10 Voice Actors You Didn’t Know You Knew

There are actors in this world who you have never actually heard of, but whose work you hear on a daily basis.

1. Jane Barbe: “If You’d Like To Make A Call, Please Hang Up And Try Again.”

Better known as the the Time Lady, Jane Barbe recorded many of the automated responses and time and temperature messages for Bell Systems and many other companies.

2. Cara Jones: “In 300 Yards, Turn Left.”

Cara Jones makes a living as a musician, but most people will recognize her voice from the GPS unit in their Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, Land Rover, and Ford cars.

3. Lorraine Nelson: “Your Call Has Been Forwarded To An Automatic Voice Message System.”

Lorraine Nelson is not the only voicemail lady out there, but she is most likely the one that you’ve heard the most often. She did the voicemail system recordings for Avaya’s Audix and Nortel’s phone systems.

4. Charlie Pellett: “Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors, Please.”

Anyone who has ever been on a subway in New York City has probably heard Charlie Pellett kindly request that they mind the closing doors. Pellett is the male voice of the MTA, which mostly delivers orders, while informational messages come from three different female voices.

5. Frank Tavares: “Brought To You By The John D. And Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation”

Frank Tavares is the voice of NPR’s News underwriters. You’ll recognize his nasal tones as the voice that announces NPR’s sponsors between programs.

6. Elwood Edwards: “You’ve Got Mail.”

After spending time as a local radio and TV announcer, Elwood Edwards recorded four short phrases for a Virginia computer company called Quantum Computer Services, which later changed its name to AOL.

7. Russ Leatherman: “Hello And Welcome To Moviefone!”

If you grew up going to the movies in the ’90s, you probably made more than a few calls to 777-FILM, where you were greeted by an excited Russ Leatherman. Leatherman has since played himself many times on popular television shows.

8. Don Lafontaine: “In A World…”

Don Lafontaine is best known as the booming voice in over 5,000 movie trailers. Sadly, Lafontaine died in 2008 following complications from a pneumothorax.

9. Jake Wood: “People Who Visit Geico.com Could Save Hundreds On Car Insurance.”

After Kelsey Grammer and Dave Kelly voiced the character in the first two commercials in the late ’90s , Jake Kelly became the voice of the Geico Gecko and has been ever since.

10. Thurl Ravenscroft: “They’re Grrrrreat!”

Aside from having an awesome name, Thurl Ravenscroft was the voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes in over 500 commercials over 53 years.