The next VOICE you HEAR, will be so cool.

[Flangepart]

Scott's post gave me an idea. My friend Barbara is a member of the white cane set, and once we got to talking about the Orignal Star Trek. She said one thing she liked, was the distinctive use of sound effects, that helped her follow the action. Also, we got to talking about voices, and she listed some actors she particulary liked, because of their voices. Scott mentioned Vincent Price. His voice was great, and it may have been one of his selling points, as in the early days of Hollywood, a distinctive Voice made it easier to get work, in the days of inferior soundtrack recording. Have you noticed how "One size fits all " most actors voices are today? Vincent, Chris Lee, Peter Cushing, Brando, Burgess Merideth, heck, even Brian(Foghorn) Blessed, have one great advantage. You know them by their Voices. Lee Marvin....close your eyes, and remember his diologue from The Dirty Dozen or The Professionals. Robert Ryan....Ernest Borgnine......think about it! And i need only say one more....Mel Blanc. So...when you close your eyes, and you think of the words from your favorite movies....who do you like to Hear?

[Scott]

Yes, sounds, color, lighting, music, and voices do truely add to a film. Your friend sounds like an interesting person to have noticed sound and voice in film. They can appriciate good film, I'm sure. Even a good bad film.

Could it be that some films have hit the mark on some of the above mentions parts and missed on others, thereby making them cult classics. I'll have to keep a closer eye and ear out for good examples of good B-Movies.

[Steve.]

The white cane set? - that would get you lynched in our PC-crazy country! - always assuming the lynchees could see you of course... I rather like Lance Henriksen, Harvey Keitel, Robert Carlyle (a mad Scottish person) and Hugh Grant (joke). My fave female just has to be Ingrid Pitt (and not just for her voice, either...).

[baldy1138]

As far as actors with cool voices go, how about Paul Winfield or David Warner? And who can forget the great James Earl Jones?

Another favourite of mine, who was not really an actor, but was a TV personality was Bob Ross, the Joy of Painting guy. Man, did he have a soothing voice and just an all-around laid back attitude. He could almost hypnotize you with his "happy little trees."

One way to really appreciate actors' voices is to listen to the ones who do a lot of work in cartoons, or watch movies in which their faces can't be seen.

I just saw the new Planet of the Apes, and I spent a good part of it listening to the voices, as it is the only way the actors' own identities came through. I got a real appreciation for the depth of Michael Clarke Duncan's voice. Man, is that deep.

[Apostic]

"I just saw the new Planet of the Apes, and I spent a good part of it listening to the voices, as it is the only way the actors' own identities came through."

I do this with WB's action/adventure cartoons.  Every now and again, I'll catch an easy to recognize voice talent, like Gilbert Gottfried as a hilariously annoying alien and Sandra Bernhard as his fashion conscious mate.

On the whole, it kinda makes me wish John "Boom Boom" Carradine was still around...

regards,

Apostic

[Chadzilla]

An incomplete list of voices that I love to hear

Robert Shaw in Jaws..."Farewell and adieu you fair spanish ladies..."

Rod Serling hosting the The Twilight Zone (you can't GET cooler than that)

Charlton Heston has a really distinctive voice.

As do John Wayne, Howard Cosell, Humphrey Bogart.

Paul Lynde anyone?

Alfred Hitchcock.

Bruce Dern.

David Doyle.

John Forsythe

Rex Reed

John Houston

[Mofo Rising]

Samuel Jackson is an actor working today who has a pretty distinctive voice.  Think of him speaking Ezekiel 25:17 in a low voice at the end of PULP FICTION.  Now think of him bellowing it across the room at the beginning.

James Coburn has a great voice of course.  To bad he wastes it on those "Like a rock" commercials.

Robert Loggia's got a growl of a voice.

And, my favorite, the entire cast of the Simpsons.  To think all those hundreds of people are voiced by five or six people.  Especially when they have to act against themselves, doing the voices of one or more characters in a scene.

Note, having a distinctive voice is not always a good thing.  Rosie Perez anyone?

I almost forgot!  Mr. T!  Mr. T's voice is instantly distinctive.  Long live T!

[Reed Rothchild]

I just love Rip Torns voice.

 Especially the way he said ''horses**t!'' on the Larry Sanders show.

[Vermin Boy]

I agree totally on the Simpsons, especially Harry Shearer. He has his own sketch comedy show on NPR ("Le Show"), where he does ALL the voices, most of them impressions, and all of them dead on.

Shearer's Spinal Tap bandmate Christopher Guest is also a vocal genius who's never really gotten his due. His work on the National Lampoon Radio Hour was amazing; anyone who can upstage John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and Chevy Chase (in their primes, mind you) has talent.

[Flangepart]

Wow. Think about all the voices just in toon town. Some of the voices in Anime are just annoying. I'm suprised that the Voices in the translated PatLabor movies were good. Thank the producers Princess Mononoke had real actors! How many anime/ cartoons had realy good voicework?

[Gerry]

I know you are going to hate me for some of my choices, but here goes:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, both very distinctive voices.

Sean Connery

Boris Karloff

Younger set distinctive voices:

Keanu Reeves (whoa)

Nicholas Cage (I hate him, but he's distinct)

Jeff Goldblum