I'd know that voice anywhere?

MontyBurr said:

Good day all,

I’ve composed a couple of posts for your input and help. Sorry if I’m over enthusiastic or have posted in the wrong forum. Here goes:

My novel’s female main character is a non-singing voice-over talent, Audie winner and extraordinary mimic. Her own voice is lower than normal. Her voice is important to her character development. My frame of reference of female voice talent may differ from the intended audience. So to the question:

Of the following names, which low-register voice could you immediately identify: Scarlett Johansson, Kathleen Turner, Lauren Bacall, Demi Moore, Morgan Fairchild, Kirstie Alley, Julia Roberts, Diana Krall.

Bonus round: Name three contemporary actresses or non-singing voice talents you could identify in a single sentence regardless of pitch. (Please don’t say Roseann Barr.)

I value your opinions and brickbats.

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Why not Roseanne?

I think I might be good at this, though I don't know if I'm better than the general public. I can identify voice actors in animated movies and commercials that my friends tend to not notice or not be able to identify easily beyond it sounding vaguely familiar. Definitely Turner, Moore, Roberts, Alley and maybe Johanssen (I did recognize her doing a vo for a doc once). Bacall -- I've heard her, but I don't think I'd recognize her and the name Morgan Fairchild is vaguely familiar in that I've heard or seen it but I got nuttin.

As to people I could identify -- tons... I recognized in animated things (I don't tend to care about the cast so didn't know they were in things) or commercials that I recall: Phyllis Smith (super recognizable) and Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, Tina Fey, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell (though she's hella recognizable, voice-wise), Any Sedaris (I was at a David Sedaris reading once, walking through the lobby when I heard a Sedaris voice -- it was a non-entertainment-based sister I didn't recognize visually, but was sure she was a Sedaris bc of the voice. A couple minutes later, Amy came in, joined her and they ended up sitting together in front of me.)...Cate Blanchette was in some movie all made up differently and I didn't realize it was her until she spoke (that took me a minute to place tho), lots of people. Betty White, oh and Allison Janney....

MontyBurr said:

To the collective:

I posted another question here and this one is along the same lines.

My main female character is a voice talent and incredible mimic capable of male and female mimicry.

Could you give me the names of three contemporary male actors/voice talents you could identify in a single sentence? I’m not looking for singers, just speakers. (If Ben Affleck called me on the phone, I couldn’t place the voice.)

I’ll consider your valuable input and be quiet for a while.

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Jon Hamm (instantly knew he was doing the Mercedes commercials when I heard the first one); John Krasinski (same with those insurance commercials); Hugh Jackman, Keanu Reeves, a lot ...

I'm excluding people with accents not native to my country (who generally speak only with the accent as opposed to ppl with other native accents I can pick out when they're doing American or other accents not their own), because I don't think it's hard for most people to pick out John Oliver or Daniel Craig, or Craig Ferguson or whomever.

Lauren Bacall. In a class by herself. Period.

I have difficulty identifying voices without a face to them (don't ask me who's on a conference call. Doesn't matter that I've worked with these people for 10 years), but a few people that I can maybe pin: women, possibly Scarlett Johannson, possibly Jennifer Lawrence. Men, DEFINITELY Samuel L Jackson, possibly Patton Oswalt.

Ha! When Cornflake mentioned John Oliver, I remembered that I cannot tell the difference between his voice and that of his comedy partner Andy Zaltman on the radio. It's not so much accent as intonation.

Oh, this is a fun question. I'm crud when it comes to remembering names with faces, but if I hear a voice, that makes life a lot easier (then again, I spend a lot of time on phone calls with folks for work, so it's been a necessary skill I've learned. That and I'm just a sucker for distinctive voices.)

As for voices I'd know anywhere: Cate Blanchett, Angela Bassett, Betty White, Winona Ryder, Angela Lansbury, Julie Andrews, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Toni Collette, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Laurence Fishburne, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Gerard Butler, Dick van Dyke, Seth MacFarlane, Ewan McGregor, Sam Elliott, Christopher Walken, James Earl Jones, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Donald Sutherland, Jeremy Irons, Christian Bale, John Rhys-Davies, Hugo Weaving, Jeff Goldblum.

(...yeah, um, so about that 'three each'...*runs away*)

Alan Rickman

I've twice had people who have met me in person recognize me by my voice when meeting me again (after a long time) in person... fwiw

"I wasn't sure if it I recognized you, but when I heard your voice then I knew"

I don't know if that is something that happens to everybody or if that's unusual.

Christina Hendricks, Lindsay Lohan, Zooey Deschanel and Gillian Anderson all have pretty distinctive voices, I reckon.

Edit: And to answer your first question - Julia Roberts.

Lauren Bacall - that dates me for sure, but yes, a most distinctive voice in its own class.

Female - Rosie Perez, Jenifer Tilly, Joan Cusack.
Male - James Earl Jones, Jeff Bridges, Marlon Brando.

Voices? Okay, yeah, here's a bit of a tangent . . .

This thread reminded me of a related film that I thoroughly enjoyed, "In A World . . ." (2013) with Lake Bell, an impressive actress and director.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294677/

https://decider.com/2019/04/01/lake-bell-in-a-world-bless-this-mess/

Oh, didn't think of Gillian Anderson -- can pick her out of anything, but also David Duchovny, so this probably says more about my X-File history than anything else, but she does have a distinctive voice.

I thought of Emma Stone, who is also raspy as heck and I can pick out. Also Clooney, Steve Martin, John Goodman....

Keanu has a timbre and something... one of his early roles was a small part I didn't realize was young him until he spoke.

I love Bell, and that movie -- I have quoted a line about a squirrel more than once -- though I don't think I could identify her voice cold. She's a cat in Secret Life of Pets I didn't peg.

Women: Kathleen Turner. I could also identify Julia Roberts and Kristie Alley, but I don't find their voices to have the same quality.

Men: Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, and Samuel L Jackson.

Going back a bit to nominate Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn.

Monty - I didn't ask, you know? But I would guess it's a combination of timbre and accent. I'd say I have a warm timbre, my pitch might be a bit higher than average, I enunciate Very Clearly, and last I have a wee adenoidal thing that sometimes makes me sound like a little kid.

Nicole Kidman, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner