- Naruto: Baki
- Pokémon the Series: Black & White: Clay
- Saint Seiya: Hypnos (Hades Saga DVD Dubbing)
- Spirited Away: Kamaji (Netflix dub)
- Tekkaman Blade: Commander Jamison
Asian Animation
- Super Kid: Big Boy (Mexican dub)
Live-Action TV
- Big Bad Beetleborgs: Flabber
- Game of Thrones: Eddard "Ned" Stark
- Married... with Children: Al Bundy
- Power Rangers Zeo: King Mondo
- Smallville: Perry White
- The Sopranos: Tony Soprano
Film
As the VA for Danny Devito:- Big Fish: Amos Calloway
- Look Who's Talking Now: Voice of Rocks
- Matilda: Harry Wormwood (also the narrator)
- Relative Strangers: Frank Menure
As the VA for Nathan Lane:
- MouseHunt: Ernest "Ernie" Smuntz
- The Producers: Max Bialystock
- Stuart Little: Snowbell
As the VA for other actors:
- The Addams Family: Gomez Addams (Raúl Juliá)
- Armageddon (1998): Rockhound (Steve Buscemi)
- Donnie Brasco: Paulie (James Russo)
- Harry Potter: Kreacher (Timothy Bateson and later Simon McBurney)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Mola Ram (Amrish Puri, redub)
- Justice League (2017): Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds)
- The Last Samurai: Winchester Rep (William Atherton)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Gibbs (Kevin R. McNally)
- Robocop 1987: Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer)
- Rocky Balboa: Paulie Pennino (Burt Young)
- Schindler's List: Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley)
- Sleepers: Shake's father (Bruno Kirby, redub)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day: T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger)
Western Animation
- Beast Wars: Tarantulas
- The Book of Life: Skeleton Luis Sánchez
- Cars: Dusty Rust-Eze and Ramone note
- Family Guy: Peter Griffin (seasons 1-2) note
- Fat Dog Mendoza: Fat Dog Mendoza
- Futurama: Professor Fansworth and Kiff Kroker (seasons 1-4 and 8-present)
- Kissyfur: Floyd
- Life with Louie: Louie Anderson
- The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea: Sebastian
- Monsters, Inc. and Monsters University: Roz
- Mr. Bogus: Mr. Bogus
- Phineas and Ferb: Clyde Flynn
- Rocket Power: Tito Makani
- Shrek: Lord Farquaad
- The Simpsons: Homer Simpson note (seasons 1-15 and 32-present, also voiced the role in LEGO Dimensions)
- Toy Story 3: Chuckles
- Treasure Planet: John Silver
- T.U.F.F. Puppy: Birdbrain
- Winnie the Pooh: Winnie the Pooh (2001-present)
- Zootopia: Jerry Jumbeaux Jr.
His voice roles include examples of:
- Awesome, Dear Boy: Vélez has claimed he really likes voicing Homer, and he's known over all of the Spanish-speaking Latin America for voicing him. He usually goes to conventions and it's practically guaranteed he will be playing Homer at least briefly, even if he's not invited for said character; simply because both him and his fans love it.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: This is how he explained his Homer's voice during an interview.(translated from Spanish) "Homer is a drunk man. How do they talk? (talks like a drunk) Hi, I'm a drunk. But that isn't Homer Simpson. He is an idiot because he inserted a crayon on his nose. How do idiots talk? (talks like an idiot) Like this, I'm an idiot. But that isn't Homer. You have to mix it... (talks like a drunk idiot) Drunk, plus idiot. But that's not enough. He is also lustful. He likes women like this... (talks like a jerk) My dear, you look great. But he also lacks control, so how do they talk? (starts yelling) LIKE THIS, AND LIKE THAT. So you have to mix up the drunk, the idiot, the lustful, AND THE MADMAN!"
- The Comically Serious: This is how he describes Danny DeVito in an interview. Vélez states that even when DeVito tells jokes, "he tells them seriously", so he has to be careful not to give more energy than necessary when dubbing him.
- Creator Backlash: As explained in a con, he regrets voicing the T-800 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He has nothing against the film or the franchise, but always felt that his voice was not the best for Arnold Schwarzenegger and thus he was miscast in the role, comparing it to "Homer-ator".
- Money, Dear Boy: His motivation for voicing Winnie the Pooh. He has mentioned in conventions the irony of voicing two good-for-nothing yellow fat men, with Homer Simpson giving him fame, and Winnie the Pooh giving him money.
- Playing Against Type: Most of his work tend to be in comedy, even if his characters don't participate in the comedy themselves. Yet he managed to pull off the no-nonsense and devoid of comedy villains in Big Hero 6, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
