by MATTHEW HAYS

Hearing Paul Soles on the other end of the line is pretty eerie. So much of my childhood was spent watching Spider-Man, the 1967–70 TV series laced with that unforgettable jazzy score and those rock-bottom animation techniques.

And, of course, the smooth, sexy voice of Soles, who spoke for mild-mannered misfit and photo journalist Peter Parker, as well as his superhero alter ego, Spider-Man. Since then, Soles, now 74, has remained in Toronto, becoming a veritable thespian landmark (his gigs include multiple Stratford stage appearances, TV guest spots, game shows, Genie-nominated film work and the Wayne and Shuster specials).

"Walloping websnappers!" Soles declares, acknowledging his own surprise at the resilience the original shows have had. Then in his mid-30s, Soles had managed to get some radio and voice work in Toronto. "Forty years ago, some New York producers had somehow heard that there was a tremendous pool of radio actors in Toronto," he recalls. "That was mainly because of the CBC - people who'd done a lot of radio drama and were suitable for American ears because the accents were similar. These producers were setting about to make the animated Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and I was cast. We got involved with that and people liked our work. Plus, we were certainly cheaper than American actors were."

Web master

The Rudolph special led directly to Soles being cast as Spidey and Parker. Though he had read comic books as a child, Stan Lee's creation of Spider-Man had only been around for a few years, so Soles says he knew little about it. Did the rather cheap quality of the cartoons leave an impression with Soles as he read the scripts? "I had my comic book experiences as a child, so I guess that prepared me for some of the dialogue. I don't think any of us could wrap our heads around the idea of this web, that would be so flexible and versatile. Where did it all come from? You can only carry so much. At that time, with technology the way it was, it didn't seem very credible."

Certainly, the three seasons of the series had a very surreal edge to them. Iconic animator Ralph Bakshi would oversee seasons two and three, and his influence can be felt: there were unusual sky backgrounds that were hallucinogenic, and repetitive Spidey flying sequences that were downright hypnotic. "Many put down the animation, because it was not quite as classy or sophisticated as the stuff we'd grown up on, like Looney Tunes or Disney. This was pretty simple stuff, with background being used over and over and over and over. But the music was extraordinary and is to this day."

Holy evaporating residuals!

The success of the show was surprising, Soles recalls. "I don't think any of us realized it would endure quite the way it did. I don't think Marvel or Stan Lee foresaw it either. Clearly Stan's been delighted by how it's held up. And I think the TV show had a great deal to do with that."

Soles is happy that the series will be released on DVD later this month, to coincide with Sam Raimi's second big-screen adaptation of the comic. Soles does see a subtle contrast between the interpretation he voiced and the one Tobey Maguire has created. "For the cartoon, I shifted it a bit: I had a darker, more mature voice for the character of Spider-Man, and then a younger voice for Peter Parker. But in the movies they've kept him the same. That was a choice I had made, making Spidey sound a bit different."

Sad to report, but true: like so many of the '60s series that would catch on and become hits, playing forever in rerun heaven, the actors involved got no residuals, despite the heavy rotation of their work. "That's nothing new," says Soles. Has the actor been approached to appear in the new films? "You've touched on a sore point," he says. "Nothing in the first two films. But who knows? If I keep eating my veggies, maybe they'll be able to include me in the third."

The Spider-Man DVD compilation will be released later this month. Spider-Man 2 opens June 30

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